Date: Friday 31st October 2025
Location: The Grafton, Cambridge
Organised by: Cambridge BID in partnership with The Grafton
Event Overview
Cambridge BID delivered a family-friendly Halloween Film & Activity Day at The Grafton, transforming the centre into a lively and welcoming destination for families during the half-term period.
The event featured three free film screenings, face painting and glitter tattoos, and a Halloween window display competition for retailers across the centre.
The aim was to drive visitor engagement, create a fun seasonal atmosphere, and encourage dwell time within the centre — while supporting participating businesses and enhancing The Grafton’s Halloween offer.
Attendance & Engagement
The event attracted a strong and enthusiastic turnout throughout the day, with families and visitors engaging across all activities.
Film 1 (11:00am – Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit): drew an impressive 115 guests, filling much of the seating area and setting a lively tone for the day.
Film 2 (1:30pm – Hotel Transylvania): maintained excellent momentum with 90 guests, continuing to attract families enjoying the half-term entertainment.
Film 3 (4:00pm – The Haunted Mansion, 2003): welcomed 27 guests. Attendance dipped slightly later in the afternoon, which we believe was due to the timing coinciding with family routines such as dinner, trick-or-treating, and evening plans. The chosen film also appealed to slightly older children, while the day overall attracted a younger family audience — something to note for future programming.
Face Painting & Glitter Tattoos: proved extremely popular, with over 50 guests taking part and queues throughout the early afternoon.
Visitor Feedback: 100% of surveyed attendees said they were “very likely to attend another event like this one,” reflecting the strong family appeal and positive experience on the day.
Window Competition
The Halloween Window Display Competition received a strong response, with 10 businesses taking part.
Displays ranged from playful pumpkin designs to spooky themed décor that helped enhance the festive atmosphere throughout the centre.
Winner: The Hot Sausage Company
Runner-Up: The Works
Overall feedback from participating businesses was positive, with enthusiasm for future themed competitions and BID-led activations within The Grafton.
Marketing & Digital Highlights
The event was well-supported through the Love Cambridge social channels, generating strong engagement and awareness ahead of the day.
The campaign achieved over 100,000 views and high levels of interaction across posts, successfully driving family audiences to the event.
An ad-boosted campaign further extended reach within the Cambridge area, while the Facebook event saw strong interest and shares across local family networks.
On the day itself, participating businesses also benefited from on-screen exposure between film showings — providing excellent visibility and reinforcing local business engagement.
Footfall Impact
Across Cambridge as a whole, citywide footfall was down by -6.1% year-on-year on Friday 31st October. However, Fitzroy Street, which provides the main pedestrian link between the city centre and The Grafton, recorded a +32.4% increase on 31st October, suggesting that the event successfully helped draw additional families and visitors towards this part of the city.
Within The Grafton, footfall for the week marked the highest weekly total since late June — just after the cinema’s closure — and showed a +4% increase on the previous week.
Overall, the Halloween Film & Activity Day helped stimulate a noticeable rise in visits and activity across The Grafton.
Summary
The Halloween Film & Activity Day successfully created a vibrant, family-friendly atmosphere within The Grafton, drawing strong attendance across the morning and early afternoon sessions.
The combination of free entertainment, interactive activities, engaging digital promotion, and business participation provided a well-rounded activation that contributed to the city’s seasonal offer.
The event was well-received by both visitors and businesses, demonstrating the value of collaborative programming between Cambridge BID and The Grafton in supporting local engagement, increasing footfall, and animating retail spaces during key calendar moments
