Late October is when Ibiza quietly hands itself back to the families who live here. The beach towels come in, the last boats are winched onto their slipways, and the island's calendar fills up with things that happen at five in the afternoon rather than five in the morning: storytelling in village libraries, clay workshops in old farmhouses, folk dancing in a square where somebody's grandmother is frying pork.
If you are in Ibiza with kids this week, between Saturday 24 and Saturday 31 October 2026, you have landed in one of the best stretches of the year. Almost everything below is free, most of it is outdoors or in a heritage building worth seeing anyway, and all of it is within half an hour's drive of wherever you are staying. Here is what I would actually put in the diary.
The weekend belongs to the villages
Saturday and Sunday are given over to the Trobada de Pobles at the Recinte Firal in Eivissa, the island's annual celebration of the communities that live here. Stands from each represented country serve their own food, there are crafts, music and dance all day, and the Sunday session runs from 10.30 to 18.00. Free entry, and the sort of event where children wander off to watch a dance group and come back carrying something fried.
On Sunday 25 October, Santa Gertrudis hosts its Fiesta Payesa from 11.00: traditional games, ball pagès folk dancing, cantada and sonada payesa, a craft showcase and the inevitable frita de porc. It is free, it is in the prettiest village square on the island, and it is the easiest possible introduction to Ibizan country culture for anyone under ten.
The same Sunday, over at the Forada market site near Sant Antoni, the folk group Brisa de Portmany runs the Festa des Pou de Forada from 13.00. This one leans fully traditional: ball pagès, slingshot throwing, the concurs d'ucs, a donkey race and a communal meal of frita de cerdo with bread, a drink and a buñuelo for 15 euros. Sweet and savoury tortas and café caleta are served through the afternoon.
Free workshops where children actually make something
The Consell d'Eivissa is running free children's ceramics workshops (taller de cerámica infantil) for ages six and up, led by María José Marí, in heritage spaces around the island. Clay, traditional Ibizan figures and a building that is itself part of the lesson — this is the island's best cultural bargain, and places go quickly, so register in advance.
In Santa Eulària, Library Day is marked on Saturday 24 October at 11.30 with Living Library, in which two traditional tales — Vasilisa and Iron John — are brought to life through paper theatre, pop-up books and storytelling at the municipal library. Free, no fuss, perfect for the three-to-eight bracket.
Then on Monday 26 October, the Vicent Serra i Orvay library in Sant Josep hosts a Halloween-themed reading and writing workshop with Rosario Ferrer: free, places limited, and a gentle way into Halloween week for children who are more into stories than scares. The same library programme includes a children's reading session with Mamen Prats, Tot per una maleïda poma!
Storytelling on Tuesday, fairy tales on Sunday
Contes de Tardor — autumn storytelling — is the quiet highlight of the week. On Tuesday 27 October at 17.00, David i Monma bring El col·leccionista de rondalles to the public library at CEIP Santa Gertrudis, part of Santa Eulària des Riu's autumn programme. For children aged three and over and their families, free, and no booking required, which off-season Ibiza does better than anywhere.
For something a little more formal, the V Festival de Música de Cambra de Santa Eulària includes a family concert, "Les fades dels somnis", on Sunday 25 October at 17.30 at the Centre Cultural de Jesús. The Art3 group combines voice, dance, piano and flute with Disney songs and film scores — 10 euros a ticket, and genuinely designed for children rather than tolerated by them.
A family Halloween, Ibiza-style
Halloween here sits on top of Tots Sants, All Saints, so the week has two moods running in parallel. For families, Saturday 31 October is the day.
It starts at 11.00 with TinyRavers x Parco: Trick or Beat, a children's Halloween rave at Parco Ibiza in Sant Antoni — music, costumes and activities, free entry, and exactly as joyful as it sounds. At 18.00, the Consell d'Eivissa stages "Coco. El musical. Recuérdame" at the Recinte Firal: live music, song and dance built around the Día de Muertos, free with tickets released by the Consell.
Older children will want the Monster Walk in Ibiza Town. From 17.00 a team of make-up artists turns anyone who turns up at Vara de Rey into a monster; at 21.00 the parade winds through the centre and finishes at the Monster Runway, with prizes for the best costumes. It is free and it is the friendliest thing happening in town that night. The Túnel del Terror at the C19 youth centre, running from 20.00 with live actors and real scares, is also free — but save that one for teenagers.
Running alongside all of it, the third Ibiza Halloween Festival screens horror and fantasy short films at Teatre Can Ventosa from Thursday 29 October, free entry, with a Balearic shorts session on Halloween night itself.
The reliable standbys
When the weather turns, two places never let you down. The Cova de Can Marça near Sant Miquel runs 40-minute guided tours through a limestone cavern that spent a century as a smugglers' store, with lighting, sound and water features doing the storytelling — 9 to 15 euros, year-round. BIBO Park in Ibiza Town is a botanical park of planted gardens and walkways, from 10 euros, open from 10.00, and an easy hour when nobody can agree on anything.
Market mornings still work beautifully in late October: Las Dalias in Sant Carles on Saturdays and Sundays, Forada and the Sant Jordi flea market on Saturdays, Sant Joan on Sundays, and the last Punta Arabí hippy market of the season in Es Canar on Wednesday 28 October. For something to eat afterwards, the 10th Fira Gastronòmica des Calamar takes over Sant Carles de Peralta from 11.00 on Saturday 31 October, with village restaurants serving squid dishes all day — free entry, food paid separately.
And if the sky is clear on the 31st, the Consell's free Noche de Estrellas astronomy session at Cala d'Hort, run with the Agrupación Astronómica de Ibiza, is the best possible end to a family week here.
Three practical notes
The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. You gain an hour in bed and lose one at the end of the day — sunset slides to around 18.15, so plan outdoor plans for the morning.
Register early for the free things. Library sessions, ceramics workshops and museum activities all cap numbers, and in October they fill with local families within days.
Bring layers. Daytime still hits the low twenties and the sea is swimmable, but village squares after dark in late October are properly cool, and most of these events are outdoors.
Everything here is listed on Ibiza Calendar with dates, times and venues, updated daily — so if plans change, check there before you set off.
