Ghost Festival, a free four-day Halloween event, returns to The Rocks

• The Rocks Ghost Festival is returning for its second year of spooky immersive fun in Sydney’s oldest neighbourhood.
• There will be Halloween house parties, outdoor raves, pop-up bars, markets, movie screenings and more.
• Central to this is The House of Horrors at The Old Merchant House, turning one of the city’s most haunted buildings into a a maze of themed parties.

After a successful debut last year, The Rocks Ghost Festival is back for another year of spooky soirees and haunted hangs, launching the historic neighbourhood into an immersive four-day horror festival.

From October 30, Ghost Festival 2025 reshapes The Rocks with themed feasts, spooky storytelling and terrifying interactive experiences. And yes, that popular immersive Halloween party will return to take over one of Sydney’s most haunted buildings, The Old Merchant House.

Last year’s Ghost Festival Halloween Party—The House of Horrors—transformed the historic building into a series of themed rooms, like The Ghost Room and Slaughterhouse Room, giving Sydney the type of more-is-more spooktacular we’d usually only see over in the US.

Macabre techno raves aside, the Ghost Festival will let loose all types of zombies, vampires and other ghoulish creatures, who will roam the cobblestone streets while tentacles fly from buildings and dark alleyways are brought to life with roaming performances. The Rocks was once a place of crime and corruption, so there’s plenty of stories to unearth, giving the whole thing a real sense of place.

When the sun is out, The Rocks will be taken up mainly by an enormous Halloween market with stallholders hawking themed goods alongside typical market fodder. With food trucks framing the market, it’s a great way for families to experience the atmosphere without overwhelming the little ones.

The devilish fun begins at dusk, however. Guests wander the many tight laneways around The Rocks, meeting up with surprising characters who will share their stories and string together the history of The Rocks. New for this year is a Haunted Woods dining area with food from the likes of Messina, Gong Cha and other Sydney staples. Elsewhere, Polakov’s Haunted Woods will be an outdoor party, beating with live DJ sets and a dedicated Vodka Bar manned by mad scientists serving chilled cocktails through the night.

And don’t worry if you’ve left your finest Halloween threads at home. There’ll be aa dedicated makeover space with several makeup artists ready to whip you into shape.

Ghost Festival will also feature a spooky outdoor cinema with a busy schedule of cult-favourite horror movies screening across the four nights, while nearby a pop-up speakeasy cocktail bar provides a bit of rest for the wicked and those looking to escape all the roaming ghouls.

Ghost Festival 2025

Where: The Rocks, Sydney
When: Thursday, October 30 – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Tickets: Free entry

ghostfestival.com.au