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Best Halloween Events in Los Angeles for Kids and Families

Treat yourself to an adorable Halloween. Photo courtesy of Kidspace Children's Museum
Treat yourself to an adorable Halloween. Photo courtesy of Kidspace Children's Museum
9/22/24 - By Toby B

Halloween events are creeping up on us, bringing chills and thrills, bags full of sweets, and loads of Halloween events in Los Angeles—including Boos at Zoos, Halloween haunts, cemetery tours, and harvest festivals.

Among the Halloween events in Los Angeles we're looking forward to are Carved at Descanso, Boney Island at the Natural History Museum, Boo at the LA Zoo, and tons of Halloween movie screenings, including Hocus Pocus.

Some kids (and adults) like the spooks and scares while other kids prefer gentler Halloween activities, so in our Halloween Fun and Activities Guide for Los Angeles & Orange County Kids, you'll find our picks for not-so-scary events for preschoolers as well as scary Halloween haunts for big kids—plus free Halloween events in Los Angeles for kids, and much more.

 

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Bring your little penguin to meet some other sea creatures. Photo courtesy of the Aquarium of the Pacific
Bring your little penguin to meet some other sea creatures. Photo courtesy of the Aquarium of the Pacific

Halloween Events at Zoos and Aquariums

Spider Pavilion

Exposition Park
Daily, September 15 - November 24, 2024
The spiders return to The Natural History Museum, in the improved Spider Pavilion that debuted a few years ago. Guests have the rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the spiders’ habitat and witness the day-to-day lives of these often misunderstood, but uniquely talented creatures. READ MORE

Scarium Family Night

Long Beach
Friday, October 18, 2024
Scarium, the Aquarium of the Pacific's annual Halloween celebration is presented as a nightime event this year. Guests can don costumes to explore the Aquarium’s animal exhibits at night, including the shark, ray, and sea jelly touch tanks.   Event highlights include a costume contest, Pacific Pals, trick-or-treating with provided goodie bags, a vampire magician, and kids activity booths. READ MORE

Sea Scare at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

San Pedro
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Sea Scare is back! The annual Halloween Sea Scare transforms the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium into an underwater world of chills, thrills, and gills. READ MORE

Boo at the LA Zoo

Griffith Park
Saturday & Sunday, October 19 - 27, 2024
A trip to the LA Zoo is always a treat, but the last two weekends of October are especially sweet: this year's Boo at the Zoo includes trick-or-treat stations with Mars candies.  READ MORE

Boo at the Moorpark Teaching Zoo

Moorpark
Saturday & Sunday, October 19 - 27, 2024
The Teaching Zoo's annual Halloween festivities are quite the treat, with two weekends of family fun.   Highlights include interactive trick-or-treating,  a kids' scavenger hunt, family photo ops, food trucks, and kids' crafts, plus wildlife programs and meet & greets. READ MORE

Boo at the Zoo (Santa Ana)

Santa Ana
Saturday & Sunday, October 19- 27, 2024
The zoo presents a "merry not scary" Halloween event with a decorated trail along the animal enclosures. Kids follow a fun Halloween trail through the zoo during extended admission hours, taking home goodies from 10 toy/treat stations. Family-friendly costumes encouraged. READ MORE

Halloween Zoo-tacular

Irvine
Saturday, October 26, 2024
The Orange County Zoo throws a party to get the animals in the mood for Halloween. Activities include trick-or-treating, spooky crafts, and a scavenger hunt for kids under the age of 12. The animals, meanwhile, get to munch on treat-filled pumpkins throughout the day. READ MORE

Boo at the Bay: Family Halloween Party

Newport Beach
Saturday, October 26, 2024
The Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center hosts a fun family Halloween party featuring spooky stories, creepy crafts, weird science experiments, bizarre animals, and hair-raising games. All children who attend in costume receive ghoulish door prizes. READ MORE
Stroll through a jack-o-lantern wonderland at Carved. Photo courtesy of Descanso Gardens
Stroll through a jack-o-lantern wonderland at Carved. Photo courtesy of Descanso Gardens

Halloween Walk-thrus and Immersive Experiences

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: The Afterlife Experience LA

Hollywood
Select dates through November 3, 2024
Tim Burton is releasing a new Beetlejuice movie this September, but LA families can get an early peek at the film's world at an exclusive immersive experience. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: The Afterlife Experience takes guests into the iconic universe of everyone’s favorite bio-exorcist.  READ MORE

Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns

South El Monte
Select dates, September 20 - November 2, 2024
Whittier Narrows Park transforms into a larger-than-life pumpkin experience, featuring an awe-inspiring array of hand-carved jack-o'-lanterns, mesmerizing light displays, and a host of festive activities. Guests walk a glowing trail to check out thousands of illuminated pumpkins displayed in all sorts of creative ways, including as seascape, pirate ship, dinosaur, dragon, and much more.  2024's experience features new pumpkin scenes and an all-new light show that plays every 30 minutes. READ MORE

Nights of the Jack

Calabasas
Select dates, September 27 - November 2, 2024
Nights of the Jack is a family-friendly, Halloween-themed show situated on a mile-long nature trail filled with thousands of hand-carved jack-o'-lanterns.   New elements for 2024 include a luminous field of flowers, projection mapping that transforms ordinary buildings into fantastical wonders, a sparkling Halloween House light show, a lighted swing photo op, and a graveyard skeleton display.    READ MORE

Boney Island

Exposition Park
Select dates, October 3 - 31, 2024
Boney Island is back this Halloween season! One of the LA area's most popular family-friendly haunts for decades, the former lawn haunt from Sherman Oaks returns for a second season to the Natural History Museum. READ MORE

Carved

La Canada
Daily, October 4 - 30, 2024
Carved is a family-friendly Halloween event for all ages; visitors can enjoy a mile-long walk through Descanso's beautiful gardens and woods, viewing hundreds of jack-o’-lanterns carved from real pumpkins along the trail. READ MORE
Don your costumes at the Kidspace Halloween Bash. Photo courtesy of Kidspace
Don your costumes at the Kidspace Halloween Bash. Photo courtesy of Kidspace

Kid-Friendly Halloween Festivals & Celebrations

Kidspace Halloween

Pasadena
Tuesday - Sunday, September 20 - October 31, 2024
Halloween season at Kidspace starts September 20 this year. Kiddos can strut their stuff in the daily Halloween Parades - costumes encouraged! READ MORE

Pumpkin Palooza at Discovery Cube OC

Santa Ana
Friday - Sunday, October 4 - 27, 2024
Discovery Cube OC has a real treat for us this Halloween: Pumpkin Palooza, a seasonal festival of science fun. Kids can come in costume to enjoy two floors of freaky fun, an interactive dance party, bumper cars, life-size corn mazes, and trick or treating.  New this year: Pumpkin Palooza Party Nights on select dates, an electrifying nighttime version of the dance party and festival. READ MORE

Griffith Park "Not Too Scary" Halloween Train

Griffith Park
Saturday & Sunday, October 5 - 27, 2024
The Griffith Park Railroad is adding a bit of spice... pumpkin spice! Train rides on Saturdays and Sundays in October travel around a family friendly, seasonally decorated, mile-long track. Riders can play I Spy, spotting each hidden pumpkin and Halloween item on the map. Guests can also enjoy nostalgic carnival games, and photo ops. READ MORE

Spooky Science (LA)

Sylmar
Daily, October 5 - November 3, 2024
Discovery Cube's Spooky Science rings in the Halloween season. This year’s edition of Spooky Science features a Pumpkin Composting Catapults station, where kids can launch faux pumpkins through the air-straight into composting bins. Dia de los Muertos is represented with a beautifully crafted ofrenda where visitors can honor loved ones. Other fun includes photo ops, tractor rides for toddlers, a hay bale maze, and trick-or-treat stations.  READ MORE

Trick-or-Treat in the Garden

Arcadia
Friday, October 18, 2024
Dress your little ones up in their Halloween costumes and come trick-or-treat in the arboretum garden to learn about the “spookier” side of nature! While searching for trick-or-treat stations, children will discover fun facts about the plants at each destination and receive a nature-based treat when they reach them. READ MORE

Spooky Science Night

Downey
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Columbia Memorial Space Center hosts a spooky-themed night of science, with a variety of hands-on activities available for all ages. READ MORE

Pumpkin Race Festival

Manhattan Beach - FREE
Sunday, October 20, 2024
The city of Manhattan Beach holds its annual Pumpkin Race on the pier. Families are encouraged to attend in costume and create their own crazy pumpkin race cars at the pier's colorful Pumpkin Race Land. READ MORE

South Pasadena Halloween Spooktacular

South Pasadena - FREE
Friday, October 25, 2024
Free
Come dressed to impress! South Pasadena’s annual Halloween festival includes a costume contest.  The 4 categories of competition are scariest, cutest, funniest, and most creative. Other fun at this free event includes music, food, and inflatable jumpers. READ MORE

Halloween Bu Bash Carnival

Malibu
Friday, October 25, 2024
This special celebration in Malibu is catered to younger children. For $10, families can enjoy bounce houses, carnival games, art activities, and a trick-or-treat street. Kids can show off their costumes on the costume catwalk.  READ MORE

Halloween Spooktacular at One Colorado

Pasadena
Saturday, October 26, 2024
One Colorado hosts spooky Halloween fun in its courtyard.  The morning starts with the ghostly ghouls of the Bob Baker Marionettes, who put on a Halloween Hootenanny puppet show from 11am to noon. Costumes encouraged! Starting at noon, One Colorado once again hosts pumpkin decorating.  Kids can transform a pumpkin with pipe cleaners, glitter, and markers into works of art, with staff on hand to provide decorating tips. READ MORE

36th Annual Halloween Carnival in Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach
Saturday, October 26, 2024
This local festival in Manhattan Beach scares up the Halloween fun, with carnival games, a costume contest and parade, a haunted house, and a cupcake walk. This non-spooky boo bash is free to attend, though some activities may cost money. Carnival bracelets are available for $15 per person.  READ MORE

Marina Spooktacular

Marina del Rey - FREE
Saturday & Sunday, October 26 & 27, 2024
Marina del Rey's Halloween Spooktacular is appropriate for all ages, but the scares get scarier as darkness falls. Celebrants can experience thrills and chills navigating the Blackout Maze, embarking on graveyard treasure hunts, playing carnival games and braving the giant slide and inflatable maze. READ MORE

Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade

Long Beach
Sunday, October 27, 2024
The parade for animal charities features more than 500 dogs in colorful costumes.​ Even for folks who don't normally venture down Long Beach way, some of these canine costumes really are worth the drive. The Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade claims to be the "World's Largest Halloween Pet Event."  This year's event is held at the former Belmont Pool grassy area and paths. READ MORE

Halloween DTLA Festival for Kids

DTLA
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Downtown families can celebrate Halloween at this fun kid-friendly party right in their own backyard. Activities a include trick-or-treating, showing off costumes at the character meet-and-greets, eating yummy snacks, and seeing the puppet and magic shows. READ MORE

Lakewood Halloween Carnivals

Lakewood - FREE
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Lakewood's traditional Halloween Carnivals offer fun and safety for youngsters on the year's spookiest night. Each park has a special theme, such as Bluey. Spider-man or LEGO.​ READ MORE
Come face-to-face with villains at Oogie Boogie Bash. Photo courtesy of Disneyland Resort
Come face-to-face with villains at Oogie Boogie Bash. Photo courtesy of Disneyland Resort

Halloween Events at Theme Parks (Kid-Friendly Only!)

Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party

Anaheim
Select dates through October 31, 2024
Trick-or-treating at Disneyland - what could be better? This year's spooooookiest Halloween celebration is a villainous bash at Disney California Adventure Park. READ MORE

Kids Boo Fest (Magic Mountain)

Valencia
Friday - Sunday, September 7 - November 3, 2024
The fun is spooky, not scary, at Six Flags Magic Mountain's daytime Halloween festivities. Kids can trick-or-treat in Bugs Bunny World, where they can collect sweet treats and encounter friendly characters along the way. Spooktacular pint-sized mazes are open for little ones to explore. READ MORE

Brick or Treat

Carlsbad
Select dates, September 14 - October 27, 2024
Legoland offers a festive kid-centric Halloween celebration on select weekends this fall. The fun includes tons of candy, an all-new show lineup, never-before-seen exclusive Lego characters, and more. New features for 2024: LEGO T-Rex Guy transforms Dino Valley into the Prehistoric Pumpkin Patch, where sweet treats await, as well as a chance to build your very own LEGO pumpkin.  READ MORE

The Count's Halloween Spooktacular - Sesame Place

Chula Vista
Saturday & Sunday, September 14 - November 3, 2024
How do we love Halloween at Sesame Place? Let us Count the ways! San Diego's newest theme park is transformed into a family-friendly Halloween haven that's silly, not too spooky. READ MORE

Knott's Spooky Farm

Buena Park
Thursday - Sunday, September 26 - October 31, 2024
Knott's Berry Farm invites kids to a non-scare Halloween celebration that's about cheer, not fear. Kids can dress in all their Halloween finery to go trick-or-treating around the town of Calico’s shops and buildings, plus enjoy additional Halloween activities. READ MORE
See what pops up in the pumpkin patch at Tanaka. Photo courtesy of Tanaka Farms
See what pops up in the pumpkin patch at Tanaka. Photo courtesy of Tanaka Farms

Pumpkin Patches & Fall Harvest Festivals

Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch

Irvine
Daily, September 14 - October 31, 2024
Irvine Park Railroad and the Pumpkin Patch once again open for the season with the Pumpkin Train, a moon bounce, hayrides, and a haunted house.  Other daily fun includes panning for gold, carnival games, John Deere races, face painting, cookie decorating, and more.  READ MORE

Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch

Irvine
Daily, September 14 - October 31, 2024
Tanaka Farms is one of the only farms in Orange County with a real pumpkin patch where kids can pick their own pumpkins out in the field. Get ready to stay up late for Pumpkin Patch Nights! On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, starting October 4, the patch stays open til 9pm. READ MORE

Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch

Redlands
Daily, September 21 - October 31, 2024
Live Oak Canyon boasts the largest outdoor pumpkin patch in Southern California. Guests can enjoy pumpkin-picking, a big train ride, the corn maze, food trucks, photo ops, rides, and more. READ MORE

27th Annual Fall Harvest Festival at Underwood Farms

Moorpark
Daily, September 28 - October 31, 2024
Underwood Family Farms' annual Fall Harvest Festival features pig races, animal shows, a corn maze and gourd tunnel, a combine slide, tractor rides, Farmer Craig’s Chicken Show, hay pyramids, and animals to feed, as well as a gigantic pumpkin patch. READ MORE

Annual Pumpkin Festival Cal Poly Pomona

Pomona
Friday - Sunday, September 28 - October 27, 2024
The Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest returns for its 31st year. Favorite fall activities return this year at a month-long celebration—the huge pumpkin patch, a petting farm, hayrides, corn and sunflower mazes, a cow train, and duck races. READ MORE

Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch

Culver City
Daily, October 5 - 30, 2024
Mr. Bones family friendly pumpkin patch is the perfect place to celebrate Halloween and bring home the perfect carving pumpkin in anticipation of October 31st. Kids can enjoy the straw bale maze, slides, bounce houses, pumpkin decorating station, and petting zoo. This experience is best for kids ages 2-9, and is open daily starting October 5th (see exceptions above).  READ MORE

2024 Glendora Pumpkin Festival

Glendora
Saturday, October 19, 2024
It's more than just pumpkins! The annual Pumpkin Festival at Glendora's Centennial Park celebrates all the best things about fall. READ MORE

Fall Fun Fest & Pumpkin Patch at Santa Anita Park

Arcadia
Saturday & Sunday, October 19- 27, 2024
The infield at Santa Anita Park comes alive with carnival rides, bounce houses, carnival games, pony rides, face painting, and a pumpkin patch. All that, plus you can enjoy the horse racing. READ MORE

Calabasas Pumpkin Festival

Calabasas
Sunday, October 20, 2024
The annual Calabasas Pumpkin Festival returns for one day only this year! Families can enjoy music, carnival games, crafts, inflatables & rides, a marketplace, and a pumpkin patch. Pumpkin facts and history are shared, too - after all, calabazas means pumpkins. READ MORE
Bob Baker’s Halloween Spooktacular is an LA fall classic. Photo courtesy of Bob Baker's Marionettes via Facebook
Bob Baker’s Halloween Spooktacular is an LA fall classic. Photo courtesy of Bob Baker's Marionettes via Facebook

Halloween 2024 Movies & Shows

Bob Baker’s Hallowe'en Spooktacular

Highland Park
Select dates, September 7 - November 10, 2024
A beloved Bob Baker tradition returns! The Bob Baker Marionettes presents Hallowe'en Spooktacular, a family-friendly musical revue, set to haunting and jazzy holiday-themed tunes celebrating nearly every decade. READ MORE

Hocus Pocus (PG)

Hollywood
Daily, September 27 - October 3, 2024
Amok! Amok! Amok! Hocus Pocus returns for its annual spellbinding engagement at the El Capitan, starting with a special opening night Fan Event. READ MORE

Absolutely Halloween

Santa Monica
Saturday & Sunday, October 5 - 27, 2024
Santa Monica Playhouse presents the tale of a sweet young girl named Candy, who learns some surprising lessons about life, love, laughter, and sugar. A colorful array of characters takes her on a magical All Hallows Eve adventure, and the audience must help Candy save Halloween. READ MORE

Halloween Historical Cemetery Tour

Long Beach
Saturday, October 26, 2024
The Historical Society of Long Beach conducts its annual living history tour at the city’s two oldest cemeteries, which are located adjacent to each other on Willow Street between Orange and California. READ MORE

Disney Pixars's COCO: Live-to-Film Concert

Northridge
Saturday & Sunday, October 26 & 27, 2024
Disney Pixar’s beloved Coco comes to life on stage with the heartwarming smash hit film’s score, by Oscar and GRAMMY Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino. Performed live by Orquesta Folclórico Nacional de México, Disney Pixar’s Coco follows 12-year-old Miguel on a journey through the Land of the Dead and features the Academy Award-winning song “Remember Me,” by songwriters Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen, Frozen 2). Disney fans of all ages are invited to enjoy an unforgettable night of Disney magic. READ MORE

Halloween Silent Film: Nosferatu

DTLA
Thursday, October 31, 2024
For those that are a little old for trick-or-treating but still want to get in the spirit of Halloween, the LA Phil offers a classically chilling cinematic experience. The 1922 silent classic Nosferatu is projected on the big screen and accompanied live by the shrieks and rumblings of the monster-sized Walt Disney Concert Hall pipe organ. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center
Boney Island at the Natural History Museum
Kidspace Children's Museum
Griffith Park Southern Railroad
Multiple Parks in Lakewood, including Palms Park
Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Festival at AGRIscapes
Long Beach Municipal Cemetery & Sunnyside Cemetery