Celebrate the spooky season with these not-too-scary events taking place this October. Make the most of the dark evenings with a light show, find a fun daytime festival, or even watch a pumpkin plummet from the sky. Grab your kids, a costume, and have fun!
Goblin Jamboree: Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito
Take a ferry over to Sausalito’s Bay Area Discovery Museum for Goblin Jamboree, a week of Halloween-themed fun activities for kids under 10. Kids will love running around the hay maze, painting skeletons, and playing in the cauldron kitchen.
Goblin Jamboree is Saturday, October 24 – October 26, closed Monday and Tuesday. Tickets are $25 for members and $30 for the general public. Bay Area Discovery Museum, 557 McReynolds Rd, Sausalito
Haunted Hangar: Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos
For a unique event, don’t miss the helicopter pumpkin drop on October 30 and 31 at Hiller Aviation Museum. The museum, which celebrates the history of aeronautics in the Bay Area, will be decorated for Halloween and kids can come in costume.
Oct. 17, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. through Nov. 1, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (Pumpkin drop only Oct.25 and 26 at 12 p.m.)
Tickets are $24 for adults and $16 for kids 5-17. Under three-year-olds are free with an adult. Hiller Aviation Museum, 601 Skyway Rd, San Carlos
Halloween Hoopla: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
This fun street festival just for kids ten and under features a performance by Circus Bella and a costume parade. There are also crafts to make, a pumpkin patch, and palm reading – all for free!Â
Halloween Hoopla, Nov. 1, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., Children’s Garden, Yerba Buena Gardens, 799 Howard Street
Boo at the Zoo: Oakland Zoo, Oakland
Running on October 24 and 26, Oakland Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo is an animal-themed scavenger hunt with a goodie bag to win. Come in costume (not inflatable, they scare the animals!) to enter the costume contest. Advance tickets are required.
October 24-26 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland
Trick or Treat on the Row: Santana Row, San Jose
Pre-schoolers will love this free event featuring live music, face painting, trick or treating and spooky crafts at Santana Row. If your little one isn’t quite ready for night-time neighborhood trick or treating, this is the perfect morning alternative to celebrate Halloween.
Tuesday, October 28th, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 377 Santana Row, San JoseÂ
The Jack-O-Lantern Trail: Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is a real deal haunted house, which you can tour if you are brave enough. The former home of Sarah Winchester, tragedy-stricken heir to the rifle fortune, is an architectural oddity and worth a visit in its own right. However, it’s likely too scary for little ones, so take them to the beautiful illuminated Victorian gardens instead on the Jack-O-Lantern trail during evenings in October.
Tickets vary depending on time and day. Open throughout October. Winchester Mystery House, 525 S Winchester Blvd, San Jose
For more fall fun, check out our list of amazing kid-friendly wineries to visit in California!
So many great venues to celebrate Halloween! We don’t have that many places that really embrace it here in the UK, I’d love to visit the US and try these places!
It’s so much fun! You do have Bonfire Night though to make up for it.