Family Fall Activity Guide | Fall Event for Kids in Brooklyn

Written By Katie Johnson

Halloween Day: Saturday, October 31

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so the parades and the trick-or-treating are the same day. Everything below is on October 31 itself.

  • Park Slope Halloween ParadeConfirm dateFree Sat Oct 31, evening Historically lines up on 7th Avenue and ends at J.J. Byrne Playground. The Civic Council has not posted the 2026 route or start time yet.
  • Boo!KCM, Brooklyn Conservatory of MusicFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 31, 4 to 6pm Live music and trick-or-treating in the BKCM Garden at 58 7th Avenue. They are also running a Halloween movie night on Friday Oct 30, 6 to 9pm.
  • Brooklyn Children's Museum HalloweenConfirm dateSubway-able Sat Oct 31 Confirmed for Halloween day with costumes, trick-or-treating and anime-inspired programming, but times and pricing are not posted yet.
  • Creepy Crawly Halloween, Prospect ParkFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 31, 10am to 4pm The low-key option if you have little kids and want to be home before dark.
  • Ascarium, New York AquariumSubway-able Weekends Oct 10 to 31, plus Mon Oct 12, 11am to 4pm Free with aquarium admission. Halloween is the final day.
  • NYC DOT Trick or StreetsConfirm dateFree Announced in late October Car-free blocks set aside for trick-or-treating. DOT posts the map about three days out every year, so check back the week of.

Where to Trick-or-Treat in Brooklyn

High housing density means a lot of candy in a short walk. Any block with brownstones and decorations is a safe bet, and most commercial strips hand out candy too. One warning from experience: Brooklyn sidewalks get crowded and are not stroller-friendly on Halloween. If you have a toddler, plan a shorter loop you can walk or carry.

  • Brooklyn Heights Garden Place, from around 4pm Montague Street shops participate, down to the dry cleaners and the liquor store.
  • Cobble Hill Warren, Wyckoff, Henry and Clinton Hard to go wrong anywhere in the neighborhood.
  • Fort Greene The blocks south of Fort Greene Park Clinton Avenue has been closed to cars south of the park in past years.
  • Prospect Heights Park Place and Underhill Underhill has closed for a few blocks in past years. Prospect Place and Sterling are always busy. Look for the Space Car on Park Place, the owner puts an inflatable dragon on the roof every Halloween.
  • Park Slope 3rd Street, 5th Avenue to Prospect Park West Busiest around the parade route. Polhemus Place is another favorite, and shops along 5th and 7th hand out candy.
  • Clinton HillConfirm date Around Myrtle Avenue The BID has run a Monster Mash in past years but has nothing posted for 2026. Downtown Brooklyn is running BKLYN BOO! on Friday Oct 30, 4 to 6pm at Abolitionist Place.

Halloween Festivals and Fall Weekends

Saturday October 24 is the other big day this year. Four of these stack on it, so pick one.

  • Fort Greene Park Halloween FestFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 24, 12 to 4pm Rain date Oct 25. Dance party, face painting, and the Great PUPkin dog costume contest at noon.
  • The Great PUPkin Dog Costume ContestBook aheadSubway-able Sat Oct 24, 12 to 1pm New this year: dogs entering the contest need to register on Eventbrite in advance. Watching is still free.
  • Governors Island Pumpkin PointFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25, 10am to 5pm Free pumpkins on the Nolan Park lawn, one per person per household, and bring your own bag. Costumes encouraged, with trick-or-treating at the historic houses both days. Rain or shine. The Yard playground is worth the trip on its own.
  • Fall Harvest Festival, Brooklyn Botanic GardenBook aheadSubway-able Sat Oct 24, 11am to 5pm Last entry 4:30. Ticketed separately this year, with member pricing. Costume parade in the afternoon.
  • Brooklyn Bridge Park Harvest FestivalFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 17, 11am to 3pm Pier 6. Pumpkin patch, crafts, lawn games and face painting, no tickets needed. The easiest one on this whole list if you live in brownstone Brooklyn.
  • Brooklyn Heights Halloween ParadeConfirm dateFree Late October, near the Promenade The Brooklyn Heights Association runs this every year but has not posted 2026 details.
  • Tompkins Square Halloween Dog ParadeConfirm dateBook ahead A Sunday in mid-to-late October Owners go all out. Note that entering a dog now requires advance registration, which is a change from the walk-up years.
  • Boo at the Zoo, Bronx Zoo Weekends Sept 26 to Nov 1, plus Mon Oct 12 Activities wrap at 4pm. Free with zoo admission or membership.
  • Halloween Harvest, Luna ParkSubway-able Sept 19 to Nov 1 Coney Island, weekends plus select weekdays. Rides, pumpkin picking and a great deal of pumpkin spice. Hours vary by date, sold as an all-day wristband.
  • The Great Jack O'Lantern BlazeBook ahead Sept 18 to Nov 8, every night in October Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. Thousands of carved pumpkins. Advance tickets are required and none are sold at the gate, so do not drive up hoping. From $24.

Pumpkin Patches Near the City

You do not have to leave the five boroughs for a pumpkin. These are ordered roughly by how easy they are to reach from brownstone Brooklyn.

  • Brooklyn Bridge Park Harvest FestivalFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 17, 11am to 3pm The only patch on this list you can walk to.
  • Governors Island Pumpkin PointFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25, 10am to 5pm Free pumpkins, one per person. Ferry is about $4 round trip, free for kids 12 and under, and free for everyone before noon on weekends.
  • Green Meadows FarmBook aheadSubway-able Weekends Sept 19 to Nov 8, plus Mon Oct 12, 11am to 5pm At Floyd Bennett Field. $14 a person and everyone gets a pumpkin. About 25 minutes down Flatbush by car, or the 2/5 to Brooklyn College then the Q35. A bit gimmicky, but mine loved it at that age. Note the site changed operators this summer and is now the Floyd Bennett Sports Complex.
  • Cityside Pumpkin PatchBook aheadSubway-able Oct 3 to Nov 2 A rooftop patch in Long Island City, about eight minutes from the F at 21st Street–Queensbridge. Timed tickets required, from about $17 a person, and slots sell out. This is a photo-op event, not a farm.
  • Queens County Farm MuseumFree Daily Oct 1 to 31. Weekdays 1 to 5pm, weekends 10am to 5pm A real working farm, and the patch is free with pumpkins priced by size. Two catches this year: it is ticket-holders-only on Oct 3, 4 and 31, and there is no good transit, so plan to drive about an hour.
  • Decker Farm, Historic Richmond TownConfirm dateBook ahead October weekends from Sat Oct 3, plus Mon Oct 12, 12 to 5pm Staten Island, about 40 minutes over the Verrazzano. Pumpkins priced by weight on top of admission. 2026 pricing is not posted yet and their own page is unclear on whether the last weekend is Oct 25 or 31.

Farm Days Outside the City

All of these are a car day, and all of them are busy on October weekends and Columbus Day. Leave early and reserve where you can. One tip: most U-Pick places make you bring your own bag, so grab a couple of the big grocery totes on the way out the door.

  • F&W Schmitt's Farm, Melville Sept 19 to Oct 31 About 70 minutes without traffic, longer on a Saturday. Playground, U-Pick pumpkins, sunflowers and an evening haunt. $24 on weekends, $18 on weekdays. Door sales only, no reservations, so get there early.
  • White Post Animal Farm, Melville Weekends Sept 19 to Oct 25, plus Mon Oct 12 Five minutes from Schmitt's, so you can pair them. Known for the animals, including a giraffe. Hayrides and a pumpkin patch in fall. Around $40 a head and a few dollars more if you buy online, with pumpkins extra by the pound. Note the season ends Oct 25, not Halloween.
  • Harbes Family Farm, North Fork Mattituck reopens Sept 19 Two hours and change without traffic, closer to three on an October Saturday, so treat it as a full day. The Mattituck and Jamesport pumpkin patches need no admission, pumpkins are by the pound. The Riverhead orchard patch requires an apple-picking package, and the Barnyard Adventure is separate and does not include pumpkins.
  • Woodside Orchards, North Fork U-Pick from Sept 19 Apples only, no pumpkins, and much calmer than Harbes. Smaller operation with cider and donuts. You buy at least one peck bag per group, now $23, and no outside bags. The Jamesport orchard is weekends only and cash only. Minutes from Harbes if you want both.
  • Brightwaters Farms, Bay ShoreSubway-able Sept 21 to Oct 30 About 75 minutes, and the only one out here that half works by train, LIRR to Bay Shore plus a short ride. Harvest festival with a pumpkin patch, bounce houses and beer and wine. Weekend admission is now $29.95, up sharply from last year. Weekdays are free but stripped down, with hayrides $10.
  • Outhouse Orchards, North SalemBook ahead Aug 30 to Nov 1 About an hour upstate. Apple picking, pumpkins and craft beer, plus Fall Friday Nights on Sept 18 and 25 and Oct 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. Big change this year: you now need a timed ticket just to get in, and the apples are a paid add-on on top.
  • Apple Ridge Orchards, Warwick Apples from Aug 29, pumpkins from Sept 19 About 90 minutes. U-Pick apples and pumpkins plus an animal farm. Open Thursday through Sunday only, so do not plan a Monday trip.
  • Boehm Farm, ClimaxConfirm date Open for the 2026 season, Wed to Mon Two hours up into the Catskills. Apple picking and a pumpkin patch with none of the crowds. They have not posted dates or pricing, and crop availability moves week to week, so call first.
  • Demarest Farms, Hillsdale NJBook ahead PYO from Aug 29. Light show Sept 26 to 27, Oct 2 to 4, 8 to 12 and 15 to 31 The closest of the New Jersey options at about an hour, though you drive through Manhattan to get there. Pick-your-own pumpkins and apples. Go in the evening for the Halloween drive-through light show, which needs a reservation.
  • Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck NJConfirm date Reported Sept 18 to Oct 25, plus Mon Oct 12 Just over an hour. No admission charge, you pay for what you pick, which is a nice perk. They have no website, only social, so call ahead to confirm they are open.
  • Secor Farms, Mahwah NJBook ahead Sept 12 to Nov 1, daily 9am to 5:30pm A bit more than an hour. Hayrides, a pumpkin patch and a lot of fall treats. New this year: you have to buy tickets online in advance for everything, including weekdays. Pumpkins are 75 cents a pound on top.

Oktoberfest, For the Grown-Ups

A good excuse for a daytime babysitter and a few parent friends.

  • Oktoberfest NYC, Financial DistrictFreeSubway-able Sept 10 to Oct 31 Pier 15 on the East River. Free to get in, all ages welcome, and the longest run of the three. RSVP is free and worth doing on a Saturday.
  • Black Forest BrooklynConfirm dateSubway-able Reported Sept 20 to Oct 25 The German restaurant on Fulton in Fort Greene goes all in, with live music and stein-holding contests at both the Fort Greene and Cobble Hill locations. Now ticketed at about $15, which is new, so call to confirm.
  • Bear Mountain Oktoberfest CruiseConfirm date Sept 19 and 20 only Cruise up the Hudson with schnitzel, pretzels and beer, with about three hours at the park. This has shrunk to two sailings this year and may already be gone. If it is, their fall foliage cruise still runs from Pier 83.

Fall Hikes

Leaves usually peak in and around the city in late October and early November.

  • Van Cortlandt Park TrailsFreeSubway-able Open year round The 1 train takes you there. Several trails, lots of easy options and varied terrain.
  • Fort Tryon ParkFreeSubway-able Open year round The A train. A three-mile easy loop, good for kids who can actually walk it.
  • Bear Mountain State Park Open year round About an hour north. Trails from family-friendly to genuinely challenging. Coach USA runs buses to the Bear Mountain Inn if you would rather not drive.
  • Casino Trail, Mount BeaconSubway-able Open year round Challenging but reachable without a car, Metro-North to Beacon.
  • Mountain Creek Trails, NJ Open year round A good loop on the ski hill, and because it is a resort the parking is easy.

Spooky Evenings

For slightly older kids, and for adults who like this sort of thing.

  • Haunted Carousel, Prospect ParkSubway-able Thu Oct 29 to Sun Nov 1, 12 to 5pm $3 a ride or $13 for five, and free with a Prospect Park Alliance family membership.
  • Legend of Sleepy Hollow Reading, Lefferts Historic HouseFreeSubway-able Sun Oct 25, 2 to 4pm In Prospect Park. Good for the age where they want to be scared but not really scared.
  • Candlelight Ghost Tours, Merchant's House MuseumBook aheadSubway-able Oct 16, 17, 23, 24, 29 and 30, every half hour 6:30 to 9pm Fifty minutes by candlelight in an 1832 house. $45, or $35 for members. There is also a longer paranormal-investigator tour at 9:30pm. My eight-year-old would love this one.
  • Village Ghost Tours, Historic Richmond TownConfirm dateBook ahead Reported Sept 18 to Oct 31, Fridays and Saturdays Costumed storytellers, an hour, ages 8 and up. Richmond Town has not posted 2026 dates on its own site, so confirm before you drive out.
  • Green-Wood After HoursBook aheadSubway-able Oct 3 and Oct 9, evenings Green-Wood is running evening programming again this year, though the Poe and true-crime trolley tours have not been scheduled for 2026.

Día de los Muertos for Families

  • Green-Wood Cemetery Day of the DeadFreeSubway-able Mon Nov 2, 4 to 7pm Free with a $10 suggested donation. Crafts, music and dance at the main entrance meadow. Registration is recommended but walk-ins are welcome.
  • En Familia, Día de Muertos at El Museo del BarrioFreeSubway-able Sat Oct 17, 10am to 2pm Free. Art-making, live music and community altars. Note it has moved well ahead of the holiday this year.
  • Día de los Muertos at the New York Botanical Garden Oct 3 to Nov 2, main celebration Nov 1, 1 to 5pm New at NYBG this year. Marigold plantings, a community ofrenda, and weekend crafts and performances in the children's garden. Included with the All-Garden Pass.
  • Day of the Dead at St. Mark's Church in-the-BoweryConfirm dateFree Early November A large community ofrenda, folk music, craft workshops and a Mexican marketplace, outdoors and rain or shine. You can bring an unframed photo for the altar. The 2026 date has not been posted yet.
  • Fall into Art, Brooklyn MuseumConfirm dateSubway-able Usually a late-October Saturday A family day combining Halloween and Día de los Muertos. No 2026 date posted yet.

Fall in Brooklyn: Common Questions

When is Halloween 2026?

Halloween 2026 falls on Saturday, October 31. Because it lands on a weekend, most Brooklyn parades and festivals are on Halloween itself rather than the weekend before, and the other big cluster of fall events is Saturday, October 24.

Where is the best trick-or-treating in Brooklyn?

Park Slope around 3rd Street, Prospect Heights on Park Place and Underhill, the blocks south of Fort Greene Park, Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights, and the streets around Warren and Wyckoff in Cobble Hill. In brownstone Brooklyn, any block with decorations is handing out candy, and most commercial strips take part too.

Is there a pumpkin patch in Brooklyn?

Yes. Brooklyn Bridge Park runs a free harvest festival with a pumpkin patch at Pier 6 on Saturday, October 17, and Green Meadows Farm runs pumpkin picking at Floyd Bennett Field on weekends from September 19 through November 8. Governors Island gives away free pumpkins at Pumpkin Point on October 24 and 25.

What fall activities near NYC can you get to without a car?

Brooklyn Bridge Park's harvest festival, Governors Island Pumpkin Point by ferry, Green Meadows Farm on the Q35 bus, Cityside Pumpkin Patch on the F train, Luna Park at Coney Island, the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium. Every other farm on this list is realistically a driving day.

How much do pumpkin patches near New York City cost in 2026?

It ranges widely. Governors Island and Brooklyn Bridge Park are free, Queens County Farm charges only for the pumpkin, Green Meadows is $14 a person with a pumpkin included, Cityside starts around $17 with a timed ticket, and the Long Island farms run from $24 to about $40 a person with pumpkins priced separately by weight.

If you want more weekly activity ideas, I post them on Instagram all season.

And if a move around Brooklyn is on your mind this fall, I am a Brooklyn agent and a Prospect Heights parent, and I think about how a family actually lives in a place before I think about the square footage. Email me and let us grab coffee.

Dates confirmed with each venue as of September 2026. Anything marked Confirm date had not posted 2026 details when this went up, so check the link before you go. I update this guide through the season.

Exploring a move this Fall? See what’s currently on the market.

Are you looking to make a move around Brooklyn soon? If you're looking for a real estate agent who understands how your family lives, please send me an email, and let's grab coffee.

-Katie

Katie Johnson
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