31 Free Halloween Events for Kids in New York City 2011

New York City is literally packed with free Halloween activities. In fact, there are so many great ways to celebrate you may need a magic eight ball to decide where to go. Luckily, your kids will be so hopped up on candy, they'll probably have the energy to hit several events in one day.

We've rounded up the cream of the candy corn: 31 free Halloween events for kids in all five boroughs that we're really excited about. Read on to find out where and when you can see spooky stilt-walkers, hop on hay rides, visit haunted houses and get the whole family dressed up—even the dog.

Update: It's supposed to rain and snow on Saturday, October 29! Before heading to an outdoor celebration on that day, check the event's official website to make sure it's still happening.

Jefferson Market Garden Children's Harvest Festival – Greenwich Village
Greenwich Avenue between Sixth Avenue and 10th Street
Saturday, October 15 11am-2pm
FREE
Kids can pick up tiny pumpkins and decorate them or try other seasonal crafts. They can also enjoy country fun by helping the park rake leaves and jumping in big bales of straw. The nearby Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library sponsors the live entertainment.

Fall Kids' Fest – Flatiron
Madison Square Park, 23rd Street at Madison Avenue
Saturday, October 15 11am-2pm
FREE
Children can don their Halloween costumes for a parade led by a Big Apple Circus clown, and then hit the pumpkin patch to pick and decorate a jack-o'-lantern. This popular fest also features live sets by Voca People and Princess Katie & Racer Steve, games, arts and crafts, face painting and snacks. Arrive early! It gets mobbed fast.

Día de los Muertos Celebration – East Harlem
El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Saturday, October 15 11am-6pm
FREE
The Day of the Dead (the Latino equivalent of Halloween) is the theme for this edition of the museum's free monthly Super Sabado party. Enjoy face painting, arts and crafts, live music and a spooky procession from the nearby Dana Discovery Center to the museum.

Pooch Parade and Howl-Ween – Staten Island
Wolfe's Pond Park, Cornelia, Holten and Luten Avenues on Raritan Bay
Saturday, October 15 noon-3pm
FREE
Costumed canines compete at this annual holiday shindig. Categories include longest tail, shortest dog and floppiest ears. There will also be a doggie obstacle course.

Rockaway Fall Festival – Rockaway
Bayswater Park, Beach 32 Street and Beach Channel Drive
Sunday, October 16 noon-3pm
FREE
This annual Queens favorite features a pumpkin patch, costume-making, pony and hay rides, and live entertainment.

CarnEvil Haunted Walk – Staten Island
Greenbelt Recreation Center, 501 Brielle Avenue
Thursday, October 21 4-6pm
FREE
Enjoy Halloween crafts, games, pumpkin picking and autumn treats for the kids. Costumes are a must! Afterward, there's a Haunted Walk for adults only from 7-9pm.

Halloween: Bats at Belvedere – Upper East Side
Central Park, mid-park at 79th Street
Friday, October 21 5-6:30pm
FREE
Head to Belvedere Castle to get up close and personal with a few night flyers. Dr. Bill Schutt, local bat expert and author of Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures also takes guests on a bat walk at dusk.

Harvest Festival – Cobble Hill
Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Atlantic Avenue and the waterfront
Saturday, October 22 10:30-1pm
FREE
This jam-packed party at one of our favorite playgrounds includes face painting, storytelling, mask making, pumpkin decorating, a costume parade and live music by Erin Lee and the Up Past Bedtime Band, and the super-awesome Pop Ups.

Halloween Harvest Festival – Long Island City
Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Boulevard at Broadway
Saturday, October 22 11am-3pm
FREE
The Queens art spot throws a fabulous, artsy fest every Halloween. This year, you can make your own costumes, groove to live music, take various recycled art workshops and enter your pet in a canine costume contest. Other attractions include face painting, locally grown food, break-dancing and spoken word performances, and a costume swap.

The Brownstone School's Halloween Fun Fair – Upper West Side
P.S. 87, Amsterdam Avenue at 77th Street
Saturday, October 22 11am-5pm
FREE
Enjoy train rides, bouncy castles, holiday crafts like pumpkin decorating, face painting, tattoos, spin art and more at this outdoor fair.

Marine Park Annual Halloween Festival – Marine Park
Marine Park, Flatbush, Gerritsen and Fillmore Avenues
Saturday, October 22 noon-3:45pm
FREE
A celebration with costumes, games and pumpkins.

Halloween Festival – Bayside
Fort Totten Park, Cross Island Parkway, Totten Road to 15 Road
Saturday, October 22 noon-4pm
FREE
Kids can enjoy games, rides, craft projects, a costume contest, hay rides, a pumpkin patch and even walk away with goodie bags.

Big Green Extreme Halloween – Upper West Side
P.S. 166, 132 West 89th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues
Sunday, October 23 10am-5pm
FREE
You'll have a spooktacular time at this school's famed annual celebration. Enjoy rides, a costume contest, a haunted house, pumpkin and cupcake decorating, eco-crafts, a magic show, stilt walkers and food by Top Chef Masters star and P.S. 166 dad Jonathan Waxman. There are fees for certain activities.

Halloween: Parade & Pumpkin Sail – Harlem
Central Park, enter at 110th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues
Sunday, October 23 4-7pm
FREE
Bring your jack-o'-lantern to the Dana Discover Center, and then watch it sail away at dusk on the Harlem Meer. Other activities include arts and crafts, spooky stories, live music and a costume parade around the northeastern edge of the park.

Along Came A Spider Halloween Craft – Upper East Side
Chess & Checkers House in Central Park, mid-Park at 64th Street
Thursday, October 27 2-4pm
FREE
Create your own spider out of recycled materials while learning about the different kinds of arachnids that live in the park.

Spooky Storytime Yoga – Chelsea
Karma Kids Yoga, 104 West 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
Friday, October 28 at 3pm
FREE
In honor of Halloween, the studio will lead children in creepy poses, like the wolf, bat, spider, goblin, witch, wizard, ghost.... you get the idea. Costumes are encouraged! Kids up to age 6.

Halloween is Happening – Financial District
Trinity Churchyard, Broadway at Wall Street
Friday, October 28 4-7pm
The stunning church hosts this alfresco fete, featuring historical characters like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, ghosts, witches and goblins, treats, games, crafts, face painting, scary stories and a screening of the classic silent film Metropolis, with live organ accompaniment.

Wonderween at Sony Wonder Technology Lab – Midtown East
550 Madison Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets
Saturday, October 29 10am-4pm
FREE
A day of spooky screenings for the preschool set. Catch Elmo Says Boo, and Halloween-themed Dora The Explorer and Go, Diego, Go episodes. Kids can also enjoy crafts and goodies. Families accommodated on a first-come first-served basis.

Puppetry Arts Haunted Halloween Carnival – Park Slope
First Street Recreation Center of P.S. 372, 1st Street between Third and Fourth Avenues
Saturday, October 29 11am-4pm
FREE
Enjoy a games and crafts, a haunted house, a costume contest and appearances by Star Wars characters. There are fees for certain activities.

Central Park Pumpkin Festival – Upper East Side
Central Park Bandshell, enter at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue
Saturday, October 29 11am-3pm
FREE
Head to the band shell for this massive (and always very crowded) fest. Hit the pumpkin patch, groove to live bands, catch a puppet show, do arts and crafts, play games, wander through a haunted house and a whole lot more.

Prospect Park Haunted Walk and Carnival – Prospect Park
Lookout Hill, enter park at Prospect Park Southwest and 16th Street
Saturday, October 29 noon-3pm
FREE
THIS EVENT IS CANCELED DUE TO BAD WEATHER SATURDAY.  Hike to Lookout Hill, which will be filled with witches, zombies and other creepy characters. Afterward, head to the Nethermead for a Halloween-themed carnival with games, treats and other fun.

Highland Park Fall Harvest Festival and Pirate Day – Jamaica
Elton Street and Jamaica Avenue in Highland Park
Saturday, October 29 noon-3pm
FREE
Head to the Queens park for horse and carriage rides, crafts, games, a pumpkin patch, a treasure hunt and a pirate show. There will even be a personal appearance by that sassy swashbuckler Captain Jack. Pirate costumes are encouraged.

Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival – Fort Greene
Fort Greene Park, Myrtle Avenue, Cumberland Street and DeKalb Avenue
Saturday, October 29 noon-3pm
FREE
Families can enjoy a cornucopia of free activities, including hay rides, face painting, stilt walkers, pumpkins to decorate, a spooky cemetery, plus live entertainment. The event kicks off with a canine costume contest and ends with a kids' costume parade.

Pre-Halloween Fun for the Entire Family – Jamaica
Central branch of the Queens Library, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard between 89th and 90th Avenues
Saturday, October 29 1-4pm
FREE
Bring the kids to this fete featuring two storytimes (one for preschoolers, the other for big kids), pumpkin carving and decorating, Poe, Times Two, a dramatization of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado and other literary fun. It's also a great day to check out the brand-new Children's Library Discovery Center, right next door.

Halloween Party at Le Carrousel – Midtown West
Bryant Park, enter at 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Saturday, October 29 1-2pm
FREE
Kids can go to the merry-go-round for Halloween crafts, pumpkin painting, a magic show and spooky stories told by Flaubert Frog. Costumes are encouraged.

Moxie Spot Halloween Monster Mash – Cobble Hill
Saturday, October 29 6-9pm
FREE
Head to the Brooklyn family restaurant and tot spot for its costume dance party.

Clifford's Costume Parade – Soho
Scholastic Store, 557 Broadway Between Prince and Spring Streets
Saturday, October 29 at 3pm
FREE
This year, everyone's favorite big red dog leads the way for this neighborhood parade. Afterward, kids can groove to ghoulish tunes and indulge in sweets.

Screamin' Green Halloween – Financial District
Winter Garden at the World Financial Center, 200 Vesey Street near West Street
Sunday, October 30 noon-3pm
Head downtown for this eco-friendly fete. Families can make masks and costumes out of recycled and repurposed household materials, compete in a bobbing for apples-like Toss a Spider in the Brew contest, enjoy organic and fair-trade sweets, and switch old costumes for new-to-you outfits at a costume swap. At the end, there will be a Ghosts & Goblins Parade around Battery Park City.

Halloween Parade and Party – Tribeca
Washington Market Park, Chambers and Greenwich Streets
Sunday, October 30 1-3pm
FREE
This popular annual Halloween party kicks off with a costume parade from CitiGroup Plaza to the park, where families can play games, do arts and crafts, and listen to a live concert by Princess Katie & Racer Steve.

Ghoul Pool – Bronx
Van Cortlandt Park Pool, West 242nd Street and Broadway
Sunday, October 30 4-7pm
FREE
The park's bath house is turned into a haunted house for families.

BAMboo! – Fort Greene
Outside of the BAM Peter Jay Sharp Building, Lafayette Ave between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street
Monday, October 31 4-7pm
FREE
The Brooklyn Academy of Music hosts its 10th annual Halloween shindig for families. Hit the street outside the culture spot for live music, roaming entertainers, a puppet show, games and, of course, candy and a costume contest.

For more seasonal fun check out our Halloween Guide.