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No tricks, just treats at Boo at the LA Zoo. Photo by Jamie Pham courtesy of the Zoo
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9/29/23 - By Toby B

There are tons of things to do in Los Angeles for ghouls and gals, but Halloween is the name of the game in October. Los Angeles comes alive with pumpkin patches, haunted houses, fall festivals, and, of course, trick-or-treating—so many opportunities to wear Halloween costumes!

Major treats are in store for things to do in Los Angeles for families this October. With Trolls taking over South Coast Botanic Gardens and pedestrians taking over a Valley freeway, this month is full of reasons to say, "You don't see that every day!" Also, I have this weird feeling that there's something else going on in October. An odd, creepy-crawly chill climbs up my spine like I'm going about my own business when all of a sudden—BOO! Favorite fright activities include the chance to boo at the zoo, pick pumpkins at the farm, get fit for Halloween while helping defeat cancer, and so much more. 

These are just a few of our favorite things to do in Los Angeles in October—we're adding more events to the Los Angeles Family Event Calendar daily. Keep reading for the very best things to do in Los Angeles this October, and don't forget to check back weekly for our picks for the best things to do in Los Angeles each weekend.

 

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Sport festive Halloween costumes for a good cause. Photo by Angela Daves-Haley/LACC
Sport festive Halloween costumes for a good cause. Photo by Angela Daves-Haley/LACC

The Best Things To Do in Los Angeles with Kids in October 2023

2023 Orange County Children's Book Festival

Costa Mesa - Sunday, October 1, 2023
Free
Read all about it: the Orange County Children's Book Festival unites children's books authors, illustrators and readers. READ MORE

Thomas Dambo's Trolls: Save the Humans

Palos Verdes Peninsula - Opens Sunday, October 1, 2023
Thomas Dambo's Trolls: Save the Humans will have its West Coast premiere at South Coast Botanic Garden, located at on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, on October 1 featuring the acclaimed artist’s signature folklore-inspired troll sculptures built from reclaimed materials. The exhibit is open daily until January 14, 2024.  READ MORE

OC Auto Show

Anaheim - Thursday - Sunday, October 5 - 8, 2023
The OC Auto Show returns to the Anaheim Convention Center with hundreds of new cars, trucks, crossovers, SUVs, electric vehicles, exotics, and more.  The event includes special activities for kids, including their own mini test drives! READ MORE

Carved

La Canada - Friday - Sunday, October 6 - 29, 2023
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

Reyes Adobe Days

Agoura Hills, Friday - Sunday, October 6 - 8, 2023
Free
Reyes Adobe Days returns! The weekend-long celebration of California's heritage doesn't scrimp on the fun, with a parade, pony rides, and a petting zoo. READ MORE

2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

El Segundo - Saturday, October 7, 2023
Free
The 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour makes a pitstop in El Segundo with an all-new search for a custom vehicle worthy of becoming a Hot Wheels die-cast car. READ MORE

Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair

Manhattan Beach - Saturday & Sunday, October 7 & 8, 2023
Free admission
The Hometown Fair celebrates its 51st year! This Manhattan Beach favorite offers up live entertainment on multiple stages, arts & crafts vendors, a petting zoo, pony rides, games, inflatables, entertainment, and a showcase of community art. READ MORE

Pumpkin Palooza

Santa Ana - Starts Saturday, October 7 - 31, 2023
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.  READ MORE

50th Annual Los Angeles Korean Festival

Koreatown - Thursday - Sunday, October 12 - 15, 2023
Free
The mission of the Los Angeles Korean Festival is to provide an opportunity for young, second-generation Korean Americans to appreciate their culture and heritage, as well as to introduce people from all ethnic groups to Korean culture. READ MORE

ArtNight Pasadena

Pasadena - Friday, October 13, 2023
Free
Pasadena's Art Night is once again a go! Select museums and institutions in Pasadena, (including the Pasadena Public Library, USC Pacific Asia Museum, and Armory Center for the Arts) open their doors for this free semi-annual event. READ MORE

3rd Annual Fall-O-Ween at Heritage Hill Historical Park

Lake Forest - Friday - Sunday, October 13 - 22
Free
Families are invited to tour the spooky decorated historical grounds of Heritage Hill during special park hours and take photos at a variety of fall and Halloween-themed photo opportunities. Guests can try to find their way through the hay maze and complete a scavenger hunt for ghoulish goodies at this free, family-friendly event. READ MORE

Culver City Art Walk & Roll Festival 2023

Culver City - Saturday, October 14, 2023
Free
Culver City turns up the volume with this year’s rockin’ Art Walk and Roll Festival. The festival features artists, live music, eclectic food trucks, wine and beer gardens, tastings, fun kid’s activities, interactive art experiences, and an e-mobility showcase. READ MORE

The Wallis Family Fest

Beverly Hills - Sunday, October 14, 2023
Free
Kids can get up close to music at a day of free family fun at The Wallis. Interactive music-themed activities include an instrument petting zoo, and a Composer's lab where kids create a musical piece that is then performed by a professional musician. READ MORE

CicLAvia - Heart of LA

DTLA - Sunday, October 15, 2023
Free
CicLAvia revisits its Heart of LA route. The 7.8-mile route connects Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Historic Core of DTLA, South Park, the 6th Street Viaduct, and Boyle Heights. READ MORE

Sherman Oaks Street Fair

Sherman Oaks - Sunday, October 15, 2023
Free
The Sherman Oaks Street Fair returns for its 31st year. Billed as the largest single-day event in the San Fernando Valley, the fair runs along Ventura Boulevard from Kester to Van Nuys Blvd. READ MORE

LA Fall Fair

South El Monte - Starts Friday, October 20, 2023
The largest fall festival in Los Angeles County boasts 12 acres of amusement rides, circus attractions, live music (on Saturday and Sunday), games, arts & crafts, and an international food court. READ MORE

Grand Ave Arts: All Access

DTLA - Saturday, October 21, 2023
Free
Grand Avenue Arts: All Access showcases major cultural institutions in DTLA. The free one-day event features performances, exhibitions, behind-the-scenes tours, and interactive family-friendly activities. In addition, new for 2022, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District introduces Grand Ave Augmented, a series of AR experiences along Grand Avenue that complement the live programming at participating organizations. READ MORE

Pasadena Playhouse Family Play Day

Pasadena - October 21, 2023
Free
Putting the "play" in Playhouse.... Pasadena Playhouse hosts its first ever Family Play Day, celebrating its upcoming youth and family programs with food, crafts, and free entertainment.  Plus: special guest star Rachel Bloom, because every event needs a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to liven things up! READ MORE

Spooky Science Night

Downey - Saturday, October 21, 2023
Columbia Memorial Space Center hosts a spooky-themed night of science, with a variety of hands-on activities available for all ages. READ MORE

Long Beach Airport Festival of Flight 2023

Long Beach - Saturday, October 21, 2023
Free
The popular Festival of Flight returns to Long Beach Airport. The free event features aircrafts on static display, live music, food and beer trucks, and activities for kids. READ MORE

Fall Festival (Original Farmers Market)

Mid-City - Saturday & Sunday, October 21 & 22, 2023
Free
Kids can enjoy the wonders of a country fair in the middle of the city. The Original Farmers Market on Fairfax plays host to the Fall Festival, featuring such family-friendly attractions as a pumpkin patch, farm animals, fall-themed games, kids crafts, photo ops, and live entertainment.  READ MORE

26th Annual L.A. Cancer Challenge 5K Walk/Run

Westwood - Sunday, October 22, 2023
The 26th Annual L.A. Cancer Challenge 5K Walk/Run (LACC) is a Halloween-themed charity race hosted and produced by the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.  READ MORE

Boo at the LA Zoo

Griffith Park - Saturday & Sunday, October 21 - 29, 2023
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

OC Japan Fair 2023

Costa Mesa - Friday - Sunday, October 27 - 29, 2023
The Annual OC Japan Fair is one of the largest Japanese cultural festivals in Southern California. Guests can enjoy shopping, indulging in Japanese cuisine, and learning about Japanese culture, with live performances, games, Kimono models and more. READ MORE

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas In Concert with Danny Elfman

Hollywood - Friday - Sunday, October 27 - 29, 2023
What's this? What's this?  There's people singing songs... Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas screens at the Hollywood Bowl with the music performed live to screen, with special guests sure to give you chills. READ MORE

Pageant of the Monsters

Laguna Beach - Friday - Tuesday, October 27 - 31, 2023
Just when you thought it was safe to go backstage ... The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters brings a monster of a good time back to Laguna Beach!  Only returning to the Festival grounds every five years, the Pageant of the Monsters transforms the Festival backstage into a haunted house with an artistic twist. READ MORE

Día y Noche de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever

Hollywood - Saturday, October 28, 2023
The annual Día de los Muertos event at Los Angeles’s oldest memorial park is the nation's largest Day of the Dead event, celebrating the memories of loved ones with ceremonial tributes and extravagant altar creations amidst some of the city's most famous departed. Separate day and evening events are made memorable with music, dance, and exotic costumes and decor throughout the park. READ MORE

Battleship IOWA Halloween STEMebration

San Pedro - Saturday, October 28, 2023
Free
This Halloween season, Battleship IOWA welcomes guests on board to enjoy candy stations, STEM stations, craft stations, a spooky reading corner, and carnival games. READ MORE

Día de los Muertos (3rd Street Promenade)

Santa Monica - Saturday, October 28, 2023
Free
Downtown Santa Monica celebrates Día de los Muertos with music, performances, and more along Third Street Promenade. READ MORE

Scarium of the Pacific

Long Beach - Saturday & Sunday, October 28 & 29, 2023
Brace yourself for the Scarium of the Pacific, the Aquarium of the Pacific's annual Halloween celebration. Guests can don costumes to enjoy spooky décor and creepy creatures, along with a vampire magician, underwater pumpkin carving, and more. READ MORE

ArroyoFest

Lincoln Heights, Highland Park & South Pasadena - Sunday, October 29, 2023
Free
For the first time in 20 years, pedestrians and people-powered vehicles take over 6 miles of the Arroyo Seco Parkway segment of the 110, for an open streets event presented by 626 Golden Streets. READ MORE

Pumpkin Race Festival

Manhattan Beach - Sunday, October 29, 2023
Free admission
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 Pumpkinrace Land. READ MORE

Kidspace Halloween

Pasadena - Tuesday - Sunday through October 31, 2023
Everyone is invited to march, dance, and strut the orange catwalk in the fanciful Halloween parade—costumes encouraged! Additional fun includes pumpkin decorating (nominal charge), costume crafts, and up-close visits with some not-too-scary animal friends. READ MORE

26th Annual Fall Harvest Festival

Moorpark - Daily through Tuesday, October 31, 2023
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

Nights of the Jack

Calabasas - Daily through Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Nights of the Jack is a family-friendly, Halloween-themed show situated on a 2/3 mile nature trail filled with thousands of hand-carved jack-o'-lanterns.   New in 2023: brand new lantern art activations, new photo ops, an interactive AR scavenger hunt, and QR code activated AR selfies. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Reyes Adobe Park and throughout Agoura Hills
Multiple Venues in Pasadena
Heritage Hill Historical Park
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Multiple Hubs, including Mariachi Plaza
Whittier Narrows Rec Park / LA Prada Plaza
Numerous Venues along Grand Avenue, including: The Broad Museum
Along the Arroyo Seco Parkway
Kidspace Children's Museum