Halloween brings out the spirit of Chicago like no other holiday. Chicagoans decorate parks, skyscrapers and streets and hold Halloween parties and events throughout the entire month of October. From orange fountains downtown, to pumpkin patches in the parks and winding corn mazes in the city’s nearby farmlands, Chicago offers plenty of fun ways to stay active while enjoying the Halloween season.
Spooky Zoo
You don’t have to be a child to have fun at the zoo, especially around Halloween. On the Saturday before Halloween, Lincoln Park’s Spooky Zoo includes a haunted house, trick-or-treating and live entertainment in the company of lions, bears, flamingos and apes.
If you’re feeling competitive, the Brookfield Zoo hosts Boo! at the Zoo during the last two weeks of October. The event is complete with costume contests, a corn maze and magic acts.
Chicagoween
Chicagoween is an annual celebration held at Daley Plaza, better known as “Franken Plaza” during the last week of October. This free event presents several aerial shows a day, pumpkin carving contests and a farmers' market to enjoy the fall harvest of apples, squash and potatoes.
You’ll see some of Chicago’s best performers and have the opportunity to dance to live music and feast your eyes on the city’s ambitious, young pumpkin sculptors.
Halloween on the Farm
Chicago is surrounded by a number of large family farms that are more than 100 years old. Every October, these farms open their fields to the public for Halloween festivals with hayrides, corn mazes, apple cider, pumpkin patches, camel rides and pumpkin picking.
Johansen Farms is 30 minutes from downtown Chicago and home to a petting zoo with more than 500 animals, 25,000 pumpkins and a corn maze.
For a more physical challenge, Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm has a climbing wall, two giant slides, two corn mazes and a train ride through the farm's 40 acres.
Parades
As the third largest city in the United States, Chicago has a number of diverse neighborhoods, and each has its own way of celebrating all things fun and scary.
From jack-o-lantern contests to pony rides and costume contests, it’s hard to tell who’s having more fun as both children and adults go all out in costumes and makeup.
The North Halstead Street Halloween Parade attracts thousands of participants and spectators. It’s free to register to march in the parade, and you’ll be sure to get in some exercise.
Haunted Tours
Halloween is not the same without a good scare. Most ghost tours are only available on Halloween, and it’s an entertaining way to learn a little about the city’s cultural history.
Many of the supernatural tales are rooted in true details about what the city was like at a specific point in history, such as anecdotes that occurred prior to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Housed in a 20,000-square-foot house, Chronicles of the Cursed on Grand Avenue is the largest haunted house in the city. This downtown fright fest has demon toys, monsters and ghouls that promise to keep you on your toes.
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