23 Spooktacular Halloween Events in Rockland County, NY Your Kids Will Love

Have a spooky season full of thrills, chills, and some not-so-scary fun at these Halloween events in Rockland County, NY!

By Shara Levine October 4, 2021

It’s officially Spooky Season, which means families are looking for kid-friendly Halloween events in Rockland County, NY and nearby. Good news! We have what you’re looking for, from trick-or-treat events, the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, and costume parades in our community to Fright Fest at Six Flags, pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, and more! So browse this list of the most spooktacular Halloween events in Rockland County, plus our favorite events in nearby Westchester County and New Jersey. You’re sure to find family fun, no matter what thrill level your kids love. Just make sure to buy tickets now, since a lot of these events require advanced registration and tickets tend to sell out!

Looking for family activities for this weekend? Check out our weekend roundup, updated weekly!

Click on your preferred region below to jump to those Halloween events:

Rockland County
Westchester County
New Jersey

Halloween Events in Rockland County & Nearby

Brick-or-Treat

WHEN: Through Oct. 31: Saturday-Sunday, 3-6pm
WHERE: LEGOLAND New York Resort, 1 Legoland Blvd., Goshen
AGES: All
WHAT: Enjoy live entertainment and shows, character meet-and-greets, costume contests, dance parties, and, of course, trick-or-treating!
WANT TO GO? FREE with admission of $79.99 per person. Advanced registration required.

14th Annual Pearl River Day

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 16, 11am-8pm
WHERE: East Central Avenue, Pearl River
AGES: All
WHAT: Enjoy this annual street fair with craft vendors, food vendors, kids activities— including a bouncy castle, pumpkin painting, and more—plus, musical performances throughout the day.
WANT TO GO? Free entry; prices for goods vary.

Pumpkin Party

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 17, 11am-7pm
WHERE: Color Me Mine at Palisades Center, 3770 Palisades Center Drive, West Nyack
AGES: All
WHAT: Paint pumpkins, Halloween mugs, haunted house lanterns, Frankenstein’s monster, and more! Prices vary depending on the pottery piece selected. Ask a team member to show you some neat paint techniques. Goodie bags will be available and Halloween music will be played.
WANT TO GO? $10 table fee and goodie bag, additional fee for piece. Advanced registration required. Get 10 percent off your purchase when you come in costume.

FREE Trunk or Treat at the JTS Center

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 22, 5:30-8pm
WHERE: JTS Community, Health & Sports Center at Torne Valley, 115 Torne Valley Road, Hillburn
AGES: All
WHAT: Pick and decorate a pumpkin and enjoy a DJ with special effects, spooky cartoon presentations, and a special guest appearance by the Boulder Bird.
WANT TO GO? Advanced registration required.

Boo at the Zoo

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 23, 10:30am-3pm
WHERE: Trailside Museum and Zoo at Bear Mountain State Park, 55 Hessian Drive, Highland Falls
AGES: All
WHAT: Put on a costume, make bear treats, and enjoy pumpkin decorating, face painting, matching games, and crafts.
WANT TO GO? $1 suggested donation.

No Scare Halloween!

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 23, 11am-4pm
WHERE: Museum Village, 1010 Route 17M, Monroe
AGES: All
WHAT: Join Museum Village for its annual No Scare Halloween! All the same Halloween spirits with no scares, it is a perfect event for little ones. Come dressed in costume and enjoy games, costume parades, and candy! Play safe, outdoor spooky lawn games like pumpkin toss, bone balance, and candy corn wiggle walk.
WANT TO GO? $15; $13 seniors; $10 ages 4-12; free children younger than 3.

FREE 14th Annual Scarecrows & Pumpkins

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 24, 12-2pm
WHERE: Palisades Community Center, 675 Oak Tree Road, Palisades
AGES: All
WHAT: Bring old clothing and create a scarecrow masterpiece on the lawn and carve a pumpkin to take home!
WANT TO GO? This event is rain or shine. Email [email protected] for more information.

I Spy Halloween Scavenger Haunt

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 30, 11am-3pm, offered every 30 minutes
WHERE: Hudson Highlands Nature Museum's Outdoor Discovery Center, 120 Muser Drive, Cornwall
AGES: All
WHAT: Find all of the items hidden along the I SPY trail and a treat will be waiting upon your return!
WANT TO GO? $10. Advanced registration required.

FREE Halloween Happenings

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 30, 1-4pm
WHERE: Sterling Forest State Park, 116 Old Forge Road, Tuxedo
AGES: All
WHAT: Learn about the not so spooky world of bats and build a bat box of your very own! Then, get into the Halloween spirit with pumpkin painting and trick-or-treating.
WANT TO GO? Free. Advanced registration required.

FREE Halloween Parade

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 31, 6-8pm
WHERE: Orangeburg Fire House, 61 Dutch Hill Road, Orangeburg
AGES: All
WHAT: March in this annual Halloween parade, or be a spectator!
WANT TO GO? Parade steps off at 6:30pm in front of the firehouse.

Westchester County Halloween Events

Saturday Spooktacular!

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 30, 10am-4pm
WHERE: Westchester Children's Museum, 100 Playland Parkway, Rye
AGES: All
WHAT: Join WCM for a fun filled day of creepy-crawly crafts, scary stories, Halloween songs, and a costume parade! Get dressed in your best costume and join all the fun and scary activities.
WANT TO GO? $9; $8 seniors; free for members, children younger than 1, and active duty military personnel and their families within the same household. 914-420-5050.

Boo at the Zoo

WHEN: Through Oct. 31: Saturday-Sunday and Oct. 11, 10am-5:30pm
WHERE: Bronx Zoo, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx
AGES: All
WHAT: Come dressed in your Halloween best and enjoy magic, pumpkin carving demos, crafts, candy, Halloween show, costume parades, and more!
WANT TO GO? $39.95; $34.95 seniors 65 and older; $29.95 ages 3-12; free for children 2 and younger. Advanced registration required.

Brick-Or-Treat!

WHEN: Through Nov. 7: daily, 12-5:30pm
WHERE: LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester, 39 Fitzgerald St., Yonkers
AGES: 3-12
WHAT: Say Brick-or-Treat, and get into the Halloween spirit with all types of spooky activities and transform LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester into a hauntingly fun time!
WANT TO GO? $24.99.

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze

WHEN: Through Nov. 21: See website for schedule
WHERE: Van Cortlandt Manor, 525 S. Riverside Ave., Croton-on-Hudson
AGES: All
WHAT: Meander through an 18th-century landscape and discover a breathtaking display of more than 7,000 illuminated jack o’ lanterns—all designed and hand-carved on site by a team of artisans. New for 2021, gawk at the always-impressive New York City skyline’s pumpkin treatment and take a stroll under the sea in an immersive river display. Complete with synchronized lighting and an original soundtrack, this one-of-a-kind event is not to be missed!
WANT TO GO? $40-$48; $32-$36 ages 3-17. Advanced registration required.

Halloween Activities in New Jersey

Harvest Moon Nights

WHEN: Through Oct. 30: Friday-Saturday, 6-10pm (last entry at 8:30pm)
WHERE: Alstede Farms, 1 Alstede Farm Lane, Chester, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Delight in picking your own pumpkin, enjoy live entertainment, and sip fresh pressed cider, all while creating the perfect family memories around a campfire. Enjoy apple cider doughnut ice cream, pumpkin ice cream, and other seasonal favorites at the ice cream window. Admission includes hay wagon rides, corn maze by flashlight, entry to the pumpkin patch (price for pumpkin additional), live entertainment, warm campfire, and fresh pressed hot and cold apple cider.
WANT TO GO? $17.99. Advanced registration required.

Dinosaurs After Dark

WHEN: Through Oct. 30: Friday-Saturday, 6:45-9:30pm
WHERE: Field Station: Dinosaurs, 40 Fort Lee Road, Leonia, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: A spooky, funny and thrilling adventure for the whole family featuring a lantern lit tour of the park, the Mesozoic Midway, and more! But watch out! The trails are dark and there’s a hungry T-Rex lurking in the shadows. A fearless Dinosaur Wrangler will lead a Tyrannosaurus Hunt along the Field Station’s darkened trails with a stop at every dinosaur and a few surprises along the way. At the end of the night, everyone will gather around the campfire for a dinosaur sing-along, roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate!
WANT TO GO? $24.95, explorer pass; $16.95, day pass; free for children younger than 2

Halloween Light Show

WHEN: Through Oct. 31: Sunday-Thursday, 7-9pm; Friday-Saturday, 7-9:30pm
WHERE: Demarest Farms, 244 Wierimus Road, Hillsdale, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Take your vehicle on a guided tour through 32 acres of brilliant Halloween light displays, enjoy farm fresh goodies, warm-up by the fire pits, and make your own s’mores and hot cocoa.
WANT TO GO? $35 per car.

Fright Fest

WHEN: Through Oct. 31: Friday, 5:30pm-12am; Saturday, 11am-12am; Sunday, 11am-10pm
WHERE: Six Flags Great Adventure, 1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Dare to enter the Halloween event of the season, featuring family-friendly attractions during the day...and thrills once the sun goes down.
WANT TO GO? Prices start at $29.99. Reservations required.

Nickelodeon Universe: Nickelodeon Booniverse!

WHEN: Oct. 8-31, Friday-Sunday, 11am-10pm; Monday-Thursday, 1-7pm
WHERE: American Dream, 1 American Dream Way, East Rutherford, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Join Nickelodeon Universe for the Monster Mash Bash, conga lines, meet-and-greets with your favorite Nickelodeon characters in costume, spooky trivia, and more.
WANT TO GO? $75; $65 ages 3-9; $63.75 military; $59 seniors. Advanced registration required.

Fall Fest

WHEN: Oct. 9-31, Thursday-Sunday, and Oct. 11, 10am-5pm
WHERE: Liberty Science Center, 222 Jersey City Blvd., Jersey City, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Pick out the perfect pumpkin, stroll through the Spooky Pathway, check out the Creepy Crawler Corner, enjoy the Monsters of the Night Sky astronomy show or the Halloween Laser Show, and work it out on the dance floor at the Monster Mash Dance Party. Outside, be sure to make your way through the Spider Maze and then dig for fossils at the Dino Dig Adventure. You'll also find fun fall treats and drinks to enjoy! The fun wraps up at the Fall Fest Finale, a big weekend of trick-or-treating, costumes, and more Oct. 30-31.
WANT TO GO? $27.99; $24.99 seniors 62 and older; $22.99 ages 2-12. Advanced registration required.

Haunted Forest

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 24, 6:30-8pm
WHERE: Tenafly Nature Center, 313 Hudson Ave., Tenafly, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Meet several live nocturnal animals on a sensory walk along the trails. Designed to be entertaining and educational. Tours take 1½ hours. Participants can enjoy refreshments and crafts around the campfire after the tour.
WANT TO GO? $16; $11 members. Advanced registration required.

David Caserta's Haunted Illusions

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 24, 3pm
WHERE: Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood, NJ
AGES: 9 and older
WHAT: Treat your family to an evening of mind-blowing magic and comedy that gets the whole audience into the act. Master illusionist David Caserta, who was featured on NBC’s America’s Got Talent has people levitate, disappear, and reappear right before the audience’s eyes. Witness new illusions created just for this show. What better way to celebrate Halloween than with an incredible night of magic?!
WANT TO GO? $19-$39. Advanced registration required.

Zoo Boo 2021

WHEN: Oct. 30-31, Saturday-Sunday, 10am-5pm
WHERE: Bergen County Zoo, 216 Forest Ave., Paramus, NJ
AGES: All
WHAT: Celebrate Halloween at the zoo with trick-or-treating, a friendly train ride, mad science, and more!
WANT TO GO? $8 zoo tickets; $5 train tickets.

Main image: Fall Fest at Liberty Science Center; courtesy Liberty Science Center

Here at Rockland Parent, we've got everything you need to have a safe, fun, and festive fall and Halloween season. Whether it is pumpkin or apple picking, getting lost in a corn maze, making Halloween crafts or finding costumes and decorations, we're here to help.

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