Halloween 2026 around Chicago: press sheet

A few local picks to check out

Full Chicago guide · Vote in The Boo Awards

40 Halloween events around Chicago are on BooMap, each with its 2026 dates checked on the event's own website.

## What families can find

• 11 pumpkin patches & corn mazes
• 6 family Halloween events
• 4 trunk-or-treats
• 4 fall festivals
• 10 ghost tours
• 5 haunted houses

Pumpkin patches and corn mazes already open by Oct. 1: 10, including All Seasons Orchard Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch (Woodstock); Goebbert's Farm & Garden Center Fall Fest (South Barrington) (South Barrington); Richardson Adventure Farm (Spring Grove); and 7 more.

Not-scary picks for little ones (suggested all ages, 1–2 of 5 ghosts): All Seasons Orchard Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch (Woodstock); Arlington Heights Trunk or Treat (Arlington Heights); Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade (Chicago); County Line Orchard Fall Season (Hobart); Goebbert's Farm & Garden Center Fall Fest (South Barrington) (South Barrington); and 17 more.

Free events: Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade (Chicago); Halloween in the Parks (Chicago); Happy Times Pumpkin Fest at Didier Farms (Lincolnshire); Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade (Chicago); Homer Glen Trunk or Treat (Homer Glen); and 5 more.

Trick-or-treat hours: no town around Chicago has announced official 2026 hours yet. BooMap adds them as towns announce. (Halloween is Saturday, Oct. 31.)

## The Boo Awards (fan vote, Oct. 1–25)

Fans vote for Chicago's Best Pumpkin Patch, Best for Little Goblins, Boo's Hidden Gem (small, local events only), Most Fun Overall and Most Likely to Make You Scream. One vote per category per day; winners are announced Oct. 27.

Vote: https://boomap.app/chicago/vote

## Links

• City guide: https://boomap.app/chicago
• About BooMap and the press kit: https://boomap.app/press

## Story ideas

• "We mapped every Halloween event around Chicago": where to go this weekend, by age and scare level.
• Trick-or-treat on a Saturday: what it means for families (and the towns that set official hours).
• Boo's Hidden Gem: the small, local events fans are rallying behind.

## Spokespeople

• Andrew Ward, creator of BooMap (his company, Toronado Entertainment, makes BooMap and Noelly); also SVP of 10 Lives Studios and a film and TV producer. As a 7th grader he built a six-room haunted house in a borrowed tent in his family's driveway, staffed by neighborhood volunteers. Recent work: the Katy Perry Lifetimes Tour concert film, a Peter Frampton documentary, Hollywood Vampires: Unleashed Spirits. producinghollywood.com
• Kristen Moss, reality TV casting director and BooMap spokesperson; a mom of two whose daughter is going as a red raptor dinosaur this year. kmosscasting.com

Media contact: hello@boomap.app