The Best Family-Friendly Halloween Events in LA

Open daily at the Los Angeles Zoo through October 31, Boo at the L.A. Zoo features Daily Adventures like the Spooky Stroll, Extinct Animal Graveyard, and the "Wild, Weird & Wonderful Tour."

Weekend Adventures include special Animal Feedings, "Spooktacular Science" Shows and Eerie Education Stations. On the last two weekends of the month (October 22-23 and 29-30), enjoy trick-or-treat stations featuring candies courtesy of the Zoo's partner, Mars. Costumes are encouraged!

Boo at the L.A. Zoo is 10am to 4pm daily, and is free with paid Zoo admission or GLAZA membership.

Located in Highland Park, the beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater presents the Hallowe’en Spooktacular, a delightful "boo-sical" revue with more than 100 spirited puppets. The hour-long, family-friendly show includes Frankenstein's monster, a Venutian dreamscape, and glow-in-the-dark skeletons. Guests are strongly encouraged to wear costumes, particularly over the weekends of October 22-23 and October 29-31, when the theater will host its costume parades. Tickets are on sale at the BBMT website.

BBMT is also screening the original Hocus Pocus (1993) on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, including a pre-movie puppet show.

For three weeks in October, hundreds of carved pumpkins will line the Camellia Forest at Descanso Gardens. A family-friendly event for all ages, Carved will also feature the ever-popular pumpkin house, a hay maze, and themed food and beverages. Guests can also enjoy UV “black light” experiences, artists sculpting pumpkins, and a special Día de los Muertos installation at the Amphitheater.

Timed entry tickets to Carved are on sale at the Descanso Gardens website.

Named "Best Children’s Theater in Los Angeles" by Nickelodeon, A Faery Hunt creates Fairyland by weaving their faery magic with original stories, dancing and songs, and gentle and silly fun. The October schedule includes “A Mermaid’s Tail” at Orcutt Ranch on Saturday, October 8; and “The Missing Faery Light” show and Fairy Halloween Party at the Tarzana Community & Cultural Center on Sunday, October 23.

Children are encouraged to come in their favorite fairy, princess or superhero costume! (Parents are welcome to join in the fun and come in costume, too.) Performances are outdoors - closed comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and water suggested.

Tickets are on sale at the A Faery Hunt website. All shows start at 10:30am. Please arrive between 10:00 – 10:15am for check-in.

"Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax" for the Fall Festival, taking place at The Original Farmers Market on Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23. The weekend festivities include a pumpkin patch, pig races, fall-themed games, live music, kids crafts, photo ops and more.

For more info and the full schedule, download the Fall Festival event flyer.

Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema is showing Halloween movies throughout October, including kid-friendly weekend matinees: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (Oct. 8-9), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit (Oct. 16), Mad Monster Party (Oct. 22-23), and Beetlejuice (Oct. 29-30). Matinees start at 2pm, tickets on sale at the New Beverly website.

Located at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, Tina's Pumpkin Patch features a free straw maze, along with a pony ride ($8) and numerous activities for $4 each: petting zoo, train ride, bouncer, slide and obstacle course.

Tina's Pumpkin Patch is located in the parking lot off Woodman Avenue and the 101 Freeway. Admission and parking are free. Hours are 10am to 8pm on Sunday-Thursday, and 10am to 9pm on Friday-Saturday.

The "Thrill Capital of the World," Six Flags Magic Mountain is hosting the daytime Kids Boo Fest on select dates through October 31, featuring the park's family-favorite coasters and rides, a classic trick-or-treat trail in Bugs Bunny World, and scary-good treats like the "Screamwich." The Kids Boo Fest ends at 6pm before the grown-ups take over Fright Fest at 7pm. NOTE: only children ages 12 and under are allowed to wear costumes to Six Flags Magic Mountain. No masks, make-up or scary/gory costumes allowed.

Produced in partnership with Heritage Square, the living museum of LA's 19th and early 20th century architecture and history, Cemetery Lane gives the whole family a chance to trick-or-treat amongst Victorian homes over the course of 13 themed stops. Cemetery Lane runs on consecutive weekends, October 19-23 and October 27-30.

General Admission tickets are available online for Nighttime and Daylight Hours (till 5pm). Children under 2 are free.

On Halloween Weekend, the landmark Union Station presents the 4th annual Boonion Station - a free, family-friendly extravaganza taking place on the South Patio from 11am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 29-30.

The festivities include a haunted hay maze, slime sessions, face painting, creepy crafting and pumpkin decorating, and a host of howling stilt walkers and Halloween characters that will delight even the littlest of monsters. The South Patio will be transformed into a Halloween village with a treats-on-track trail at noon, 2pm and 4pm daily. “Boo-gie” on down with Halloween favorites at a series of monster mash dance parties, or participate in the costume parade & contest at 3pm each day. Prizes will be awarded in four categories: most original, funniest, scariest and best group/family costume. Guests can also relax in the pumpkin patch picnic area while enjoying a selection of Halloween food specials from Union Station's eateries.

Now an annual Santa Monica Playhouse tradition, Absolutely Halloween! is the heartwarming musical tale of Candy, a "sweet" young girl who learns some surprising lessons about life, love, laughter and sugar, from a delightful array of colorful characters who take her on a magical adventure to save Halloween. As the witching hour approaches, youngsters (and parents, too) aid the denizens of Halloween World in completing magical spells, happily helping to save All Hallows’ Eve… until next year.

Performances are Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 12:30pm. Tickets are on sale at the SMP website.

Designed to engage children through joyful experiences, the Kidspace Children's Museum is hosting a month-long Halloween celebration. The whole family is invited to march, dance, and strut the catwalk in the fanciful Halloween parade - costumes encouraged! You can join the parade weekdays at 11:15am and 3:15pm, and on weekends at 11:15am, 2:15pm and 3:45pm.

There will also be pumpkin decorating (for a modest additional charge), mask making, and up-close visits with some not-too-scary animal friends.

Now in its 23rd year, Scarium of the Pacific is a spooktacular, educational Halloween event for the whole family. Special Halloween programs include costume and coloring contests, a vampire magician, underwater pumpkin carving, creepy critters, and more. Scarium of the Pacific takes place from 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 29-30.

Admission is free with General Admission, and free to Aquarium members. Members' guests receive 20% off admission.