This Is Halloween: Your Regional Guide
Family-friendly fall festivals, spooky-spectaculars & and full-on horror for the twisted thrill seekers, too
Scares, myths, mystery, disguise, and delight; the sacred Celtic festival of Samhain; All Souls Day; the Irish's prime day for matchmaking; a dentist's nightmare; the rise of the Great Pumpkin; and the best possible day to cuddle up and watch Hocus Pocus—this is Halloween.
Whatever sort of mask fits your taste (demon scarecrow or simple scaredy cat?), the region is pulsing with ways to celebrate this most eccentric month of the year.
More Treats Than Tricks
For the little ones and the mild at heart, these Halloween events are family friendly and largely fright-free. Indulge in the pumpkin spiced sides of the season, with costumes and candy and corn mazes galore.
Every Weekend in October: Halloween at Lakeview Park & Beach
October 2–20: Wicked at the Saenger
October 5: Old Towne Slidell Pumpkin Festival
October 11: Fa-BOO-lous Halloween Bash at Rip Van Winkle Gardens
October 11–12: Theatre Baton Rouge's Annual Costume Sale
October 11, 18, 25: Haunted Hikes at Bluebonnet Swamp
October 18: The Great Pumpkin Night at West Baton Rouge Museum
October 19: Baton Rouge Boo at the Zoo
October 19: Monster Mash Fun Fall Family Festival
October 20: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra's Halloween Spooktacular
October 25: Trick & Treat at the Dog Park
October 25: All Hallows Eve at Audubon
October 26: A Halloween Day at LASM
October 26: Halloween Art & Nature Festival at Atelier de la Nature
October 26: Natchez Witches Ride
October 26: LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens' Night Maze
October 27: Haints, Haunts & Halloween at the LSU Rural Life Museum
October 31: Witch Way to Main Street at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
October 31: Ancient Spirits: An All Hallows Eve Performance
October 31–November 3: La Fete des Bayous
Fun Frissons
These celebrations of the scary season lean into its thrills and chills, though usually with a more playful angle. If you're looking for the less sinister spirits (of all kinds ...), here is where you'll find them.
All Month Long: The Myrtles Halloween Experience
All Month Long: Fifolet Halloween Festival
October 11: Night of the Living Dead at the Manship
October 16–18; 23–25; 30–November 1; 6–8: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at NOMA
October 18–19: Hammond Horror Fest
October 19: New Orleans Krewe of Boo
October 19: New Orleans Zombie Run
[Read this: The Evolution of the Modern Vampire]
October 19: Feliciana Fright Night
October 19–20; 26–27: New Orleans Boo at the Zoo
October 24: Spirits of Louisiana at the Old State Capitol
October 25: L'auberge's Ghouls Night Out
October 25–27: Voodoo Festival
October 26: Nightmare on Columbia
October 26–27: Rougarou Festival
October 31: McComb Depot's Haunted Halloween Railcars
The Stuff of Nightmares
For the more twisted among you, these annual attractions promise to curdle your blood and chill your bones, to haunt and hunt you, and to—basically—make you scream for your life. Not for the faint of heart.
All Month Long: The 13th Gate & CarnEVIL
All Month Long: Scout Island Scream Park
All Month Long: New Orleans Nightmare
All Month Long: Fright Trail
October 19: Covington's Field of Screams: Circus of Chaos
[Read about the design behind Dwayne Sanburn's 13th Gate from our October 2018 issue]
Rocky Horror Show
It's become simply obligatory to attend a showing—film, theatrical, or both—of Rocky Horror before the season ends. Opportunities for debauchery abound—so mark your calendars, grab your corsets, and don't forget the toast and toilet paper.
October 3 & 4, 6, 11–13: Westwego Performing Arts Theatre
October 17–26: Theatre Baton Rouge
October 24: The Translyvanian Tramps
October 25 & 30: Theatre Macabre
October 25–26 & 31: Prytania Theatre
October 31–November 1: The Manship Theatre