Kid-Friendly Halloween Events in Cincinnati {2015}

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Halloween Cincinnati

We know, we know…it doesn’t seem possible that Halloween is already upon us!  Dust off your witch hats, pack up those goblins, and get out there for a month full of spooktacular fun!

Looking for more fall festivities?  Find our Roundup of Pumpkins, Festivals, and Fall Family Fun HERE.


Events in order of date:

FREE Loveland Kidfest, Jackson Street Market
October 3, 2-4p
The event will kick-off with a children’s costume parade from Nisbet Park to Jackson Street Market. The children will then be able to Trick or Treat to the downtown businesses (Julian’s Deli, Tano’s, The Work’s, Paxton’s, Pizazz Studio’s, Loveland Bike Rental, Loveland Sweets, Bond Furniture, Loveland Canoe & Kayak, Granny’s Garden, Loveland Jewelers, Comey Shepherd, Montgomery Cyclery, Cocoa Bites). At the market, there will be pumpkin decorating, face painting, arts and crafts, and more!

Halloween Cincinnati PumpkinsFREE Hamilton Township Treat and Greet, Shoppes of Grandin II
October 3, 3-6p
Local businesses sponsor safe night out. Silent auction, costume contest for kids and adults, pumpkin decorating contest, police and fire department demonstrations and handouts.

Spooky Pooch, Washington Park (Glendale)
October 10, 11a-5p
A day full of fun including the spookiest pooch costume contest and parade, kids stuffed animal costume contest, professional groomers creative grooming exhibition, kids coloring contest, and other activities for your dogs!

FREE Trunk ‘R Treat Fall Festival, Beech Acres Park
October 10, 2:30-6p
Car Show: 2:30-6p
Festival activities: 3:30-5:30p
A classic car show, kids in costumes, music, games and lots of candy combine for this annual event. Families and car enthusiasts stroll around the oval at Beech Acres Park while kids “trunk ‘r treat.” Park district concessions will be available for purchase.

Magic Halloween Hikes, Caldwell Nature Preserve
October 16 & 17
Walk through a pumpkin-lit trail and meet costumed characters from nature and history. This is a non-scary holiday walk best suited for children ages 3-10. Hikes start at 7pm with the last hike leaving at 8:30pm. Each hike lasts approximately 1 hour. As much as possible, we organize hike groups by type: scouts, youth groups, families with young children, and families with older children. Cost is $6 per person. Reservations required; register online at our website: www.cincinnatiparks.com

FREE Halloween Spooktacular, One Way Farm
October 17, 11a-4p
Come join us for a day of festivities at the One Way Farm Children’s Home located in Fairfield Ohio starting at 11am to 4pm. The event is free so bring the kiddies to meet all the crafters that will be handing out trick or treats! Yummy food, face painting, balloon artist, holiday music, a raffle drawing from 11am until 3pm. All proceeds gathered from the raffle will go directly to the children at the One Way Farm.

FREE Fall Festival, Blue Ash YMCA
October 17, 4-7p
Face painting, crafts, food & drinks, trick or treating, bounce houses, spooky trail, and hayrides! Advance tickets required for entry. Get your FREE tickets at the Blue Ash YMCA.

BB Riverboats Little Goblins and Ghouls Costume Cruise
October 18, 1-3p
Bring the whole family to enjoy this Halloween cruise at BB Riverboats! Enjoy a kid-friendly lunch menu and participate in some early trick or treating! Your child can also participate in a costume contest as well as some other fun games that will be on the itinerary. It should be a great time for all!
Adults: $35.00
Children: $26.00

USS Nightmare Lights on Matinee
October 18, 4-6p
$6 online, $8 at door
Perfect for younger kids or the faint of heart. Special lights on, lighter scare suitable for those too young to enjoy the regular show.

Howling Pooch Parade, Wyoming Civic CenterHalloween Cincinnati Costume 2
October 18, 1-4p
Join in the fun at the Civic Center as local dogs and their people participate in this annual costume event. All proceeds benefit Wyoming Youth Services. Dogs compete for prizes in categories including “Best Costume”, “Best Dog Trick” and “Best Tail Wagger”. This family-friendly event includes agility demonstrations, pet-themed vendors, refreshments, and raffles. For registration information please visit www.wyoming youthservices.com/events.html. All dogs must be on a leash.

Haunted House: The Taft at Night
October 22, 6-9p
Back by popular demand! Enjoy an evening of good food and spooky fun while exploring one of Cincinnati’s oldest “haunted” houses. Take a nighttime tour, hear stories of unearthly happenings in the galleries, and maybe see a “ghost” or two. Music and a scary movie add to the fun. Executive Chef Luke Radkey will provide light bites. Cash bar available.
$10 Members and Students, $20 Public
Reservations required: (513) 684-4515

FREE Treat Street, Deerfield Towne Center
October 23, 6-8p
Enjoy an evening of spooktacular fun at Deerfield Towne Center! On Friday, October 23 from 6:00-8:00PM (while supplies last), children 12 and under can enjoy Trick-or-Treating, a petting zoo, festive music, refreshments and more! Don’t forget to bring a bag to collect your treats.

FREE Treat Street, Bridgewater Falls Lifestyle Shopping Center
October 24, 6-8p
Children 12 and under can trick-or-treat, enjoy a petting zoo and music. Trick-or-treating bags will be provided! Wear your costume!

FREE Haunted Village Halloween Party, Harry Whiting Brown Community Center
October 24, 6p
This free family-friendly event has games, prizes, spooky costumes, and more for both adults and kids. Pack 60 and Troop 417 of Glendale join us, including putting together a haunted house through the basement of our main house.

FREE Mt. Healthy Halloween Kidsfest, Mt. Healthy Community Center
October 24, 2-4p
*Story time *Snack Grab *Face Painting *Sack Races *Mummy Wrapping *Apple Bobbing *#Selfie Booth *Parade to Trunk or Treat!

BatFest, Cincinnati Museum Center
October 24, 10a-5p
BatFest is always one of our favorite Museum holidays, but this year, we’re blowing it out of the bat cave! Chat with experts who will dispel all the dark myths you’ve heard about bat behavior, watch our Big Brown Bat colony take flight every hour and sample some food pollinated by bats. Witness the Cincinnati Grotto members scale 106 feet to the top of the Rotunda, which is always a crowd pleaser. Channel your inner Batgirl or Batman by creating a superhero mask for the costume parade and test your IQ in Batty Brain – a twist on the classic game of Jeopardy. Don’t miss out on a day that even Dracula would be proud of!

FREE Jack O Lantern Walk, Anderson Center
October 24, 7-9p
Anderson Lake walkway will be decorated with hundreds of luminaries and glowing carved pumpkins on display during this free event. There will be free refreshments, games and face painting will be provided by the Art Club of Anderson High School.

Halloween Cincinnati Pumpkin PaintHeritage Halloween Celebration, Dinsmore Homestead
October 24, 5-8p
Children wear costumes and trick-or-treat at historic buildings. Carnival with old-fashioned games, bonfire with stories and moonlit trip to graveyard. Snacks, candy and fortune-telling. $5, $3 children

Thriller Dance Party, Dance Etc.
October 24, 6-8p
Costume contest, scavenger hunt, glow-in-the-dark party in gym and learn Thriller dance! $25, $20 students

FREE Trunk or Treat, Cheviot United Methodist Church
October 24, 5:30-7p
Trick or treat from decorated trunks with many costumed characters and lots of extras. Cheviot Firefighters and Cheviot police dog, Madcap Puppets and many company mascots are scheduled to attend. Event starts at 5:30 and ends at 7:00. Shuttle from Lakewood Baptist provided with convenient drop-off at event. We look forward to seeing you there.

Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall “Lights Up Night”
October 25, 6-6:45p
The children get to go trick or treating through the (much less scary) Haunted Hall as well as getting a trip through our giant vortex tunnel! Cost is $5 per child, adults free.

BOO Run Run & Haunted Trail, Wyoming Recreation Center
October 25, 5:30-10p
This costumed event will take place at the Wyoming Recreations Center starting with a pumpkin dash for the little ones at 5:30p. The 5K run will start at 6:00p. After the 5K, runners and spectators can watch the costume contest, hang out at the post race party, and get ready to be spooked at the Haunted Trail. All registered runners get free entry into the haunted trail.
For those not running, the Haunted Trail starts at 7:00 and is $5 per person. From 7-8 the little ones are encouraged to wear their costumes and get in some early trick or treating. From 8-10p, prepare to be scared.

FREE The Great Pupkin Parade and Dog Costume Contest, Batavia Township Park
October 25, 10:30a-4p
Parade and dog costume contest, K9 demonstrations, therapy pet demonstrations, bobbing for hot dogs, trick or treat for kids and pets, food, drinks and vendors. Registration for your pups recommended!

FREE Howl At The Moon: A Spooky Family Arts Night, Oxford Community Arts Center
October 28, 5-8p
Howl at the Moon is a family and community-friendly event full of Halloween and autumn themed activities and fun. Admission to this event is FREE, however, tickets will be required for some activities. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. All proceeds support the event and future programming at the Oxford Community Arts Center. Jericho Old Time Band will perform live from the newly renovated front porch. Hueston Woods State Park Naturalist, Shawn Conner will present creepy creatures. Arts-related activities hosted by volunteers from Miami University student organizations, including Sketched Out!, Miami University Quidditch, Sigma Tau Delta (Honors English Fraternity), National Art Education Association, and Students for the Promotion of Writing. There will also be an autumn photobooth, a carved pumpkin contest, ghost stories, and improv-comedy performances.

FREE Midwest Cheer Elite Trunk or Treat, Midwest Cheer Elite
October 29, 7-8:30p
Hayrides, booths, inflatables and lots of cars to trunk or treat at. Open to public and completely free. Wear your Halloween costume!

Halloween Costume Contest, Fountain SquareHalloween Cincinnati Costume
October 30, 12-1p
Fountain Square’s ninth annual costume contest returns Friday, October 30! Come to the Square dressed in your funniest, scariest or most creative costume at noon for your chance to win some fantastic prizes. Adults, children and groups all welcome! (Register online.)

Lollipops Symphony Spooktacular, Music Hall
October 31, 9:30a
Costumes are encouraged at this family-friendly concert of fun and spooky music, including In the Hall of the Mountain King and music from Frozen! FREE Family Fun Zone starts at 9:30 am.

Boo Bash, Northgate Mall
October 31, 2-5p
Join us for a spooktacular afternoon of free family fun and our annual costume contest! Enter to win a $250 shopping spree!


Ongoing Halloween Fun!

Antique Halloween, Taft Museum of Art
September 18—November 1
Experience Halloween as earlier generations did when the Taft presents a one-room display of antiques from local collectors during this fun holiday. Ranging in date from 1900 to the 1950s, the objects on view will recall tricks and treats from earlier eras. Lanterns, candle shades, and jack-o-lanterns—all designed to light up the darkness—evoke the nighttime setting of Halloween celebrations. Toys, games, candy-cups, and room decorations masquerade as black cats, skeletons, witches, and goblins in old-fashioned styles will take you back years into the past.

BB Riverboats Haunted Pirates of the Ohio Cruises
Saturdays in October, 12-2p
Come join a Halloween twist of our Pirates of the Ohio cruise this fall. Round up the children and enjoy this fall cruise on the Ohio River. Party with our pirates by showing off your Halloween costume (costume not required), play some Halloween games, and receive your bounty of treats. If you enjoyed our Summer Pirates of the Ohio cruises, this cruise is definitely for you!
Adults: $22.00
Children: $18.00

FREE Friday Night Fright Nights, Washington Park
Fridays in October, 7-9p
Join us on Friday nights for an evening of horror movie fun in Washington Park. All movies are free and open to the public. Full bar service and drink specials available. Lawn chairs, blankets and picnics welcome.
October 2
7:30pm: Scooby Doo: Spooky Space Kook (1969)
8:15pm: Mars Attacks (1996)
October 9
7:30pm: Scooby Doo: A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts (1969)
8:15pm: Young Frankenstein (1974)
October 16
7:30pm: Scooby Doo: Bedlam in the Big Top (1970)
8:15pm: Killer Clowns From Outer Space (1988)
October 23
7:30pm: Scooby Doo: Decoy for A Dog Napper (1969)
8:15pm: The Addams Family (1991)
October 30
7:30pm: Scooby Doo: The Haunted House Hangup (1970)
8:15pm: Poltergeist (1982)

Halloween Nights, Parky’s Farm (Winton Woods)
October 8-25, Thurs-Sun, 6-10p
Dress your best and bring out your little ghouls and goblins, princesses and superheroes to a one-of-a-kind, family-friendly Halloween party.
Event Highlights:
Hay wagon ride through a wooded light show
Ghostly mini golf
Hardly Haunted House
Spooky Hollow ghost town
Campfires with s’mores
Creepy Critters naturalist programs
Inflatable moon bounce and 65-foot obstacle course
Pony rides, a wide variety of light-up Halloween souvenirs and delicious treats – including sandwiches, beverages and s’mores kits for the campfires – will be available for an additional cost.
General Admission: $7/person
Children under 2: Free

Halloween Cincinnati PumpkinJack O’Lantern Junction, Entertrainment Junction
September 26 – November 1
You won’t’ want to miss Jack O’Lantern Junction at EnterTRAINment Junction! Halloween fun for the whole family! First walk-thru our trick or treat maze and see kid friendly ghosts, skeletons and more. Stop and color, or see Halloweenville our miniature animated display. Plus come and enjoy the area’s only indoor Pumpkin Patch, where kids get a free mini pumpkin. Also open this year are our two outdoor kid’s train rides themed for the Halloween season. And as always you can experience the world’s largest indoor train display or enjoy hours of fun in our kid’s play area.

Hallzooween, Cincinnati Zoo
Weekends in October, 12-5p
Always hairy, never scary! Kids are encouraged to wear a costume during HallZOOween, but it is not required.
You and your family can enjoy:
Trick-or-Treat Stations
Special Animal Encounters
Beauty Shop of Horrors
Search for the Golden Frisch’s Big Boy
Phil Dalton’s Theater of Illusion Show at 1pm & 3pm
Hogwarts Express Train Ride (Additional charge applies)
Scare-ousel (Additional charge applies)

Haunted Village, Heritage Village Museum
October 9-24, Fridays and Saturdays only, 6-10p
Heritage Village Museum will transform into Haunted Village for 6 nights of “spooktacular” fun! This is a family friendly, slight fright event loaded with ghostly attractions. Visitors can take a wagon ride, or take a stroll into the haunted cemetery…if you dare. The mad scientist, ghouls, and witches will entertain guests throughout the night. Everyone is encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes and children can Trick or Treat throughout the Village. Face painting, balloon animal making and games will amuse children of all ages. he cost of admission is $8.00 for anyone 2 and up. Museum members are FREE.

Fall-O-Ween Festival, Coney Island
October 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 1-7p
All your fall favorites plus some Halloween fun make for one great family event! Enjoy Trick or Treat Trail for kids, Fright Lights musical light show, Coney’s Classic Rides, musical entertainment, farmyard friends and more!
General Admission (Age 2 & up): $11.00
Children under age 2: FREE unless the child will participate in Trick or Treat Trail. All Trick or Treaters must pay admission.
Parking is $5.00 per vehicle. Season Passholders get FREE parking.

Snoopy’s Halloween Party, Kings Island
October 3-November 1, Saturdays and Sundays only
12-6p
During the day, Kings Island puts the WEE in Halloween. At Snoopy’s Halloween Party, there’s trick-or-treating for little ghouls and goblins, a kids’ costume contest, Snoopy and the PEANUTS gang, kid-sized frights that every age will love, plus a petting farm and all your favorite rides. Included FREE with park admission to Kings Island.


Don’t forget to check out your local library for fun Halloween activities (that are often free!):
The Public Library of Hamilton County
Campbell County Public Library
Boone County Public Library
Kenton County Public Library

Happy Halloween!

Have an event to add?  Comment below!

3 COMMENTS

  1. Hi Jesika, I have an event you can add to this list. It’s a free trunk or treat at Terrace View Gardens 3904 North Bend Rd. Cheviot OH from 6-8.

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