The Best Family-Friendly Halloween Events in LA

The Natural History Museum presents Boney Island, an interactive light-up experience that transforms the Nature Gardens into an illuminated wonderland of fun and frights. The Simpsons producer Rick Polizzi created Boney Island for his family more than 20 years ago - the front yard display grew into a huge affair at Griffith Park that attracted Halloween lovers of all ages. Now, after a three-year hiatus, Boney Island has partnered with NHM to bring back the family-friendly event.

The bone-chilling highlights include: the Deadwood Forest, talking and singing plants in the Hauntington Gardens; prehistoric creatures in the Prime Evil Pass; the Haunted Hallowe’en Light Trail; Skeleton Orchestra, Haunted Mansion Cauldron Water Show, Magic Theater performances, demos from NHM’s Live Animals team; Neighborhood Grill by Post & Beam and rotating local food trucks; and family-friendly photo ops. Boney Island takes place Thursday–Sunday, plus October 30 and 31. Tickets are $25 per person ($20 for Members). Entry times are 6–8pm and 8–10pm.

Costumes are encouraged with some basic guidelines. Boney Island is an all-ages / family-friendly event and costumes must be respectful of all guests.

On Halloween Night, the landmark Grand Central Market hosts a family-friendly Trick or Treat from 4pm - 10pm, featuring candy at 35+ vendors and dozens of food and drink options from around the world.

Celebrate Hallowe'en with the Consulate General of Ireland at the Central Library! You'll be on the edge of your seat as a group of Ireland's finest performs a dramatic reading of Twiggy Woman by award-winning author Oein DeBhairduin. Featuring chilling black and white illustrations by celebrated artist Helena Grimes, Twiggy Woman is a collection of ghost stories rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveler community.

One of LA's most historic neighborhoods celebrates the spooky season with the return of Haunted Little Tokyo! The frightful festivities begin on Sunday, October 22 with the inaugural Little Tokyo Ghost Tour from 5-6pm. Hosted by the Little Tokyo Historical Society, this FREE all-ages activity will take you on a sinister tour of the neighborhood and its haunted history.

On October 28, Terasaki Budokan hosts a family-friendly Scavenger Hunt from 1-5pm. Ghosts and ghouls of all ages are invited to this outdoor trick-or-treat event. Pick up a map at Terasaki Budokan and gather stamps at various Little Tokyo locations. Visit them all and get a spooktacular treat - costumes are encouraged!

Later that night, The Little Tokyo Ghost Club invites the 21+ crowd to experience the Haunted Little Tokyo Block Party from 6pm to midnight.

The landmark Union Station presents the 5th annual Boonion Station - a family-friendly extravaganza taking place on the South Patio from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, October 28. Activities in the frightfully fun village include face painting, dancing, costume contests, crafts, a one-of-a-kind trick-or-treating experience and more. Be sure to dress to impress as Boonion Station will award prizes for the Most Original, Funniest, Spookiest and Best Group/Family costumes. No tickets required, this one-day event is free to the public and all ages are welcome!

The Los Angeles Zoo hosts the annual Boo at the L.A. Zoo - two weekends of sweet and spooky fun for the whole family!

Boo-tiful activities include Trick-or-Treat Stations with wildlife-friendly candies donated by Mars; the Extinct Animal Graveyard, Spooky Storytime (11:30am & 1pm), Education Stations, Creature Treats (animal feedings) and Fang-tastic Photo Spots with M&Ms characters.

Adults and children are welcome to dress in Halloween costumes for Boo at the L.A. Zoo on trick-or-treating days. To ensure an enjoyable experience for everyone, the Zoo does not allow full face masks, weapons, obscenity, or anything that could disturb visitors or animals.

Boo at the L.A. Zoo is free with paid Zoo admission or GLAZA membership.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023, the beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater presents the annual 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. Costumes are strongly encouraged. Costume parades will be held at every Spooktacular performance beginning in October - you might even be asked to join the show! Tickets are now on sale for the show’s run through November 5.

For three weeks in October, hundreds of carved pumpkins will line the Camellia Forest and Oak Grove at Descanso Gardens. A family-friendly event for all ages, this year's edition of Carved will feature a new mile-long trail along with the ever-popular Pumpkin House, 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.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney is re-releasing the wonderfully macabre classic on the big screen. No matter how many times you’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, there's nothing like experiencing it at the El Capitan Theatre with interactive 4D sensory effects - lights, fog, scents, wind and snow! There's also a new commemorative poster created by Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One, specialty concessions, souvenirs and more.

Screening every Saturday at 11am, the Academy Museum's Family Matinees feature movies that are rated G or PG, unless otherwise noted.

As a nod to the museum's current exhibition, John Waters: Pope of Trash, a pair of October Family Matinees feature William Castle, who created outrageous PR stunts for his family-friendly horror films. Castle's gimmicks made him a household name to generations of kids, including a young Waters. Horror legend Vincent Price stars in both films: The Tingler (Oct. 7) and House on Haunted Hill (Oct. 21).

On the last Saturday of every month, the Family Matinee is an accommodative screening with open captioning; the theater is dimly lit, and the volume is lowered for neurodivergent viewers. The October 28 accommodative screening features Nicolas Roeg's The Witches (1990), starring Anjelica Huston with special effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Calling all ghosts and ghouls! On Saturday, October 28 the Academy Museum hosts Mystics and Monsters, a scary good time with Academy Award winning makeup artist Bill Corso. Taking place in the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby and the Netflix Lounge, Mystics and Monsters will be a fun-filled day of special effects makeup demos, ghostly tours, tarot card readings and activities.

Free with the purchase of a General Admission ticket. Museum admission is free for youth ages 17 and under.

"Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax" for the Fall Festival, taking place at The Original Farmers Market on Saturday and Sunday, October 21 and 22. The weekend festivities include a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, 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: Ernest Scared Stupid (Oct. 8), Cartoon Club Halloween Edition (Oct. 14), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Oct. 14-15), The Mummy (Oct. 21-22) and Beetlejuice (Oct. 28-29).

Cartoon Club starts at 10am and the matinees at 2pm. Tickets on sale at the New Beverly website.

For more than 20 summers, the Actors Conservatory Ensemble has partnered with TreePeople to present the Once Upon a Canyon Night series in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Amphitheatre.

Before Coco and Book of Life, there was Latins Anonymous’ Haunted Hacienda. An all-star Latinx cast will bring this unique tale of the origins of Día de los Muertos to life. Invite the whole family to this life-affirming comedy that will have you dying with laughter! General Admission is $20 for first come, first-served seating.

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.

Now in its 24th 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 28-29. Admission is free with General Admission, and free to Aquarium members. Members' guests receive 20% off admission.

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 11am and 3pm; and on weekends at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.

There will also be pumpkin decorating (for a modest additional charge), mask making, and up-close visits with some not-too-scary snakes in the Slitherin’ Snake Tent.

The Halloween festivities are included with paid Kidspace admission.

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.