Hi everyone,
It is 9 days until Halloween but this weekend there are so many Halloween events so get the costumes ready ASAP and have fun with the children!
This weekend take the kids and enjoy the 6th Annual Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade, a Halloween Haunted Walk + Fair in Prospect Park, a Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Ghouls & Gourds 2015 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Halloween Murder Mystery at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, Haunted High Line Halloween, Children’s Fall Festival at Queens County Farm Museum, City Stomp: Halloween Concert at ShapeShifter Lab, Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Flotilla in Central Park, 3rd Annual Musical Haunted House at the Brooklyn Music School and The FunkeyMonkeys at The Jewish Museum.
Also make sure to check out some ongoing events happening this weekend like Creepy Crawly Halloween at the Audubon Center in Prospect Park, Gravesend Inn Haunted Hotel, Haunted House at the Queens County Farm Museum, The Velveteen Rabbit: A New Family Musical at the Linda Gross Theater, The Gruffalo at The New Victory Theater, Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend with Ray Villafane at the New York Botanical Garden, Boo at the Zoo: Mystery & Mischief at the Bronx Zoo and Hansel and Gretel’s Halloween Adventure at The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre.
That is just a few of the Halloween events so check the calendar and see what else is happening this weekend! Also remember to like us on Facebook for last minute events and news!
Enjoy the weekend!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday October 23rd
Halloween Murder Mystery at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden (UES)
Friday October 23rd & Saturday October 24th 615p & 730p. Appropriate for adults or families with children 8 and older. Please call (212)838-6878 to make reservations for this “tickets only” event. $25 Adults; $10 Children under 12; $15 Museum Members. In this fictional mystery game, loosely based on an historic newspaper account, an unidentified skeleton has been discovered under the floorboards of the Mount Vernon Hotel. Explore the Museum by candlelight, and collect clues to unravel the mystery and solve the case.
Family Movies @ the Library: Song of the Sea at the Central Brooklyn Public Library
Friday October 23rd 330-530p. Free. Rated PG; run time 94 minutes. Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, Song of the Sea tells the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse, and her brother Ben, who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover secrets of their past. Pursued by the owl witch, Macha, and a host of ancient and mythical creatures, Saoirse and Ben race against time to awaken Saoirse’s powers and keep the spirit world from disappearing forever.
Child’Space NYC Pre-Crawler I at Gumbo (Boerum Hill)
Fridays 315-4p. 8 session semester started September 25th and has space available. First-time trial drop-in $30. Call to reserve. Please call to reserve: 718-855-7808. For babies 5 weeks to 4 months. Please call to reserve: 718-855-7808. CHILD’SPACE NYC with Dan Rindler. Certified Feldenkrais and Child’Space practitioner and music educator. Child’Space NYC was selected for Time Out Kids “Best NYC Classes for New Moms 2012!” Pro-rated late registrations.
Family Fun For Everyone at the NY Kids Club (Brooklyn Heights)
Friday October 23rd 415-545p. For ages 5m-4y. $36 per child & $24 for siblings. Don’t be a square – join us for this unique shape themed Family Fun for Everyone featuring an extended open play in the gym and face painting. Children will participate in a thematic sing-along with a live musician. With pizza for the family and wine and beer for adults, it’s sure to be a shipshape party for the entire family!
For more Friday events please click here!
Saturday October 24th
6th Annual Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade
Saturday October 24th. Free but children must register. Registraton begins at 10am with the costume contest taking place at 12pm. Hand-made Coney Island themed costumes are encouraged. Come one, come all to Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade! You and your family are officially invited to the 6th Annual Coney Island Children’s Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. This year’s kid-friendly event promises to be better than ever with FREE entertainment, giveaways and, of course, trick-or-treating! Open to all children under 15 with great prizes for all contest winners. First 1,500 registered participants receive a 2 hour Luna Park unlimited ride wristband and a goodie bag. Print the registration form here.
Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park (Pier 6)
Saturday October 24th 1030a-1p. Free. Come and celebrate the fall season with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park! Our 5th annual Harvest Festival will have have free, fun activities for the whole family! Enjoy pumpkin carving, arts and crafts, storytelling, games, and musical performances. Rolie Polie Guacamole, Shine & the Moonbeams and the The Deedle Deedle Dees will be performing! See the website for the full schedule of events.
Haunted High Line Halloween (Chelsea)
Saturday October 24th 11a-3p. Free. Location: On the High Line from West 14th Street to West 17th Street. The High Line is haunted with ghost trains and spooky characters from the elevated railway’s industrial past! Join us for day of free community festivities, including a puppet show, storytelling, face painting, a photo booth, a take-home art project, and a ghost-themed scavenger hunt featuring characters from the High Line’s history.
Ghouls & Gourds 2015 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Crown Heights)
Saturday October 24th 12n-530p. Rain or shine. Kids under 12 free! Adults $15 & BBG members free. Location: Cherry Esplanade.
Stilt Dancing Insanity! Caterpillar Feedings! Brussels Sprout Bowling! Brooklyn’s Wackiest Costume Parade! Children’s Book Barn featuring the Community Bookstore Pop-up Shop. Get an autograph and enjoy readings by local authors and illustrators! Costume Parade & Drum Circle 430-530p. See website for full schedule of events.
Halloween Haunted Walk + Fair in Prospect Park
Saturday October 24th 12n-3p. Free. Location: Lookout Hill, Nethermead. The Prospect Park Alliance presents its 36th Annual Halloween Haunted Walk and Fair on Saturday, October 24, from 12 to 3 pm. This cherished annual event brings thousands of families to Prospect Park’s Lookout Hill and Nethermead for an afternoon of ghoulish fun that is free and open to the public. Encounter zombies, werewolves, good (and not-so-good) witches, and other Halloween characters on a haunted walk through the woodland Lookout Hill, ideal for families with children ages 7-12. All ages can enjoy a festive Halloween Fair on the Nethermead, featuring family-friendly activities, as well as sweet and savory treats from some of the city’s top food trucks. This year, meet Snoopy from The Peanuts Movie, and learn the tricks of the trade from Blue Sky Studio artists, who will teach children how to draw their own Snoopy. Also check out Scary Stories With Tammy Hall at the Lefferts Historic House and Creepy Crawly Halloween at the Audubon Center.
For more Saturday events please click here!
Sunday October 25th
Children’s Fall Festival at Queens County Farm Museum
Sunday Oct 25th 11a-4p. Admission: $5.00 per person* (free with Farm Membership).
A festival of Halloween fun for children of all ages; everyone is invited to wear their costume! Free children’s games & bounces and professional character look-a-likes will add to the excitement. Don’t miss out on pig races, kids’ pony rides, food, live country music, and the ConEdison Ecology booth. Our Haunted House (4-7p) and Amazing Maize Maze (11a-430p) will be open as well. This is a popular event, so if crowds aren’t your thing we recommend arriving early. *Admission includes Bounces and games for kids, Pig Racing , Halloween Characters (photos with characters welcome), Savannah Sky Country Band, ConEdison Ecology booth, and craft activity for kids. Additional fees apply for: Animal Feeding, Pony Ride, Hayride, Haunted House, and Amazing Maize Maze. No ATM machine on site. Please plan accordingly.
The FunkeyMonkeys at The Jewish Museum (UES)
Sunday October 25th 1130a-1230p & 2-3p. For ages 2-6y. Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Children. Jewish Museum Family Members: $15 Adults; $11 Children. Get out your balloon tails and dancing shoes for the hilarious antics and soulful sounds of the beloved FunkeyMonkeys. Giggle and groove to songs from their albums Moustache and Sing, Dance and Underpants and more unpredictable fun.
3rd Annual Musical Haunted House at the Brooklyn Music School (Fort Greene)
Sunday October 25th 3-5p. Tickets: $5. Purchase tickets here. The Brooklyn Music School is raising the dead — and the roof! Join us for a fun, spooky afternoon when BMS turns its century-old schoolhouse building into a musical haunted house on Sunday. Petrifying performances and music workshops will feature BMS’ instructor-turned zombies including the “Headless Chordsmen,” “Hellvis,” “Glenn Ghoul,” and a jazz band made up of Civil War-era musicians. And of course, there will be candy for all!
City Stomp: Halloween Concert at ShapeShifter Lab (Gowanus)
Doors open at 3p and show is at 330p. Tickets: $12/+ fee online or $15/door. Purchase tickets here. Don’t forget to wear your costumes! City Stomp incorporates fun original songs about growing up in NYC with updated versions of traditional folk songs from other world cultures. City Stomp takes kid’s music to a new level with songs that parents not only can tolerate, but actually LIKE to listen to. Parents everywhere have said that City Stomp albums are some of the few kids albums that they are happy to play for their kids. Some even said (in confidence) that they listen to the albums when their kids aren’t even there. With live shows that Time Out Kids calls a “Time Out Kids fave,” kids and parents always have a good time when City Stomp is performing. People.com just voted City Stomp’s Banana Song number 3 on their top ten list of kid songs about foods!
Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Flotilla in Central Park (UES)
Sunday October 25th 330-7p. Free. Location: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, inside the Park at 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues. Members-only Perk: pre-register online to reserve space in the flotilla for your pumpkin by Friday, October 23. (Please remember to bring your membership card with you). Non-Members: On-site registration only on day of event (Sunday, October 25: 3:30pm) to reserve space in the flotilla for your pumpkin. Enjoy live music, spooky stories, pumpkin carving demonstrations, and, of course, Central Park Conservancy’s signature pumpkin flotilla, which sets sail across the Harlem Meer at twilight! Schedule of Events 330p–530p Pumpkin Flotilla Drop Off, Pumpkin Carving Demonstrations, Halloween Crafts, Live Music. 345p–430p & 445p-530p Spooky Stories, 6p–630p Halloween Parade, 630p Pumpkin Flotilla Launch. See website for all the event details.
For more Sunday events please click here!
All Weekend
Creepy Crawly Halloween at the Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday-Sunday October 24th-25th 1-430p. Free. Location: Near the Lincoln Road/Ocean Avenue entrance. Take a second look at the creatures that give you the creeps, you may find you like them! Participate in fun activities and experiments that will make your spine tingle! Owl Pellet Dissection, 1–2 pm: Participants will have the opportunity to pick apart owl pellets, masses of undigested parts of food that owl species occasionally regurgitate! Creepy Crawly Walk, 3–4 pm: Participants will search for Prospect Park’s creepy residents and explore the hidden side of the park. Animal Encounter, 4–4:30 pm: Want to watch the snake gobble up a mouse? Join Alliance Naturalists in learning more about the animals in the Audubon Center’s collection and even assist in an actual feeding.
Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend with Ray Villafane at the New York Botanical Garden
Saturday-Sunday October 24th-25th 10a-6p. Free with paid admission. Watch Master Carver Ray Villafane transform giant pumpkins into a Día de los Muertos tableau. Enjoy daily Q&A sessions with his additional carvers. From October 24 through November 1, giant pumpkins supplied by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth will once again be on display in the Garden, some weighing more than a ton!
Haunted House at the Queens County Farm Museum
Saturday-Sunday October 24th-25th 4-7p. Admission: $4 per person. This event is recommended for children age 6-12. Visit our Haunted House for thrills and chills! Hayrides, Halloween treats, mulled cider, pumpkins and apples will be sold. Adults will find it creepy too!
Gravesend Inn Haunted Hotel (Downtown Brooklyn)
Friday October 23rd 10a-3p & 6-9p and Saturday October 24th 1-5p & 6-9p. See website for additional times next week. $5 for students (with ID) and group admission, $8 for general sales. Location: Voorhees Theatre, 186 Jay Street (north of Tillary), Brooklyn, NY. Theatreworks’ high-tech haunted hotel, the Gravesend Inn, returns again this year. Produced by Theatreworks, City Tech’s resident theatrical troupe with design, construction, and operating support provided by students and faculty of the College’s nationally unique Entertainment Technology Department, this theme-park-quality Halloween attraction has been thrilling children and adults alike since 1999. To reserve tickets click here.
Fall 2015 Ready, Set, Kindergarten! at various Brooklyn Public Library branches
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until November 22nd at various times. Free. See the flyer for more information on the 30 locations and times. In this special six session series, families will enjoy stories and activities designed to encourage the development of early learning skills. Exploring literacy, science, and math through music, stories, and play will help you and your child get ready for school!
Halloween Murder Mystery at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden (UES)
Friday October 23rd & Saturday October 24th 615p & 730p. Appropriate for adults or families with children 8 and older. Please call (212)838-6878 to make reservations for this “tickets only” event. $25 Adults; $10 Children under 12; $15 Museum Members. In this fictional mystery game, loosely based on an historic newspaper account, an unidentified skeleton has been discovered under the floorboards of the Mount Vernon Hotel. Explore the Museum by candlelight, and collect clues to unravel the mystery and solve the case.
The Gruffalo at The New Victory Theater
Saturday October 24th 11a, 3p & 7p and Sunday October 25th 11a & 3p. All tickets $25. For ages 4-7y. Performance is 55 minutes with no intermission. See below for additional showtimes. Mouse takes a stroll in the deep, dark wood, and along comes smirking sly Fox, eccentric old Owl and maraca-shaking Snake—all hungry for our little friend! To scare them away, Mouse invents THE GRUFFALO, an imaginary creature with “terrible tusks, and terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws!” Adapted by London’s Tall Stories (The Snail and the Whale, New Vic 2014), the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler gets a musical makeover with sing-along songs, slapstick comedy and scary fun for little ones. But have no fear, for don’t you know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo…
The Velveteen Rabbit: A New Family Musical at the Linda Gross Theater (Chelsea)
Saturday-Sunday 1030a until November 1st. Tickets $15/$20. Best suited for ages 3 to 9, while kids and adults of all ages are welcome! “What is Real?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit to the Skin Horse. “Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” So begins the story of a very shy toy Rabbit made of velveteen and sawdust who longs to be loved. Newly adapted from Margery Williams Bianco’s beloved children’s tale of nursery magic and the secret life of toys, The Velveteen Rabbit takes us on the Rabbit’s musical journey from loneliness to friendship, from loss to Love, from innocence to wisdom, and finally…to becoming Real.
Flight School the Musical at Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre (UWS)
Saturday-Sundays at 1p until October 31st. For ages 2-7y. Tickets: $49.50-$59.50. It’s the first day of Flight School, where they teach birds to fly. Penguin has the soul of an eagle and is ready to live on the wind. But he wasn’t built to soar, as the other birds constantly remind him. Penguin’s spirit won’t be grounded. With some friends of a feather, and a little help on the technical parts, Penguin follows his dreams to flip, flap, fly! With book by Cara Lustik, music by David Mallamud, and lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen, Flight School The Musical is based on the book Flight School from best-selling author Lita Judge.
Boo at the Zoo: Mystery & Mischief at the Bronx Zoo
Saturday-Sundays various times until November 1st. Free with Total Experience Ticket. The General Admission ticket does not include all attractions. Our favorite Halloween tradition, Boo at the Zoo, is back at the Bronx Zoo, weekends in October. Stop by for music, magic, and fun facts about our favorite animals that are surrounded by Mystery and Mischief. Enjoy a hay maze, costume parade, Mystery of Animals Station, 3-D Carved Pumpkins and more! Take a look at the schedule of events and plan a trip with the whole family.
Hansel and Gretel’s Halloween Adventure at The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre
Friday 1030a & 12n, Saturday-Sunday 1p until October 31st. See website for more information. Ticket prices are: $7/children under 12, $10/all others. Hansel and Gretel’s Halloween Adventure picks up where the original Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre production leaves off; with the pair’s pet swan Samantha flying the children back to their humble home after their wild escapade in the forest. Safely back at home during the Halloween season; Hansel and Gretel experience the most vivid dreams where Central Park and the Belvedere Castle serve as the backdrop for a magical explosion of music, dance and exciting encounters with a host of lovable characters. The brother and sister team once again embark on an adventure where beautiful mermaids, adorable monsters, swashbuckling pirates, charming vampires and a fabulous witch all intertwine for one unforgettable Halloween night in New York City.
Beauty & the Beast at PuppetWorks (Park Slope)
Saturday & Sundays ongoing until December 20th 1230p & 230p. For ages 4+. Admission for a Child is $9, an Adult $10. No credit cards accepted. Reservations are suggested: 718-965-3391 (current day or advance reservations) or e-mail us: puppetworks@twcmetrobiz.com (NO same day e-mail reservations). Madame Gabrielle de Villeneuve’s French Fantasy with a “live” Beast. Adapted for Marionettes by Nicolas Coppola.
Halloween Harvest at Luna Park (Coney Island)
Saturday-Sunday ongoing until November 1st. Free admission. Fees for rides and games. See website for hours. The colors are changing and it’s finally cooling down! Fall is definitely on the horizon, and that means Halloween Harvest at Luna Park in Coney Island! Join us every weekend from Sept 26 through Nov 1 for a family-friendly event filled with tons of activities, entertainment, and of course the Luna Park rides and games you know and love! Each weekend there will be FREE fun things to do such as Coney Carnival for airbrush tattoos, face painting and balloon animals, magicians strolling along the boardwalk, hair braiders, jugglers and Monster Mash Stage for dancing and contests, also Creepy Crawly Halloween themed Crafts and Camp Luna for stories and s’mores. See website for more details on the Halloween Harvest.
Family Discovery Weekends at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Crown Heights)
Saturdays & Sundays until November 1st 1030a-230p. No programs October 24th. Free with Garden admission. This is a drop-in program for families with children of all ages. Stop by the pavilion to create a nature-based craft, artwork, or invention. Experiment, learn, and play together in the Discovery Garden. Hands-on stations throughout the garden’s meadow, woodland, and marsh habitats, and in the vegetable garden encourage families to explore nature together. All programs are outdoors and canceled in inclement weather; for updates, call 718-623-7200, ext. 7801.
Amazing Maize Maze at Queens County Farm Museum
Saturdays & Sundays until October 25th 11a-430p (weather permitting, last ticket sold 430p). Amazing Maize Maze: $9 adults, $5 kids age 4 to 11, free for kids age 3 and under. Ready to be amaaazed? Kids and adults alike will have fun finding their way out of this 3-acre corn labyrinth! The adventure begins with a “Stalk Talk” to prepare you for the challenge of finding clues, solving puzzles and making your way out of the maze. Feel up to the challenge? Then join us for the fun of getting lost and loving it! *NOTE: Oct 25th there is an admission fee to enter the farm grounds for the Children’s Fall Festival.
For a full calendar of events please click here!