Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, which in the South Bay means one thing: a whole month of build-up and one very big night. Whether you have lived here twenty years or just unpacked the last box, here is where the fun is, from the walk streets to the harvest festivals to the pumpkins on wheels. Every date below was checked against the organizer, and the complete calendar lives in our Halloween in the South Bay guide.
Where is the biggest trick-or-treat night in the South Bay?
Ask anyone who has done it once: the walk streets of Manhattan Beach. The car-free walk streets in the South End, roughly 4th Street to 11th Street, turn into the busiest few blocks of Halloween in the South Bay. Houses go all out. Think full graveyards on the front patio, fog machines, skeletons climbing the railings, giant spiders on the roofline, and the occasional front yard that looks like a movie set. When MB News asked walk street households how many trick-or-treaters they see, answers ran from more than 500 to more than 2,000 in a single night.
With Halloween on a Saturday this year, plan on even bigger crowds. A few things make the night better for everyone:
- Go early. Things pick up around 5pm, and the little ones have the best time before the sidewalks fill.
- Park once and walk. Parking near the walk streets disappears fast. Leave the car farther up the hill or downtown and stroll in, and never block a driveway or an alley.
- Treat it like a neighbor’s front yard, because it is. Stay on the walk, skip any house with the lights off, and carry your wrappers out with you.
- Bring a bag with some room. You will need it.
What else does Halloween night look like around the South Bay?
Riviera Village, Redondo Beach. On Saturday, October 31, from 3pm to 8pm, Catalina Avenue closes from Avenue I to South Elena, and the shops hand out candy outdoors until 6pm, while it lasts. It draws thousands of trick-or-treaters every year, so it is the easiest one-stop option for little kids, and you can stay for dinner in the Village. Paid parking is at Plaza Riviera, 1611 S. Catalina Avenue, and at Mira Mar Park, 201 Paseo de la Playa. Riviera Village details
Downtown El Segundo. The city’s annual Halloween Frolic brings a costume contest, a pumpkin contest, bouncers and food trucks to Main Street. The 2026 date has not been posted yet, so watch El Segundo Recreation and Parks.
Where are the harvest festivals this fall?
If your crew is more hayride than haunted house, the Peninsula has you covered.
- Green Hills Harvest Festival, Sunday, October 11, noon to 3pm. Free, at Green Hills Memorial Park, 27502 S. Western Avenue, Rancho Palos Verdes. A giant pumpkin patch where everyone takes one home, hayrides, a maze, live music, line dancing, food trucks, face painting, and pumpkin carving demos by a pro carver. Lines close at 2:45pm, so get there early. Green Hills
- Lunada Bay Harvest Festival, Sunday, October 18, 2pm to 6pm. At Lunada Bay Plaza, Yarmouth Road and Via Anacapa in Palos Verdes Estates, just steps from our office. A pumpkin patch, face painting, games, a balloon artist, inflatables, crafts, live music, food and drink, and yes, its own pumpkin race. Palos Verdes Source
Where do you go for haunted hayrides, corn mazes and ghost tours?
Here is the honest local answer: not here. The South Bay has beaches and walk streets, not cornfields, so for the real fall farm and full-scare experience you take a little road trip. The good news is that everything below is an easy evening or a Saturday away, and it is a great excuse to explore what is around us. Drive times are rough estimates without traffic, so add a buffer on October weekends.
- Queen Mary Dark Harbor, Long Beach (about 25 minutes). The closest big scare. The ship turns into a haunted maze festival on select nights from September 18 to November 1. Not a scare person? The Queen Mary also runs its regular ghost tours of the ship’s most famous haunted spots. Visit Long Beach
- Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Griffith Park (about 45 minutes). The classic. Select nights from September 18 to November 1 at the Old Zoo Picnic Area, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, with a haunted hayride, haunted houses, s’mores and fresh cider donuts. The organizers say it may be too intense for kids 12 and under. LA Haunted Hayride
- Ghost tours in Hollywood (about 45 minutes). Walk Hollywood Boulevard at night past the Roosevelt Hotel and the old movie palaces with a guide who knows every story. Ghost City Tours runs an all-ages Ghosts of Hollywood tour, an adults-only Fame Kills tour and a 21-and-over haunted pub crawl. Make it a date night with dinner on the Boulevard first. Ghost City Tours
- Tanaka Farms, Irvine (about 50 minutes). One of the few places near LA where you can pick a pumpkin right off the vine, with wagon rides through the farm. Open daily through November 1 with timed-entry tickets, so book ahead. Tanaka Farms
- Underwood Family Farms, Moorpark (about an hour and 15 minutes). The full fall farm day: the Fall Harvest Festival runs September 26 to October 31, 9am to 6pm, with a corn trail, wagon rides, animals and acres of pumpkins. Weekday admission is $16. Pack snacks and make a day of it. Underwood Family Farms
What is the one Halloween event not to miss?
The Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race, Sunday, October 18, at the foot of the pier. It is free, and it is exactly what it sounds like: build a racer from a single pumpkin, put it on wheels, and race it head to head down Manhattan Beach Boulevard. The festival opens at noon and races start at 2pm sharp. Kits go on sale October 3, and the optional $7 Turbo Pass goes on sale October 5 for residents. Our guide has the rules, where to buy a kit and how to get there without fighting for parking.
Can my dog get in on it?
Of course. Dogs in costume are part of the scenery at every street event here, and the South Bay has its own costume contests for them. Culture Brewing in Manhattan Beach ran its fourth Creatures of Culture dog costume contest last Halloween night, and the walk streets see plenty of four-legged pumpkins and hot dogs in buns. We will add 2026 dog contests to the Halloween guide as organizers post them. Planning a beach walk with yours afterward? Here is where dogs are allowed on the sand.
What else is on the calendar?
- October 1: Halloween kicks off at the Downtown San Pedro First Thursday Night Market, and two Torrance pumpkin patches open on Carson Street.
- October 3: Scaredown in Downtown, Old Torrance.
- October 11: Green Hills Harvest Festival, Rancho Palos Verdes.
- October 17: ICAN Inclusive Halloween Festival, Torrance.
- October 18: Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race and the Lunada Bay Harvest Festival.
- October 23 and 24: Halloween train rides and a movie night at Wilson Park, Torrance.
- October 24: The Floating Pumpkin Patch at the Benstead Plunge in Torrance, and the Halloween Carnival at Manhattan Heights Park.
- October 30: Redondo Beach Pier Halloween Festival.
- October 31: Riviera Village Trick or Treat, and the Manhattan Beach walk streets after dark.
Times, addresses, prices and all the pumpkin patches are in the full Halloween guide, and every Thursday we post what is happening that week on This Week in the South Bay. New to the neighborhood? Halloween is the best night of the year to meet the people on your street. Grab a costume and go say hi.
