Halloween in the South Bay

Verified 28 September 2026. Every date, time and location below was checked against the organizer or the City of Torrance visitors bureau on that date. Where sources disagree, we say so rather than picking one. Confirm before you drive, because October listings change late.

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026. That matters more than it sounds. Trick-or-treating starts earlier, the evening events run later, and the beach cities get considerably busier than on a weeknight Halloween.

What Halloween events are happening in the South Bay in 2026?

Here is the full calendar in date order.

• Through 1 November: Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns, South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos Verdes Peninsula
• 1 October onward: South Bay Pumpkin Patch, 3540 W. Carson Street, Torrance
• 1 October to 31 October: Torrance Pumpkin Patch at Del Amo Fashion Center
• 2 October to 1 November: Mr. Jack O’ Lantern’s Pumpkin Patch, 17520 Prairie Ave, Torrance
• Saturday 3 October, 4pm to 9pm: Scaredown in Downtown, Old Torrance
• Saturday 17 October, 11am to 3pm: ICAN Inclusive Halloween Festival, SCROC, Torrance
• Sunday 18 October, races at 2pm sharp: 36th Annual Pumpkin Race, Manhattan Beach Pier
• Friday and Saturday 23 and 24 October, 4:45pm to 8:15pm: Halloween Train Rides, Wilson Park, Torrance
• Saturday 24 October, 4pm to 9pm: Halloween Movie Night, Wilson Park, Torrance
• Saturday 24 October: 38th Annual Halloween Carnival, Manhattan Heights Park, Manhattan Beach
• Friday 30 October: Redondo Beach Pier Halloween Festival
• Saturday 31 October, 10am to 1pm: Boo Bash, Dave & Buster’s, Torrance
• Saturday 31 October, 7pm to 10pm: Moonlight Mixer, Dave & Buster’s, Torrance
• Date to be announced: Mall-O-Ween trick-or-treat, Del Amo Fashion Center

What is the Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race?

The Pumpkin Race is a free event on Sunday 18 October 2026 where decorated pumpkins mounted on wheels race down a track at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Races begin at 2:00pm sharp. It is the 36th year.

Prizes go to the fastest, the funniest and the most creative entries, and the pier area is renamed Pumpkin Race Land for the day. It is the most distinctly local thing on the October calendar and it draws a crowd, so arrive well before 2pm if you want to see the track.

Where are the South Bay pumpkin patches?

There are four in Torrance and a night-time jack-o-lantern trail on the Peninsula.

Mr. Jack O’ Lantern’s Pumpkin Patch runs 2 October to 1 November at 17520 Prairie Ave, Torrance 90504. Pumpkin decorating, pumpkin bowling, candy corn hole, a petting zoo, pumpkin putting and a pumpkin smash.

The Torrance Pumpkin Patch at Del Amo Fashion Center runs 1 October to 31 October at 3405 W. Carson Street, Torrance 90503, with pony rides, a petting zoo and photo setups.

South Bay Pumpkin Patch opens 1 October at 3540 W. Carson Street, Torrance, and runs Monday to Friday 1pm to 10pm and weekends 10am to 10pm. It has a petting zoo, a paintball range, rides and bouncers. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 3 to 17, free for ages 2 and under, and parking is free. Attractions are ticketed separately, and an unlimited wristband for the slides and bouncers is available Monday to Thursday. Details at southbaypumpkinpatch.com.

Mr. Jones Farm Pumpkin Patch at 3825 Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance 90505 has pumpkins, bounce houses, pony rides and a petting zoo. Dates for 2026 have not been published yet.

Where can you see jack-o’-lanterns at night?

Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns at South Coast Botanic Garden runs from 18 September through 1 November 2026 and features more than 10,000 carved pumpkins along a mile-long walking trail.

It is a ticketed evening event with lit displays, photo setups, a s’mores station, live entertainment and carving demonstrations. The Garden is at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tickets are handled separately from Garden admission at magicofthejackolanterns.com.

Worth knowing if you are on the Peninsula: this runs on the same grounds where Thomas Dambo’s TROLLS: A Field Study has been installed all year, though that exhibit closes 4 October.

What is Scaredown in Downtown?

Scaredown is the Downtown Torrance Association’s annual street event in Old Torrance on Saturday 3 October 2026, from 4pm to 9pm, and it is free to attend.

Trunk-or-treating, live bands, a DJ, a Haunted Boo-tique, crafts, photo setups and classic hearses on display. Thousands of people turn out. It is organized and run entirely by volunteers from the local business association.

Address note: the Discover Torrance event page lists 1313 Sartori Ave and their own Halloween roundup lists 1266 Sartori Ave. It is a street festival along Sartori in Old Torrance, so park near the historic district and walk. Details at dtaevents.com.

One scheduling note: the Manhattan Beach 10K runs the morning of the same Saturday and closes much of Manhattan Beach until around noon. The two do not overlap, so you can do both, but plan the drive.

Are there Halloween events for people with disabilities?

Yes. The ICAN Inclusive Halloween Festival is on Saturday 17 October 2026 from 11am to 3pm at SCROC, 2300 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance 90501, and it is free to attend.

It is built for people of all ages with disabilities, along with their families and caregivers, with Halloween activities in a setting designed for it. Food and merchandise are available for purchase. Details at ican.org.

What is happening at Wilson Park in Torrance?

Two separate events across the same weekend in late October.

Halloween Train Rides run Friday and Saturday, 23 and 24 October, from 4:45pm to 8:15pm. The Southern California Live Steamers run their trains through a decorated route after dark. Ten dollars per rider, tickets sold at the train depot on the day, costumes encouraged.

Halloween Movie Night is Saturday 24 October from 4pm to 9pm and it is free. The City of Torrance Community Services Department screens Toy Story 5 outdoors. Food trucks, a DJ, train rides, a pumpkin carving contest and a costume parade run before the film starts, so arriving early is the point rather than an optimization.

What is open on Halloween itself, Saturday 31 October?

Dave & Buster’s in Torrance runs two separate ticketed events that day at 21880 Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 360.

The Boo Bash runs 10am to 1pm and is built around a pancake banquet, a costume contest, a scavenger hunt and three hours of game play. Roughly $28 to $33 plus booking fees.

The Moonlight Mixer runs 7pm to 10pm and is the adult version, with a food banquet, a costume contest and three hours of game play, with drink tickets available as an add-on. Around $32 plus booking fees.

Beyond that, Halloween night in the South Bay is a neighborhood event rather than a civic one. The beach cities hand out candy street by street, and which streets go all out changes a little every year.

Which South Bay Halloween events are free?

Scaredown in Downtown, the ICAN Inclusive Halloween Festival, the Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race, Halloween Movie Night at Wilson Park, and Mall-O-Ween at Del Amo are all free to attend.

The ticketed ones are Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns, the Wilson Park train rides at ten dollars a rider, and the two Dave & Buster’s events. Pumpkin patches typically charge for attractions rather than entry, though policies vary by patch.

What is happening in the beach cities?

Three traditions, all long-running.

The 36th Annual Pumpkin Race at the Manhattan Beach Pier on Sunday 18 October. The 38th Annual Halloween Carnival at Manhattan Heights Park on Saturday 24 October, with carnival games, rides, crafts, a costume parade and a maze. The Redondo Beach Pier Halloween Festival on Friday 30 October, with trick-or-treating along the pier, a costume contest and music.

These three came to us through the Torrance visitors bureau rather than from each city directly, so treat the dates as strong but not final and confirm with the host city before you plan around them. We will update this page as each city publishes.

Where do you buy a costume in the South Bay?

Spirit Halloween runs two seasonal Torrance locations, both on Hawthorne Boulevard: one at 21800 Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 100, in the former JoAnn space at Del Amo, and one at 19800 Hawthorne Blvd in the former Ashley Furniture space at Torrance Promenade. Both open in September and close shortly after Halloween.

What should you know before you go?

Parking is the constraint at almost all of these. Scaredown, the Pumpkin Race and the Redondo Pier festival all put large crowds into places with limited parking, and all three are walkable from further out than people assume.

Mall-O-Ween at Del Amo has restrictions worth knowing in advance: it is for children under ten, costumes are encouraged but masks and toy weapons are not permitted, and it requires pre-registration through the City of Torrance recreation portal. The 2026 date has not been announced yet.

October listings move. Dates shift, times get adjusted and a few events are still marked as to be announced. We re-check this page through the season and carry the verification date at the top so you can see how current it is.

Where does this sit on the South Bay calendar?

Halloween is the front half of the busiest stretch of the year here. The annual events calendar runs from the Pumpkin Race through the pier and tree lightings in November and December, and October is when the South Bay stops being a summer place and becomes a neighborhood one again.

If you are getting to know the area, the neighborhood pages for Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach and for the Palos Verdes Peninsula cover what each part of the South Bay is actually like to live in.

Sources

Torrance event dates, times, locations and pricing confirmed at the Discover Torrance Halloween guide and the Scaredown event page, both checked 28 September 2026. Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns dates and venue from the event’s own site. ICAN festival details from ican.org. Beach city event dates are reported by the Torrance visitors bureau and are pending confirmation from each host city.