What to do in Colorado for Fall & Halloween Events

I love fall – that moment before the weather turns wintery cold, crunchy golden-red leaves to jump in, harvest foods and cider, and Halloween and haunted houses! So for work I did a lunch-n-learn where I shared the best fall events people should know about! I started with some local haunted trivia (such as Linger originally being a Mortuary, the Stanley Hotel being an inspiration for the Shining, and that my work’s office use to be a paper company with an obligatory joke about Dunder Mifflin.) We then swapped stories about local haunts! It was a lot of fun. So I wanted to share all my recommendations here as well!

Farmer’s Markets

This time of year it’s so festive to go to a Farmer’s Market. In season are Apples, Carrots, Squash, and Pumpkins! 

Harvest Festivals

• Balistreri Vineyards: Oct 1- $70
• Applefest (Longmont): Oct 2 – $28A $12C

Cider Festivals

• Morrison CiderFest: Sept 23 – Free
• Lakewood Cider Days: Oct 7 & 8 – $6A $5C

Other Fall Only Events

• Elk Fest: Sept 30th – Oct 1 – Free
• Festival of Scarecrows (Arvada): Oct 7 – Free

Pumpkin Themed Events

• Giant Pumpkin Festival and Weigh-Off: Sep 30
• Aurora’s Pumpkin Chunkin: Oct 7 & 8
• Chatfield Farms Pumpkin Festival: Oct 13-15 – $8A $6C
• Glow at the Gardens: Oct 18, 19, 25, & 26 – $16A $12C
• The Great Pumpkin Haul: Oct 28 – $60

Pumpkin Patches

• Anderson Farms
• Cottonwood Farms
• Rock Creek Farm

Corn Mazes

• Anderson Farms
• Chatfield
• Fritzler’s

Family Friendly

• Colorado Symphony
  • Disney In Concert Nightmare Before Christmas: Oct 26 & 27
  • HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!: Oct 28
• Trick or Treat Street: Oct 27- 29 – $15
• Halloween at the Museum: Oct 27/28 – $65A $55C
• Trick or Treat Train: Oct 28 – $15A $5C
• Hauntings at the Hangar: Oct 29 – $15A $8.50C
• Boulder’s Munchkin Masquerade: Oct 31 – Free
• Lakewood Fall Funfest: Oct 31 – Free
• Boo at the Zoo
• Dinos After Dark
• Bug a Boo

Fun & Quirky

• Science Lounge: Bloodcurdling Beasts: Oct 19 – $15
• Edgar Allen Poe
  • Victorian Horrors at the Molly Brown House
  • Poe in the Parlour at the Lumber Baron Inn
• Meet Live Bats
  • Denver Museum
  • Botanical Gardens
• Oddities Expo: Oct 28 – $5
• Spirits & Spirits – Oct 28
• Victoria Psychic Tea – Oct 28
• Boulder Mall Crawl
• Boulder’s Naked Pumpkin Run
• Headless Horseman

Ghost Hunting

• Ghosts in the Gardens
• Brown Palace Ghost Tour
• Stanley Hotel Night Spirits Tour – $28
• Fairmount/Riverside Cemetery Tours
• Capitol Hill/Cheeseman Park Walking Ghost Tours
• Morrison/Golden Walking Ghost Tours
• Denver Firefighter Museum Ghost Hunter Tour
• Denver/Boulder Banjo Billy’s Ghost Tours
• Nightly Spirits Pub and Ghost Crawl

Spooky Happenings

• Hotel Colorado
• Boulder Theater
• Macky Auditorium
• Oxford Hotel
• Lumber Baron Inn
• Cheeseman Park
• Buckhorn Exchange
• Croke-Patterson Mansion
• Molly Brown Museum
• Yak and Yeti
• Denver Children’s Home

Haunted Houses

• 13th Floor
• The Asylum
• Frightmare Compound
• The 13th Door
• Elitch Gardens Fright Fest
• City of the Dead
• BLACKOUT NIGHTS

Not into Haunted Houses? Try a Murder Mystery or an Escape Room.

Zombies

• Denver’s Zombie Crawl
• Zombie Paintball

Dia de los Muertos

• Longmont
  • Museum Exhibit: Oct 14 – Nov 7
  • Sugar Skull Making: Oct 29
  • Celebration: Nov 4
• Larimer Square: Oct 27
• Botanical Gardens: Nov 4