Halloween in West LA 2026: Pumpkin Patches, Trick-or-Treating & the Best Spooky Events
Here’s the best news of the season: Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday. No school-night sugar crashes, no sprinting home from work to hand out candy — just a full weekend of costumes, pumpkin patches, and the Westside at its most charming. From Culver City’s big patch to Montana Avenue’s candy crawl to West Hollywood’s legendary street party, here’s your complete local guide to spooky season.
The Pumpkin Patches (Open Now Through Oct 31)
Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch — the Westside’s biggest — is back at 10100 Jefferson Blvd in Culver City through Halloween. It’s the full production: photo ops everywhere, kids’ activities, and a serious pumpkin selection. Entry is by timed ticket ($10–$25 depending on the slot; kids under 3 free), and the weekend slots genuinely sell out, so book ahead and aim for a weekday afternoon if you can swing it.
Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkin Patch in West LA is the closer-to-home option, open daily through October 31 (11am–8pm most days, later on Fridays and Saturdays, from 10am on Saturdays). Smaller and quicker than Mr. Bones — perfect for the “we just need a good pumpkin and a photo” mission.
The Family Events Worth Circling
Spooky Splash at the Santa Monica Swim Center (Friday, October 23, 5–8pm) is the sleeper hit of the season: a floating pumpkin patch in the splash pool — yes, you pick your pumpkin out of the water — plus a haunted house, spooky movies, crafts, games, and treats. It’s one of the most original Halloween events in LA and it’s right in our backyard.
Before that, October’s neighborhood calendar keeps the fall mood going: Locals’ Night at the Santa Monica Pier returns October 15 with resident discounts and community programming (our complete pier guide has the lay of the land), and the Main Street Block Party takes over on Sunday, October 18 (noon–6pm) with live music, vendors, pumpkin decorating, and a Day of the Dog costume scene. Pro move: start that one with an espresso from Bar Fortuna’s walk-up window and graze your way down the street.
“A floating pumpkin patch in the splash pool — yes, you pick your pumpkin out of the water.”
Halloween Day: The Trick-or-Treat Classics
On Saturday the 31st, the Westside’s two great candy crawls run Halloween afternoon, traditionally 3–6pm. Montana Avenue’s Halloween Hop turns the whole avenue into a trick-or-treat route, with shopkeepers handing out candy to anyone in costume — it’s the Westside’s most charming Halloween tradition, full stop. Downtown Santa Monica’s trick-or-treat does the same on the Promenade and surrounding blocks. Both are free, both are stroller-friendly, and both are at their best right when they open, before the candy supplies thin out.
Halloween Night: For the Grown-Ups
Once the kids are sugared up and settled, the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval — one of the biggest Halloween street parties in the country — runs 6–11pm on Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny and La Cienega. It’s free, it’s wild, and the people-watching is unmatched; take a rideshare, because parking is a horror story all its own. Prefer to stay west? Make it a costume night out at one of the best bars in Santa Monica — most lean into the holiday hard on a Saturday Halloween.
Hosting Instead? Build the Spread
A Saturday Halloween is a party-throwing Halloween. Our game day snacks guide converts one-to-one to Halloween hosting — wings, sheet-pan nachos, and a make-ahead dip feed a costume party exactly as well as a football crowd (and there’s an afternoon of football to show before the costumes go on anyway). Add a pumpkin-carving station and you’ve got the whole evening programmed.
