On the evening of Saturday, Oct. 24, guides at Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center will lead tour groups through the museum's four-acre campus as the light fades. Across town, the Ridgefield Fathers Club will be sending timed groups into Richardson Park for Paranormal Park. Both events end that weekend. By the time Halloween arrives on Saturday, Oct. 31, the town's lineup is free, outdoors, built for small children, and mostly done before dinner.
That timing shapes how a Ridgefield household plans the next three weeks. The ticketed, after-dark events that need advance planning come early. Halloween weekend itself needs very little.
The after-dark events end on Oct. 25
Paranormal Park starts first. The Ridgefield Fathers Club's event at Richardson Park runs on two weekends, Oct. 16–17 and Oct. 23–24, from 7 to 9 p.m. Entry is sold in half-hour time slots, with the last entry at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $15 online and $20 at the gate. Because of the timed entry, buying online saves money and also guarantees your slot. The final night is Saturday, Oct. 24, a full week before Halloween.
Ghosts of Ridgefield fills the next window. Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center runs the tours Oct. 23–25, from 5 to 7 p.m. each evening, rain or shine. Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children. The museum recommends the tour for ages 7 and up and describes it as "slightly spooky but not graphic."
There is a reason to go this year even if you've done the tour before. According to the inRidgefield October events roundup, ticket-holders in 2026 get new, exclusive after-dark access inside the historic museum, with "ghosts" in the rooms telling their stories. The guides also promise "new stories, familiar faces, and a few surprises." Tours start at 5 p.m., when there is still some daylight in late October. A ticket for later in the two-hour window is the one more likely to see the museum interior in the dark.
Put the two together and the evening Halloween events with an admission charge all land between Oct. 16 and Oct. 25. On the weekend of Oct. 23–25 they overlap. Paranormal Park's last two nights fall on the same Friday and Saturday as the first two nights of Ghosts of Ridgefield.
The same weekend covers every age
The weekend of Oct. 23–25 matters for more than its after-dark events. Over those three days the family programming climbs through the age groups, so a household with a toddler and an older child can find something for each without leaving town.
- Ages 2 to 6, Friday morning. Woodcock Nature Center holds Critters and Costumes! on Friday, Oct. 23, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Tickets are $30 per child, a caregiver comes along, and registration is required. Children wear costumes, hike the trail following clues left by animals to find a treat, and meet a tarantula and an albino snake, which the center calls "misunderstood animals."
- Ages 3 and up, Sunday afternoon. The Ridgefield Playhouse hosts 123 Andrés – ¡No Tengo Miedo! – A Bilingual Concert for Halloween on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. It's a family show with a costume parade. The event page didn't list a ticket price when we checked, so look it up before you go.
- Ages 7 and up, each evening Oct. 23–25. Ghosts of Ridgefield, as described above.
Two events for adults fall in the same stretch. A.C.T. of CT opens Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Oct. 22, and ROAR's Falling for ROAR Gala is at Silver Spring Country Club on Friday, Oct. 23. Families who want an adults' night and a kids' day in the same weekend can get both.
The weekdays in between
After Oct. 25 the schedule turns low-key. On Tuesday, Oct. 27, The Ridgefield Playhouse hosts Tiger Shark Tank 5, where the town's Economic & Community Development Commission has local entrepreneurs and small businesses pitch a panel of business leaders for more than $5,000 in prizes. It isn't a Halloween event, but it's the main midweek date on the calendar between the two weekends.
The next Halloween event is for the youngest children. The Ridgefield Library's Halloween Storytime & Parade runs 10:30 to 11 a.m. The library calendar lists it for Friday, Oct. 30, in the combined Main and Dayton Program Rooms, for babies through kindergarten. The library supplies goodie bags, and children trick-or-treat around the building in costume. The two sources don't agree on the date. inRidgefield's event page lists it for Saturday, Oct. 31, at the same time. The library runs the program, so its calendar is the one to go by. Check it before you plan the morning around it. The calendar marks registration as required, though the description says drop-ins are welcome if there's space.
Saturday, Oct. 31 runs from coffee to after dark
Halloween this year has two anchor events, about seven hours apart.
| Time | Event | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m.–noon | Ridgefield's Halloween Walk | Main Street, downtown | Trick-or-treating at downtown shops; organized by the Town of Ridgefield |
| 5–8:30 p.m. | Trunk-or-Treat | Lounsbury House | Free, outdoor only, for children of all ages; hosted by the Ridgefield Police Department |
The Halloween Walk brings children in costume to the shops of Downtown Ridgefield from 10 a.m. to noon. The listing tells families to "grab your costumes and a coffee." The page says more details are coming, so check it again closer to the date.
In the evening, the Ridgefield Police Department holds its annual Trunk-or-Treat at Lounsbury House from 5 to 8:30 p.m. The event is free and outdoor only, and it's meant for children of all ages. It runs three and a half hours, so families can come before or after their own neighborhood rounds.
When Halloween falls on a weekday, a morning event on Main Street and an evening event at Lounsbury House would pull families in two directions on a school day. On a Saturday, the downtown walk, a free afternoon, and the evening at Lounsbury House fit into one day with no conflicts. The only time-sensitive tickets in the whole season belong to the weekend before.
Downtown is part of the season all month
Two events add to downtown's look during October.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, middle and high school students paint Halloween scenes on storefront windows downtown. They can sign up as teams or as individuals, and organizers supply water-based tempera paint. We didn't find a confirmed 2026 time or registration page for the event. The Parks & Recreation pages online are from earlier years, so families with a student who wants to take part should contact Parks & Recreation directly. The painted windows are on the same downtown blocks the Halloween Walk covers on Oct. 31.
The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce Scarecrow Competition has had scarecrows on display since early October. The public votes for a winner, who receives a $100 Town of Ridgefield eGift Card. The Chamber's page says the displays run through Nov. 1, but its event calendar entry ends on Oct. 30. To be safe, vote before Halloween weekend.
The Iris Fund 5K and Ridgefield Road Fest takes place on Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield, the day after the window painting.
Ridgefield's 2026 Halloween calendar at a glance
- Oct. 16–17: Paranormal Park, first weekend, Richardson Park
- Oct. 17: Halloween Window Painting, downtown
- Oct. 18: Iris Fund 5K and Ridgefield Road Fest
- Oct. 22: Beautiful opens at A.C.T. of CT
- Oct. 23: Critters and Costumes! at Woodcock Nature Center; Falling for ROAR Gala
- Oct. 23–24: Paranormal Park, final weekend
- Oct. 23–25: Ghosts of Ridgefield at Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center
- Oct. 25: 123 Andrés at The Ridgefield Playhouse
- Oct. 27: Tiger Shark Tank 5 at The Ridgefield Playhouse
- Oct. 30: Halloween Storytime & Parade at Ridgefield Library, per the library calendar
- Oct. 31: Halloween Walk on Main Street, 10 a.m.–noon; Trunk-or-Treat at Lounsbury House, 5–8:30 p.m.
Six of the eleven dates come before Oct. 25. If you plan to buy tickets for anything this season, do it within the next ten days.
If you're thinking about a move once the holidays are over and want to know where your home stands before the spring market, Taylor Tait can walk you through the numbers on your street. Request a complimentary home valuation, and enjoy the Saturday Halloween.
