5 Fun and Safe Ways To Celebrate Halloween in Vermont This Year

The air is crisp and cool, and it seems like there’s a jack-o-lantern on every doorstep. Halloween’s coming, and it’s time to make fun and spooky plans for how your family’s going to spend the day.

When picking your Halloween activities, it’s also worth taking a moment to think about safety. The only scares on Halloween should come from ghosts and ghouls, not real peril for you and your family. So, what can you get up to in Vermont on Halloween night, or in the week leading up to the big day? Here are five suggestions:

Find a Trunk-or-Treat Gathering Near You

Trunk-or-Treat is a version of classic trick-or-treating, but rather than going from house to house, families bring their cars to one location, with their trunks laden with treats. It takes away the long walks between houses that can make trick-or-treating tiring or unsafe in some neighborhoods, so be sure to look up whether your town is holding a trunk-or-treat this year. There may even be other attractions going on at time same time, like a costume contest or Halloween parade!

Here are some trunk-or-treat gatherings happening around Vermont on October 31, 2026:

• Blue Mountain Union School Trunk or Treat
  Time: 10:00 AM
  Location: 2420 US 302, Wells River, VT 
• Downtown St. Albans Spooky Saturday / St. Paul's Trunk or Treat
  Time: 12:00 PM
  Location: St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 11 Church Street, Saint Albans City, VT 
• Halloween Costume Parade & Trunk or Treat
  Time: 2:30 PM
  Location: Currier Park, Barre, VT 
• Rev. George L Fox Memorial Chapel Trunk or Treat
  Time: 4:00 PM
  Location: 52 Town Highway 36, Gilman, VT 
• Rutland Elks Lodge Trunk or Treat
  Time: 5:00 PM
  Location: 44 Pleasant Street, Rutland, VT
• Highgate Recreation Facility Trunk or Treat
  Time: 5:30 PM
  Location: 243 Gore Road, Highgate Center, VT

Check Out a Museum’s Spooky Event

Plenty of museums like Shelburne Museum, Fairbanks Museum, and Maritime Museum, throw open their doors for after-hours tours or scary pop-ups around All Hallow’s Eve. Going to one of these lets you get a closer look at the museums in your area. Maybe there’s a macabre collection on display, or a real-life local ghost story the staff will be only too happy to tell you. You can even learn something new, though of course, frightfulness and fun come first.

Pay a Visit to a Haunted Happening at a Farm or Orchard

Halloween is a great time to while away an afternoon or evening at a farm or an orchard near you. Corn mazes, haunted hayrides, and other festive outdoor events are a great reason to stop in. Each farm will offer up its own blend of fright and coziness, so you can choose your experience. Fall is a great time to get a closer look at places you’ve driven by but haven’t had the chance to explore, or to see a different side of somewhere you already go for fresh produce or apple cider.

Here are a few farms offering Halloween events:

• Merck Forest & Farmland Center in Rupert
• Hathaway Farm in Rutland
• Billings Farm in Woodstock
• Gaines Farm in Guilford  
• Silloway Maple in Randolph Center

Find a Unique Local Attraction

Farms and orchards aren’t the only places where you can find spooky pop-up entertainment around Halloween. Haunted houses raising funds for local clubs, craft-making or pumpkin-carving classes, costume contests for kids (or dogs!), seasonal road races with or without costumes – chances are, your town has its own seasonal tradition.

The Old Classic: Trick-or Treat in Your Neighborhood

Even as new spooky activities arise, trick-or-treating from house to house never goes out of style. If your family’s planning to go out in search of candy this year, it’s important to remember a few safety tips to make sure the night goes smoothly:

• Let there be light: Give kids flashlights with fresh batteries, along with other kinds of lights to make them more visible: This could mean glow stick bracelets or necklaces and reflective accents on predominantly black costumes.
• Stick together: If your children are tick-or-treating without you, teach them the importance of staying in a group with siblings, friends, or neighbors and ensure they’re carrying a phone to call 9-1-1 or contact you for help if they need it. Kids under 12 should always have adult supervision.
• Beware: Remind kids to always be aware of their surroundings. They should stay on the sidewalk wherever possible, not run across streets, and avoid getting distracted by texts or social media while walking.

However you spend your Halloween this year, we hope it’s a fun and safe one. Happy haunting!