It’s a frighteningly fun-packed time of year here in York Durham Headwaters. Kids are gearing up for trick or treating and adults are choosing from a wealth of spooky seasonal activities. Looking for the best ways and places to show off your perfectly-chosen costume? We have plenty of ideas below.
Step 1: Pick the Perfect Costume
- Don’t wait until the last minute to purchase a Halloween costume, especially if you’re ordering online. Also, know exactly what costume pieces and accessories you’re getting before buying. There may be a picture of a vampire on the packaging, but that doesn’t mean all the accessories are included.
- Choose face paint over masks whenever possible. Masks can impede your vision and can be a pain to carry around if you get tired of wearing them. YouTube is full of face paint tutorials to get your look just right.
- Plan weather-appropriate variants of your costume. Layers are always a great choice. This allows you to be dressed comfortably even if the temperature changes.
- Switch up your accessories. If you are going to several nights’ worth of Halloween events, you can add a hat one day and a fun cape another to keep your costume fresh and fun.
- Take the costume out of the bag and try it on well before October 31, just in case it doesn’t fit. Treat a Halloween costume like an outfit for a special event, and steam or iron it before wearing it. It will give your look the extra polish it needs to bring home that “best costume” prize!
Step 2: Choose a Halloween Haunt
With your costume ready to go, it’s time to fill your October calendar with fun events for kids of all ages.
Cannington Haunted Attraction
A beast lives deep in the woods of MacLeod Park. Every year, this ravenous, blood-sick creature rises from its yearly slumber to satisfy its hunger at Cannington Haunted Attraction. Only when it has gorged itself on the atmosphere of fear, the sound of screams, and the uncomfortable laughs of false bravado can it return to its slumber to wait for next October.
Features include two outdoor wooded trails and an indoor barn maze, all of which are transformed into immersive horror-themed environments complete with live scare actors and some shocking surprises.
Side attractions include a mini-escape room, food and craft vendors, and a decorated museum.
Come experience the greatest Haunted Attraction in Durham Region!
PumpkinFest at Downey’s
Downey’s Farm Market is hosting a month long festival to celebrate the season.
Pumpkinfest Play Area 2023:
- Wagon Rides
- Boo Barn
- Farm Animals
- Live Entertainment
- Puppet Shows
- Straw Jump
- A-MAZE-ING 8 -Acre Corn Maze
- Duck Races
- Hop It Horses
- Trike Track
- Jumping Pillows
- Pedal Cart Track
- Goat Mountain Slide
- ………and more!!!!
All tickets must be purchased online. There are no tickets onsite.
Check out the Downey’s Farm Market website for hours or operation and more details.
Halloween at Black Creek Pioneer Village
Escape to Black Creek Pioneer Village this October for a creepy Halloween family experience. Choose from two spooky experiences: Family Halloween Fun or Black Creek Nightlife. Wear your Halloween costume and get into the spirit of the season!
Family Friendly Fun!
Take part in ghastly activities and hair-raising happenings this Halloween. Spine-tingling adventures await!
Help with grisly experiments during the Slimy Science Show, using gooey concoctions to bring a pumpkin to life! Enjoy trick-or-treating among our heritage buildings, then spill your guts to the Village’s doctor while learning about messy medicine.
Learn the wicked wonders of witchcraft and wizardry. Uncover the mysteries of the future through fortune-telling games, and try to survive a petrifying puppet show.
Create “boo-tiful” Halloween crafts, test your skills at our creepy carnival games, and stop by our Fake Frights station to pick up some old-fashioned ghost busting tricks.
GHOST TOUR: Ghosts of the Village at Black Creek
Join us as we explore the supernatural side of Toronto’s historic and haunted pioneer village in the dark.
Featuring some of the oldest buildings in the city, the Village is the perfect creepy backdrop for a night of spine-tingling ghost stories – many of which have occurred to previous village guests and Haunted Walk tour guides. A must-do for paranormal enthusiasts!
GHOST TOUR: Alone in the Dark – The Village at Black Creek
Alone in the Dark – The Village at Black Creek is an unforgettably eerie evening that will delight ghost story enthusiasts, fearless paranormal investigators, history aficionados, urban explorers, and anyone with a curiosity about the unknown.
Space is limited. All participants must be 18+.
ESCAPE GAME: Where Dark Things Dwell
Stopping in the sleepy village of Black Creek for a night’s rest, you and your fellow travelers find yourselves trapped as ancient evil stirs. Black Creek is surely doomed – unless you can lift the curse!
Now it’s up to you to save the cursed villagers, discover the great incantation, and stop the evil from rising before the final bell tolls. Guided only by your wit and your lantern, do you have what it takes to journey where dark things dwell?
Where Dark Things Dwell is played in teams of four.
Haunted Ghost Walk Hosted by Pickering Museum Village
Lead through the Village by lantern-light, this spine-tingling tour will turn even the toughest cynic into a believer…of the supernatural! Learn about the paranormal investigations that have taken place on site, hear the Museum’s most infamous staff stories, and uncover the tragedies that have occurred in Pickering’ past.
Pingle’s Harvest Festival
Spend the day navigating through an Alice in Wonderland Corn Maze, have some farm-tastic fun in their Playland, take in the farm views & fresh country air on a wagon ride, pick-your-own delicious apples in the apple orchard and top off your day with some yummy savoury & sweet food & drinks!
WEEKDAY (Tues – Thurs) TICKETS INCLUDE: Includes entry to the pick-your-own areas, playland & animal area, & corn maze.
WEEKEND (Fri – Sun) TICKETS INCLUDE: Entry to the pick-your-own areas (subject to availability), playland & animal area, corn maze, wagon rides, access to our exclusive Harvest Festival food & drink area, live music & picnic table seating.
