Northern Virginia is where the Washington region actually does Halloween, and the good news for families is that the best of it is run by county parks rather than by scare companies: gentle, ticketed, capped-attendance events at $12 to $20 a head that are designed for children rather than tolerant of them. Fairfax County Park Authority has already posted 2026 dates and prices for the three that matter — Halloween on the Farm at Frying Pan, Ghost Town at Burke Lake, and Goblin Golf — plus one of the most distinctive family events in the country, a sensory-friendly trick-or-treat at the fully accessible Clemyjontri Park. Around them sit the town traditions: Vienna's parade down Maple Avenue, running since 1946, and the trick-or-treat trails in Reston Town Center and Del Ray. This guide has what's confirmed for 2026, what has only last year's pattern to go on, and the one big farm where you need to know which of two very different tickets you're buying.
Three Fairfax County Park Authority events have 2026 dates and prices posted, which in mid-August makes them the only things in this guide you can actually plan around. Halloween on the Farm at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon runs Friday October 23, 5–8pm in one-hour slots at 5, 6 and 7, and Saturday October 24, 4:30–7:30pm in slots at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30. It is $12 per person, ages two through adult — which means the adults buy tickets too — and children must be accompanied by a registered adult. You trick-or-treat on the farm, visit the animals, make crafts, play games and tour the decorated farmhouse. Registration had not opened as of mid-August; the park's page said so explicitly. Ghost Town at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax Station is October 24 and 25, 11am–5pm, $20 in advance (on sale until two days before) or $25 on the day, with under-twos free but needing to be with a paying adult. The single admission covers everything: themed activity areas, the miniature train, the carousel, crafts and mini golf. It is explicitly family-friendly and not-spooky, costumes encouraged — and its online registration sold out in 2025, so treat the advance ticket as the plan rather than the discount. Goblin Golf, also at Burke Lake, runs the Halloween-themed mini-golf course on October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18, with treats included and costumed characters on the course; the 2026 price had not been posted, though the same event ran at $10 per person the year before.
On Sunday October 18, 2026, 11am–5pm, Clemyjontri Park in McLean runs a Sensory-Friendly Trick-or-Treat at $20 per trick-or-treater. It is worth knowing about even if sensory-friendly isn't the reason you'd go, because the park it happens in is unusual: Clemyjontri is a fully accessible “boundless” playground, with ramps up to the elevated play components, rubber safety surfacing throughout rather than mulch, lowered monkey bars, sensory-rich equipment across four color-themed play areas, and the Liberty Swing — Virginia's first wheelchair-accessible swing (not every chair fits, so check first). Entry to the park and playground is free year-round, 7am to dusk, with free parking in an 81-space lot and overflow across the street at Langley Forks Park, and accessible restrooms with baby changing tables at the picnic pavilion. The carousel and the trackless train — the train has a wheelchair-accessible caboose car — are the only things that cost money, at $4 per person per ride on weekdays and $5 on weekends and holidays, with no unlimited wristband option. Through the fall the carousel runs weekends only, 9:30am–3:30pm, from August 24 to October 25. If the October 18 event sells out or doesn't suit, the park itself is still the region's default choice for mixed-ability groups on any other autumn weekend.
The Vienna Halloween Parade has run annually since 1946, rain or shine, on the Wednesday before Halloween at 7pm down Maple Avenue — about a half-mile route taking roughly an hour and a half, co-hosted by the Town of Vienna and the Vienna Business Association, and free to watch. The 2025 edition was the 79th, on October 29; the town's own page lists Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 7pm, which would make it the 80th, and October 28 is indeed the Wednesday before Halloween. One warning: the business association's co-host page is badly out of date, still advertising a parade from several years ago, so use viennava.gov as your source. Reston Town Center runs Trick or Treat Beyond Market Street on Sunday, October 25, noon–3pm — a retailer trick-or-treat trail across 35-plus shops and restaurants with free giveaways, trick-or-treat bags, face painting, characters, stilt walkers, games and live music. The year isn't stated verbatim on the live calendar, though October 25 is a Sunday in 2026, so confirm before you drive out. In Alexandria, the Del Ray Halloween Parade is a Sunday-before-Halloween tradition run by the Del Ray Business Association along Mount Vernon Avenue: free, with a stroller contest, a pet costume contest and a kids' zone, ending with live music and awards. The 2025 edition was the 29th annual, on October 26 at 2pm; no 2026 date had been posted as of mid-August, so watch visitdelray.com.
Cox Farms in Centreville — coxfarmsva.com, not coxfarms.com, which belongs to an unrelated agribusiness — runs the region's biggest fall operation, and it sells two events that share a farm and nothing else. The daytime Fall Festival runs September 19 through November 8, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10am–6pm with last entry at 5pm in September and October and 10am–5pm with last entry at 4pm in November. Pricing is by date tier: $15, $20, $25 or $30 per person, with everyone two and older paying the same rate, no group rates, free entry under 24 months, free parking, and re-entry allowed with a wristband through the main entrance. Admission includes a patch pumpkin. Nine-plus giant slides (the Safari Slide runs 180 feet across eight lanes), the twenty-minute hayride, the Cornundrum corn maze, Foamhenge, Goat Village and milking demos are all included. Fields of Fear is the other one, and it is a night event for teenagers: Fridays and Saturdays from September 25 to November 7 plus a bonus Sunday on October 11, 7:30–11pm with last entry at 10pm, $25 to $45 by date. Its own site says it is not recommended for children under 12 and requires an adult chaperone for anyone under 14. Entry times are assigned when you check in rather than when you buy, so arriving after 7pm can land you a 10:30 or 11:30pm slot. Both are online-only and both sell out.
Exact dates land here automatically once they hit our catalog — we refresh weekly from local Washington-area sources. Check the official site above, or sign in for picks tuned to your family.
Burke Lake Park's Ghost Town is explicitly not-spooky and bundles the train, carousel and mini golf into one $20 ticket. Frying Pan Farm Park's Halloween on the Farm is a one-hour early-evening slot with farm animals and crafts at $12. Cox Farms' daytime Fall Festival has a Kiddie Zone. All three are afternoon or early-evening events, which matters more with small children than the theming does.
Yes. Burke Lake's Ghost Town sold out its online registration in 2025, and day-of tickets cost $25 rather than $20 if any are left. Halloween on the Farm is capped by one-hour time slots. Registration for the 2026 events had not opened in mid-August — watch the park pages and the county's registration portal in September.
The Town of Vienna's page lists Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 7pm on Maple Avenue — the parade has run on the Wednesday before Halloween since 1946, rain or shine, and 2025 was the 79th annual on October 29. It's free to watch. Ignore the Vienna Business Association's parade page; it still carries a listing from several years ago.
No. The shocktober.org domain now redirects to The Arc of Loudoun, whose site makes no mention of a haunted house, and the attraction's business listings are marked closed. It raised millions for the nonprofit over the years, but it should not appear on a 2026 plan.
Cox Farms itself says no: “not recommended for children under age 12,” with anyone under 14 required to have an adult chaperone. It runs 7:30 to 11pm and is a separate ticket from the daytime Fall Festival, which is the family version at the same farm. The farm even publishes a “Too Scary?” page routing people back to the daytime event.