{"id":11060,"date":"2025-10-18T06:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11060\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T06:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:49:12","slug":"halloween-2025-event-guide-sf-events-to-visit-in-october-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11060\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween 2025 event guide: SF events to visit in October | Events"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note:\u00a0This article originally posted on the San Francisco Examiner.\u00a0Click here for more culture reporting at sfexaminer.com<\/a><\/p>\n

San Francisco is becoming a witchy wonderland as Halloween fills The City with frights, delights and festive fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are 10 haunts to check out during this year\u2019s spooky season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Free Family Halloween Day at the Randall Museum (Oct. 18)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The educational museum for kids<\/a>\u00a0perched atop a hill in Corona Heights\u00a0is becoming a haunted delight, complete with family-friendly games, arts and crafts, costume awards for children, and more fun surprises. Live entertainment will be provided by the Luke Schwartz Trio and Brian Scott Magic. Children 8 and under must be accompanied by adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The festivities run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/a>, and organizers say parking will be extremely limited, so it’s best to arrange alternative transportation. The museum is located at 199 Museum Way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After Dark: Death and Life presented by the Exploratorium (Oct. 23)<\/p>\n

The waterfront science museum will celebrate all facets of life with talks, exhibits and close-up looks at how the end of life leads to new beginnings in nature. Guests will be able to revive tardigrades (microscopic eight-legged animals) from cryptobiosis, a type of hibernation. The Exploratorium will also showcase altars created by artists from around the world in honor of Dia de los Muertos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Festival<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Exploratorium’s After Dark event on death and life will feature altars created by artists from around the world spread throughout the museum galleries in honor of D\u00eda de los Muertos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Courtesy Exploratorium<\/p>\n

Tickets, which are priced at $22.95 each,\u00a0can be purchased online<\/a>. Guests must be ages 18 and up to attend the event<\/a>, which runs 6-10 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boo on the Bayou at Stern Grove (Oct. 24)\u00a0<\/p>\n

This annual all-ages event brings a haunted house, carnival rides, a hay maze, and arts and crafts to the park. There will also be food for sale and live entertainment, with American Sign Language interpretation provided.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The admission-free event runs 3-9 p.m., with entry at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Halloween in Japantown (Oct. 24-25)<\/p>\n

Japantown\u2019s two-day affair<\/a> begins with the Halloween Carnival at The Center, which will be held at 1840 Sutter St. from 6 to 8 p.m. It features live performances, games, arts and crafts, a bounce house, a parade and a costume contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The following day\u2019s event, which lasts from noon to 4 p.m., will have a costume contest hosted by Corgi Con organizers. There will also be photo opportunities and a pop-up market. Guests can end their day with an outdoor movie night organized by the Nihonmachi Street Fair, which will screen \u201cFrankenweenie,\u201d Disney\u2019s 2012 stop-motion animated film directed by Tim Burton.<\/p>\n

The Haunt: An Artistically-Twisted Haunted House (Oct. 25-Nov. 1)\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is turning the Forum, its 6,700-square-foot event space, into an immersive labyrinth built from salvaged materials and filled with artists\u2019 works. The maze will spill out into a graveyard featuring a dance floor, a bar and seasonal merchandise, among other offerings.<\/p>\n

Family-friendly afternoon shows, which run 3-5 p.m., are available on select dates. Evening shows with hourly timed entries, scheduled for 7-10 p.m., are recommended for patrons ages 13 and up. Tickets can be purchased online<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0prices ranging from $15 to $35, depending on times and dates. Kids 12 and under get free admission.<\/p>\n

The 11th annual Chinatown Halloween Festival (Oct. 25)<\/p>\n

Waverly Place between Sacramento and Washington streets will bring arts and crafts, carnival games, seasonal treats and a pumpkin patch to the neighborhood. There will also be a costume contest with prizes, lion dances and balloon animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Guests can RSVP their attendance online<\/a>, with the party running from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Boo at the Zoo presented by San Francisco Zoo (Oct. 25-26)<\/p>\n

This west-side event is treating guests to music, arts and crafts, bubbles, and plenty of Halloween candy. Patrons are encouraged to wear costumes. San Francisco Zoo\u2019s conservation booth will also be hosting \u201cExtinction is Scary,\u201d a program that offers lessons about animals associated with the holiday that face elimination, such as lemurs and wolves.<\/p>\n

\"Boo<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As part of Boo at the Zoo, San Francisco Zoo’s conservation booth will host “Extinction is Scary,” a program offering lessons on animals that face extinction in the wild and are associated with the holiday, such as lemurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Courtesy Nancy Chan<\/p>\n

Boo at the Zoo runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thrill-O-Ween at\u00a0Thrive City\u00a0(Oct. 26)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The public plaza at Chase Center hosts its fifth annual all-ages Halloween celebration filled with trick-or-treat stations, a mini pumpkin patch, a magic show and a costume contest. The afternoon\u2019s festivities will be followed by a screening of Tim Burton\u2019s 1993 stop-motion animated film \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas\u201d on the 3,108-square-foot video board overlooking Thrive City.<\/p>\n

The event<\/a> is free to attend and runs from noon to 5 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Thrive<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Halloween is filling The City with frights, delights, and festive fun. Thrive City, the public plaza surrounding Chase Center, will hold its fifth annual all-ages celebration in honor of the holiday.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Joshua Leung<\/p>\n

\u2018Coco\u2019 presented by San Francisco Symphony (Oct. 29)\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Francisco Symphony will screen \u201cCoco,\u201d the 2017 animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It will be accompanied by a live orchestra conducted by Conner Gray Covington. Custom food and beverages will be served, including Mexican hot chocolate, tamales and sugar skull cookies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tickets are available online<\/a>, ranging in price from $54.50 to $230. Kids\u2019 tickets are half off. Guests will also be able to view altars and art installations created by local artists for the annual Dia de los Muertos concert on Nov. 1. The film starts at 7:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 21st annual Guardsmen Halloween Party (Oct. 31)<\/p>\n

The Guardsmen \u2014 a volunteer organization that provides educational and recreational activities to disadvantaged and impoverished youth \u2014 is taking over The Brixton, where there will be a live DJ and ample space to bust a move. In addition to drink specials, there will be over $500 in prizes given out to the best-dressed attendees, so guests are encouraged to wear costumes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tickets can be purchased online<\/a>, ranging in price from $33.42 to $49.48. Proceeds from the party, which starts at 9 p.m., will benefit programs that support underserved Bay Area youth. Attendees must be ages 21 or older, with valid identification required at the door. The restaurant is located at 2140 Union St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor’s note:\u00a0This article originally posted on the San Francisco Examiner.\u00a0Click here for more culture reporting at sfexaminer.com San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[10349,10350,8065,585,10347,8457,101,103,102,104,106,105,10348],"class_list":["post-11060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-carnival","tag-coco-2017-film","tag-day-of-the-dead","tag-halloween","tag-haunted-attraction-simulated","tag-japantown","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-the-nightmare-before-christmas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}