How to Celebrate Halloween in Minnesota
Minnesota’s spookiest season is back. Whether you’re looking for frightful fun or not-so-scary tricks and treats, keep reading to discover how Minnesotans are celebrating Halloween this year.
Haunted Ships, Houses & Hayrides
ValleyScare is back at Valleyfair and promises more frightful fun at the largest Halloween event in the Twin Cities. Open on select nights from Sept. 20 to Nov. 1, this terrifying event is a ticketed event with mazes, scare zones, live shows, and specialty food and drink.
Twin Cities Fear Fest is an all-new haunted attraction coming to Mall of America between Sept. 26 and Nov. 2. Guests will have two haunted experiences, Deadwater Hollow or Sanctum of Shadows, utilizing scare actors, detailed sets, and special effects. The haunted experience also has mini escape games, dead shot alley carnival-style games and an Elvira-themed shop and bar.
If venturing into a creepy forest at night is your idea of a good time, check out the Dead End Hayride in Wyoming, where you’ll be carted into haunted woodlands on a wagon and prompted to find your way back by foot — with terrifying twists and turns around every dark corner. Check out the longest-running haunted hayride in Minnesota at The Haunting Experience in Cottage Grove. Molitor’s Haunted Acres in Sauk Rapids lets you be the intruder at their haunted walk-through, where guests encounter multiple haunted houses and meet the undead.
Find thrills in Duluth at the William A. Irvin Haunted Ship Tours. This self-guided tour in the historic ore ship will take you through dark, eerie hallways, where you encounter mysterious sightings and spooks at every turn. Venture to Shakopee for an evening of dinner and ghost stories at Phantom’s Feast.
For Little Witches & Ghouls
Halloween is one of the best holidays for kids, and Minnesota has a number of safer ways for the little ones to experience all of its magic.
The ever-popular Sever’s Fall Festival in Shakopee is back with popular attractions like the corn maze, petting zoo, pig races and more. Stoneybrook Farms in St. Cloud boasts the World's Largest Corn Maze, with easy and hard options spread out between 110 acres and 32 miles of divergent pathways, as well as a pick-your-own-pumpkin patch.
Anoka is known as the “Halloween Capital of the World,” and always provides a spooktacular time. Throughout October, Anoka will host a variety of Halloween festivities like outdoor movie nights, a scavenger hunt and the Light Up the Night parade. Parents will also be allowed to carry alcoholic drinks throughout a new social district meant to encourage tourism downtown.
Boo at the Zoo is back at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth for little ones to celebrate Halloween with some real party animals. Festivities include trick or treating, a mini pumpkin hunt and magic show.
The Minnesota Zoo's popular Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is also set to draw big crowds between Sept. 26 and Nov. 2. Stroll through thousands of carved and illuminated pumpkins. The walk is bound to put you in the festive spirit.
Over at Mall of America, Nickelodeon BOO-Niverse will run from the middle of September through Halloween and feature some of your favorite Nickelodeon characters in their Halloween costumes! The event also features fun activities like DIY slime, weekend dance parties and more!
Get spooky at SEA LIFE with its Halloween Under the Sea event as well. It features batfish, wolf eels, moon jellies, and an interactive touchpool full of sticky sea anemones and slimy sea stars.
Spooky Dining
The creepy dolls are back in Rochester at the Olmsted County History Center with a special "Circus After Dark" event on Oct. 10 featuring a dinner, cash bar, costume contest, DJ and live painting.
Travail and the horrifically talented Haunted Basement team have linked up for another rendition of Haunted Basement Bar. This time, they’re throwing a dinner party with some unexpected hosts. Expect a gruesome multi-course tasting menu with tasty cocktails to match, complete with mayhem, scares, and delights to keep you entertained.
Creekside Supper Club in South Minneapolis transforms into “Creepside Supper Club” for spooky season. The restaurant has been decked out in Halloween decorations, and if you wear a costume, you can enter a raffle for a chance to win various prizes once a week.
More Seasonal Celebrations
If you want less scares and more celebrations, check out Old Town Mankato's Day of the Dead community cultural festival with local vendors, food, live entertainment and more.
For more fall fun, visit a pumpkin patch, discover a corn maze and find other seasonal festivals and events.
