Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday. On the University of Alabama's 2026 football schedule, Oct. 31 is listed as the "Open Date." The Crimson Tide plays Texas A&M at home the Saturday before and travels to LSU the Saturday after. That puts the holiday on a fall Saturday with no game, and Tuscaloosa's two largest Halloween events land on that day, one in the morning and one at night.
The rest of the season's Halloween events fall on weeknights in the days after the A&M game. The two Saturday events and the weeknight run don't overlap, so you can plan the whole stretch without clashes.
The Saturday before is still a game day
October's last home game shapes the week that follows. Alabama hosts Texas A&M on Oct. 24, and the kickoff time hasn't been set. The athletics department's June 10 announcement lists it as a "Flex" game, with kickoff between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. or between 5 and 7 p.m. Central. Plan that weekend around the game.
After that, the calendar empties out. The next game is Nov. 7 at LSU, so for one weekend the stadium is out of the picture and Halloween gets the city's Saturday.
Monday through Friday, the weeknights fill in
Between the A&M game and Halloween, there is something almost every evening. Most of these events are free and run about two hours, so they fit after school or work.
- Monday, Oct. 26, Halloween Extravaganza. Starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility off Coliseum Drive on the UA campus. It's free and includes trick-or-treating, games, and a chance for children 13 and younger to meet UA student-athletes. Guests are asked to bring canned or non-perishable food for the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger food drive.
- Monday, Oct. 26, Northport Police Department Fall Festival. Runs 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Kentuck Park, 3401 Fifth St., across the river. Free, with trick-or-treating, food trucks, bounce houses, a hayride, door prizes and contests.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, Tuscaloosa Police Department Halloween Carnival. Runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the University Mall parking lot, 1701 McFarland Blvd. E. Candy, games and food trucks.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, "The Conjuring" at the Bama Theatre. The Bama Art House screening is at 600 Greensboro Ave. Doors, the box office and the Bama Bar open at 6, and the movie starts at 7. Tickets are $10 general, $9 for students and seniors, and $8 for Arts Council members.
- Friday, Oct. 30, Monster Makeover closing party at Harrison Galleries. The show is at 2315 University Blvd. It opened Oct. 2 and ends with a party and an auction of all the artworks, with proceeds going to local arts education in schools.
Two earlier dates belong to the same season. The city's free Tech or Treat is Thursday, Oct. 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Gateway, 2614 University Blvd. East. It works like a trunk-or-treat, with tables run by City departments and community organizations that hand out candy alongside science, technology, engineering, art and math activities. It's open to all ages, and children must come with an adult. The Bama Art House also shows "Scooby-Doo" on Tuesday, Oct. 13, a lighter first half of the theater's October double bill.
On the Monday and Tuesday, two events overlap each night. On Oct. 26, the UA event and the Northport festival are on opposite sides of the Black Warrior River. On Oct. 27, the TPD carnival ends at 7:30, half an hour after the movie starts at the Bama Theatre, so you'll likely have to pick one.
Saturday morning at Sokol Park North
The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority holds Boo! in the Park from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 31 at the Miracle Field Lot at Sokol Park North. It's free, with games, inflatables, candy, a costume contest and Touch a Truck. The Tuscaloosa News lists the trucks as concrete mixers, farm tractors and fire trucks, which are there for kids to explore.
The first hour is the most useful detail for many households. From 9 to 10 a.m., PARA runs a sensory-friendly hour with no sirens, horns, flashing lights or loud music. That matters at an event built around fire trucks and heavy equipment. A child who would be overwhelmed by an air horn at 11 can see the same trucks quietly at 9:15.
The costume parades are at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. If you arrive for the quiet hour, you can stay through the first parade and be home by lunch. PARA's event page still says it is looking for trunk-or-treat hosts, vendors, food trucks, crafts and sponsors, so the lineup may still grow.
Saturday night at a park that was closed last October
Camp Fear at Lake Lurleen State Park runs 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 31 at 13226 Lake Lurleen Road in Coker. Admission is $15 per car at the park entrance, and the evening includes trick-or-treating, hayrides, costumes and campsites decorated by the campers staying there.
This is the event's first year back. Camp Fear took a year off while the park was renovated. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reopened the park on Friday, April 17, 2026, after what it called a complete renovation. At the ribbon-cutting, Commissioner Chris Blankenship said, according to Publicnow:
"For years, Lake Lurleen went without the investment it deserved, and it began to show."
So anyone who last went to Camp Fear two Octobers ago will find a different park. According to the department, the work included:
- A new entrance with an improved check-in station and office
- Newly paved roads throughout the park
- 67 RV campsites with upgraded water, sewer and electrical hookups
- Seven new pavilions and a new playground
- Nine new bathhouses with private, family-style suites
- A new camp store, a refreshed beach area, and improvements to the boat launch and dock
- Wi-Fi throughout the park, plus major upgrades to the drinking water and wastewater systems funded by an Alabama Department of Environmental Management grant
The first two items matter most on Halloween night. Every car goes through the gate to pay the $15 fee, and the event listing warns that the line into the park can back up because the event is so popular. The new entrance and repaved roads haven't been tested by a Camp Fear crowd yet. Arriving close to 6 p.m. is the safest plan. With no game that day, the drive out to Coker won't run into postgame traffic.
How the day fits together
Boo! ends at 1 p.m. Camp Fear opens at 6. That leaves five hours between them, enough for naps, a costume repair or an early dinner. Here is one way to plan the day using only the published times:
- 9:00 a.m. Arrive at Sokol Park North for the sensory-friendly hour.
- 10:30 a.m. First costume parade.
- 1:00 p.m. Boo! in the Park ends.
- Late afternoon Leave for Coker with $15 for the gate.
- 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Camp Fear at Lake Lurleen State Park.
If your household mostly wants neighborhood trick-or-treating that evening, the morning event still works, since it's over by early afternoon. And if one long day is too much, the weeknight events from Oct. 26 to 30 spread the season across the whole week.
The same quiet Saturday comes back in a different form on Nov. 7, when Alabama plays at LSU. On Halloween, though, the open date and the holiday fall on the same day, and the city's calendar has the morning and the evening covered.
Traci Taft grew up in Northport and Tuscaloosa, through every fall shaped by football Saturdays, and she pays attention to the weekends that aren't. If you're thinking about where your household would like to spend next October, she can walk you through how different parts of town handle game days and holidays. Schedule a Free Consultation.
