Halloween Weekend, Chicago Style: A Glowing Parade, Casket Races, and Pumpkins Everywhere

If you are going to pick one fall weekend to get out of the house, pick this one. Halloween lands next Saturday, so this weekend is the warmup act, and Chicago and the western suburbs are not holding back. Glowing puppets downtown, caskets racing in Forest Park, kids painting store windows in Downers Grove, and a film festival in its final weekend. Here is how I would play it.

Start Saturday morning in the suburbs

Downtown Downers Grove does Halloween the old fashioned way, and I mean that as a compliment. The annual Halloween Window Painting runs Saturday, October 24, from 9 a.m. to noon. Kids pick up paints at 933A Curtiss Street, bring a canned good for the Downers Grove F.I.S.H. Pantry, and turn the storefront windows along Main Street into a temporary art gallery. By lunch, the whole downtown looks different. Stick around and you can also catch the Downers Grove Historical Society Living Cemetery from 10 a.m. to noon, then come back Sunday, October 25, for downtown trick or treating.

A few miles west, Hinsdale hosts its Fall Family Festival on Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is free, it is built for families, and downtown Hinsdale on a crisp fall Saturday is hard to beat. Costumes are welcome, so let the kids wear theirs and get a test run in before the big night.

For something you will not find anywhere else, head to Forest Park Saturday morning for the Casket Races on Beloit Avenue between Madison and Adams. Teams roll homemade caskets down the street starting at 11 a.m., with food vendors out from 9:30 a.m. It is free to watch, completely ridiculous, and your kids will talk about it all week.

Farther west, Batavia goes all in with BatFest on Saturday, October 24. Activities start at 10 a.m. downtown, with trick or treating at more than 60 businesses, live performances, a parade, and costume contests for people and pets.

Saturday afternoon in the city

Lincoln Park is the easy family play on both days. Spooktacular runs Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 1 to 4 p.m., with local businesses on Lincoln Avenue and Clark Street turning into trick or treat stops. It is free, it is walkable, and Lincoln Common usually adds music, games, and face painting to the mix. Go Saturday if you want the Lincoln Avenue route, Sunday for Clark Street.

In Pilsen, the National Museum of Mexican Art hosts Dia de los Muertos Xicago on Saturday, October 24, from 3 to 8 p.m. This one is free too, with live music, art activities, and an illuminated ofrenda at the center of it. It is beautiful, it is meaningful, and it is a good reminder that this season is about more than candy.

Saturday night, pick your parade or your party

The headline event is Arts in the Dark, Chicago's Halloween parade, on Saturday, October 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. This is the 12th year, and the parade is back on Columbus Drive this year, running north from Balbo Drive to Jackson Boulevard with the skyline behind it. Expect giant illuminated puppets, creative floats, dancers, and performers from arts groups all over the city. It is free. My tip is simple: get there early and watch from the south end of the route, where the crowds tend to be a little thinner.

If you would rather be a participant than a spectator, Lincoln Park Zoo has the adults only option. Zoo Brews: Howls and Growls runs Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. It is 21 and up, with craft beer and cider samples at themed stations across the zoo, a costume contest, live pumpkin carving, and rides included. Saturday night will sell the most tickets, so buy ahead if you are going.

Sunday is for film lovers and a slower pace

Sunday, October 25, is closing day for the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival, running since October 14 at venues including AMC NEWCITY 14, the Music Box Theatre, and the Gene Siskel Film Center. The closing film is Behemoth! by Tony Gilroy. If you have been meaning to catch a screening all month, this is your last call.

One more thing: plan Halloween itself now

Halloween is Saturday, October 31, and two events are worth putting on the calendar today. Navy Pier hosts Slightly Spooky Saturday starting at noon on October 31, with free trick or treating and live entertainment. That night, the Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade steps off at 7 p.m. in Northalsted, celebrating its 30th year, and the costumes there are on another level.

However you split it, city or suburbs, morning or night, this is the weekend that makes people remember why they love living here. If a weekend like this has you thinking about a move, or a new neighborhood to trick or treat in next year, I am happy to talk it through.

Jeff Bushaw

Broker, Fulton Grace Realty