Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and Vermont is treating it like a full weekend holiday. Winooski lights 1,000 jack-o'-lanterns in Rotary Park, Brattleboro marches its Horribles Parade up Main Street, North Bennington holds its 34th annual costume parade, White River Junction answers with the Gory Daze Parade, and Okemo runs its mountain coaster under the lights until 9pm.
Sunday is the quieter, stranger second act. The clocks fall back at 2am, so you get an extra hour — spend it at an All Saints' Day requiem in Burlington, a free community day at the Vermont Circus Festival in Brattleboro, or one of the season's true last chances: the Mount Equinox Skyline Drive and the Bennington Battle Monument close after Saturday, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion wraps its season on Halloween, and Wellwood Orchards locks the doors Sunday at 5pm until spring.
We've rounded up forty things to do this Saturday and Sunday, October 31-November 1 — from St. Albans and Stowe down through Rutland, Woodstock and the Okemo Valley to Dorset, Manchester and Brattleboro.
Use the finder below to sort everything by drive time: tap the button to use your location, or type in a town or ZIP code. Costumes are encouraged almost everywhere you go.
A few notes before you head out: daylight saving time ends at 2am on Sunday, November 1 — set your clocks back an hour before bed on Halloween night, and enjoy the extra hour on Sunday. Stick season has arrived, so the backdrop this weekend is bare branches, woodsmoke and early dusk, which suits Halloween fine. Several Saturday-night events are ticketed and can sell out, and a few of the last-day stops are weather dependent, so check the event's own page before you drive.
Have a great Halloween weekend out there. 🎃