From October 23 through October 31, 2026, San Carlos runs two Halloween calendars that hardly overlap. Hiller Aviation Museum on Skyway Road holds weekend mornings and one Thursday evening, with its Haunted Hangar display open in the background during museum hours. The City's events at the Youth Center on Chestnut Street and along Laurel Street fill Friday and Saturday nights and Friday afternoon. Over those nine days, the scheduled programs on the two calendars meet only once, on the morning of the 31st.
That makes the week easy to plan. A family can attend nearly every event in town without having to pick one over another. The one exception is the final Saturday, and even then the timing works out if you go in the right order.
The Week at a Glance
| Date | Skyway Road | Chestnut Street and Laurel Street |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Haunted Hangar open during museum hours | Youth Center Haunted House & Movie Night, evening; Witches & Brews at Devil's Canyon, 4–9 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Halloween Paint-A-Plane, 10 a.m.–noon | Youth Center Haunted House & Movie Night, evening |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Halloween Paint-A-Plane, 10 a.m.–noon | — |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Trunk or Treat, 5–7 p.m., free | — |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Haunted Hangar open during museum hours | Adult Halloween Pickleball Tournament, 9 a.m.–noon; Goblin Walk, 4–5:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween Kids' Festival, 10 a.m.–noon; Pumpkin Drop at noon | Laurel Street cleanup, 9–10:30 a.m. |
Skyway Road Has the Daytime
Hiller Aviation Museum, at 601 Skyway Rd., treats Halloween as a monthlong event. The museum's event page says Haunted Hangar decorations are up from October 1 to 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and calls the hangar an "excellent after school Halloween destination." The same page also lists the event as running October 23 through November 1, so if you're planning a visit after the 31st, check with the museum first. The gallery has Halloween decorations and a "Great Pumpkin" scavenger hunt, and visitors are invited to come in costume.
On the final two weekends, the museum adds structured kids' programming, all of it in the morning. Halloween Paint-A-Plane runs Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 10 a.m. to noon each day. The Halloween Kids' Festival is Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to noon, and a witch drops a pumpkin from a helicopter at noon.
The Haunted Hangar display and the Kids' Festival are both included with museum admission. Hiller's posted general admission is $23 for adults and $15 for seniors 65 and older and youth ages 4 to 17. Children three and under get in free with a paying adult. Online tickets cost $24 for adults and $16 for seniors and youth. Members get in free, and parking in the museum lots is free.
The museum's one evening event is Trunk or Treat on Thursday, October 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. It's free and open to everyone, and you don't need a museum ticket. The Haunted Hangar is a separate charge and isn't required for Trunk or Treat. If you'd like to decorate a car and hand out treats, the museum asks you to register. Thursday is a quiet night on the City's calendar, so the museum has the evening to itself.
Chestnut Street and Laurel Street Have the Evenings
Over on Chestnut Street, the City's events mostly fall at times when Hiller has no scheduled program, though the Haunted Hangar display stays open until 5 p.m. most days.
The San Carlos Youth Center at 1001 Chestnut St. hosts its Halloween events on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24. City sources give slightly different schedules. The Youth Center's program page lists a combined Haunted House & Movie Night both nights from 6 to 9 p.m., open to all ages with no preregistration. The City's Good Living newsletter for October through December splits them into Movie Night on Friday from 6 to 8:45 p.m. and the Haunted House on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. The City's master calendar lists the October 23 event at 7 p.m. Both nights fall somewhere between 6 and 9 p.m., but call Parks & Recreation before you head out. None of the City's listings mention an admission price.
Also on Friday the 23rd, The Whimsy Market's Witches & Brews runs from 4 to 9 p.m. at Devil's Canyon Brewing Company, 935 Washington St., with artisan vendors and food trucks. Its start time overlaps the Youth Center's evening, so a group can split up or do one after the other.
Friday, October 30, is the City's busiest Halloween day. In the morning, the Youth Center's Full Gymnasium hosts the first annual Adult Halloween Pickleball Tournament from 9 a.m. to noon. Entry costs $50 per two-person team on ActiveNet, which notes that the fee includes a processing charge. The tournament is open to ages 18 to 98, and players register as a team rather than individually.
That afternoon, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., the Goblin Walk runs along Laurel Street from San Carlos Avenue to Arroyo Avenue. It's for children seven and under, who must come with an adult, and they trick-or-treat at businesses with a Goblin Walk sign in the window. The first 600 trick-or-treaters can pick up a Goblin Walk bag at the Parks & Recreation tent or from any volunteer. With 600 bags, families who get there close to 4 p.m. have the best chance of getting one.
October 31 Is the One Morning the Calendars Overlap
On Halloween morning, both calendars have something going on, but the times line up well enough to do both.
- 9 to 10:30 a.m., Laurel Street. The Laurel Street cleanup is a VolunTEEN activity for ages 10 to 17, with an application on the City's volunteer portal. Volunteers meet at Harrington Park on Laurel Street, across from Bank of America, and the City provides gloves, pickers, and buckets.
- 10 a.m. to noon, Skyway Road. The Halloween Kids' Festival at Hiller starts halfway through the cleanup and keeps going after it ends.
- Noon, Skyway Road. The helicopter Pumpkin Drop closes the festival.
A household with a teen volunteer and a younger child can split up at 9, regroup when the cleanup ends at 10:30, and still reach Hiller in time for the noon drop. Neither organizer plans around the other, but the times happen to fit.
The Laurel Street Route This Year
The Goblin Walk route passes some new storefronts this year. Muditā, a South Asian art and home-goods gallery owned by Nidhi Patel, opened at 653 Laurel St. with a grand-opening weekend on September 12 and 13. The Daily Journal reported that nearly everything in the shop comes directly from artisans in India. A few doors up, Casa Mia is planned for 677 Laurel St., Suite B. As of WhatNow's August 28 report, it had not announced an opening date.
Construction continues on the same blocks. The City expects to finish Harrington Park in early 2027. Four parking spaces behind the park are becoming a drop-off and loading zone, and storefronts on Laurel stay open throughout. For Goblin Walk families, that means fewer parking spaces near the park, but the City says access to Laurel storefronts stays open. Laurel Street businesses can still sign up as candy stops through the City's form.
What Comes Before and After
Halloween week is one of several fall events downtown. The San Carlos Art & Wine Faire comes first, on October 10 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. around Laurel Street and San Carlos Avenue, with more than 200 artists and crafters, bands, and a Family Fun Zone. The City's events list puts its Diwali celebration on November 14, 2026, but the event page still says to "stay tuned," with no time or location yet. Night of Holiday Lights returns to Laurel Street between San Carlos Avenue and Cherry Street on December 4 from 5 to 8:30 p.m., with snow, lights, and performances.
Every Sunday in between, the San Carlos Farmers' Market sets up on the 600 block of Laurel Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the same block as muditā.
At Heather Lin Real Estate Team, we track the local calendar for the same reason we track market data: knowing where and when things happen in San Carlos is part of knowing the town. If you'd like to talk through how San Carlos's events and seasons fit your family's plans, in English or Mandarin, Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll walk through it with you.
