Chicago Botanic Garden: HallowFest
By Lauren Wulf
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, IL 60022
(847) 835-5440
www.chicagobotanic.org
When: October 26-28th
Time: Friday & Saturday - 6:00-9:00p.m.
Sunday - 4:00-7:00p.m.
Tickets:
Member/nonmember Advance: $14/$17
Day-of tickets: $17/$20
Parking: $20 per car (free for Garden members)
Get Tickets
Garden Of Good & Evil
Celebrate Halloween at the Garden Of Good And Evil! Take either the "friendly" or "spooky" path to activities in the Regenstein Center and McGinley Pavilion. Experience family-friendly thrills including Mysterious Magic with Dracula and a live show-and-tell of creepy, crawly creatures. The Halloween spirit continues with face painting festivities. At night, walk through the Model Railroad Garden, decorated in ghostly lights, running special ghost trains. Make sure to take a ride around the Garden on the Howlin' Express and keep your eyes peeled for spooky sights.
Main Haunts & Attractions
Eerie Entertainment in Alsdorf Auditorium & Nichols Hall: Experience a live show-and-tell with Rob Carmichael's creepy, crawly amphibians, reptiles and birds of prey show in the auditorium. Make sure to stop by Nichols Hall for tricks during Magic with Dracula.
Carved Pumpkin Gallery: Walk through the spookily decorated bat cave in the Bridge Gallery to get to the carved pumpkin gallery in the Joutras Gallery. You can also pick up a pumpkin to carve at home at the pumpkin giveaway in Burnstein Hall.
Fortune telling: Head over to Linnaeus Room for a mysterious glance into your future.
Lenhardt Library: Stop by the library for new interactive activities for the younger HallowFest visitors, including Critter Olympics and sensory boxes.
Snacks & Treats
Spooky Snack Shack: Enjoy free treats in the Greenhouse Galleries. That's right, free!
The Garden Café: The Garden Café will be open to HallowFest ticket holders, serving a special Monster Menu for children.
Other Upcoming Events
Spooky Pooch Parade
When: October 20th: 11AM-1PM
Tickets:
Member/nonmember tickets-in-advance: $14/$17
Ticket price is per dog (Please note: Tickets-in-advance price ends October 19, 11:59 p.m.)
Day-of tickets (member/nonmember): $20/$23
Parking is $20 per car; free for Garden members
Parade spectators pay for parking only
For two very special hours only, dogs are allowed in the Garden. Cleverly costumed canines march the parade route to celebrate Halloween. Spectators are invited to line the parade route to watch the adorable pooches.
Trains, Tricks & Treats
When: October 20-21st: 10AM-5PM
Tickets: $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12. Members save $1.
Families are invited to come in costume and trick-or-treat throughout the Model Railroad Garden to celebrate Halloween and the end of the railroad's season at Trains, Tricks & Treats.
The Model Railroad Garden will be decorated with spider webs, spiders, ghosts, goblins, and pumpkins, as well as seasonal plant materials. Visitors will see figurines of trick-or-treaters on Main Street, bats and crawly creatures, a graveyard, and more, all tucked among miniature scenes of America's best-loved landmarks and beautiful gardens planted to scale.
An array of small treats and treasures can be picked up throughout the Model Railroad Garden. Children will also have the opportunity to pot up a Halloween plant.
Lauren Wulf, CBS Chicago
Lauren Wulf writes about living in Chicago on a budget on her website, A Poor Girl's Guide Chicago.
