October opens by turning the borough’s libraries into a three-day party, brings the Lenape Pow Wow back to Prospect Park, and gives Greenpoint a brand-new block party built around meeting the neighbors. The Atlantic Antic lands on a new October date with our own Playtopia, we throw fall festivals with thousands of free pumpkins to waiting to be decorated in Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn and Bay Ridge, a car show and a 300-acre shipyard open their gates on the same Saturday, and then it is Halloween.
1. Love Your Library Day | Borough-wide
Friday, October 2 – Sunday, October 4 | FREE | All ages
Brooklyn Public Library stretches one celebration across a whole weekend and most of its branches. Friday belongs to the Adams Street Library’s fifth-birthday party at 6pm; Saturday carries the bulk of it from 10am – Japanese storytime, a plant swap and a pickling workshop at Central, two family concerts and craft kits at Park Slope, Chinese story time and hands-on science aboard the BioBus at Dyker; Sunday adds more at Sunset Park, Gravesend and Gerritsen Beach. Filter the full line-up to your own branch here.
2. Third United Lenape / Lunáapeew Nations Pow Wow | Prospect Park
Saturday, October 3, 10am-7pm and Sunday, October 4, 10am-4pm | LeFrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park | FREE, RSVP
The third Lenape Pow Wow in New York City, and the second in a row at Lakeside. Prospect Park Alliance hosts it with the Éenda-Lŭnaapeewáhkiing Collective and the American Indian Community House: Indigenous dancers, drummers, singers, and craft and food vendors, welcoming back the peoples whose ancestral homelands Brooklyn sits on. Vendors open at 10am and the Grand Entry starts each day at 11am. RSVP and full details.
3. Atlantic Antic and Playtopia | Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights
Sunday, October 4 (new date) | 12-6pm, Playtopia 12-4pm | Atlantic Avenue, Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue; Playtopia at Boerum Place | FREE | All ages
Brooklyn’s oldest and largest street festival was pushed out of September by the weather, so the 51st Atlantic Antic now opens October instead: ten blocks of Atlantic Avenue closed to cars, with food, music, shopping and three dedicated kids’ areas. One of those areas is ours. Playtopia, sponsored by Prospect Schools, brings a dozen free activities to Boerum Place — Lego building, arts and crafts and a cardboard maze among them. Come early: Playtopia wraps at 4pm, two hours before the rest of the fair. Our guide to doing the Antic with kids.
4. Greenpoint StoopFest | Greenpoint
Sunday, October 4 | main event 1-5pm, closing party 5-7pm | Lorimer Street between Nassau and Norman avenues; closing party at McCarren Parkhouse | FREE | All ages
A brand-new neighborhood festival built around getting neighbors to actually meet each other: free food and drink from Greenpoint establishments, a jazz quartet, live-band karaoke, a neighborhood quest, a community mural, DIY art stations, a photobooth and workshops, then a closing party at the McCarren Parkhouse. The organizers ask people to RSVP and say the full line-up is still to come. Details and RSVP here.
5. Fall Fest at Atlantic Terminal Mall Plaza | Fort Greene
Saturday, October 10 | 11am–2pm | Atlantic Terminal Mall outdoor plaza and car-free Fort Greene Place, 139 Flatbush Avenue | FREE | All ages
Atlantic Terminal Mall and Brooklyn Bridge Parents are throwing a free, family-friendly fall festival on Atlantic Terminal’s outdoor plaza and car-free Fort Greene Place. The epic “urban pumpkin patch” will be packed with pumpkins waiting for the kiddos to pick out and decorate, and the plaza and street come alive with hands-on arts and crafts, pumpkin painting, block building and spooky haunted trucks to enter. Kids are highly encouraged to rock their favorite costumes. Rain date: Sunday, October 11. In partnership with Atlantic Terminal Mall. RSVP on Eventbrite.
6. Neighbors and Makers Kids Zone at the Smith Street Fair | Cobble Hill
Saturday, October 17 | Fair 10am–6pm, Kids Zone 11am–2pm | Smith Street from Bergen to Union Street | FREE | All ages
A day full of play on car-free Smith Street, with a dedicated Kids Zone running 11am to 2pm. Dozens of free activities for children, including interactive games, building activities, STEM and hands-on crafts. Neighbors & Makers is a collaborative project of Brooklyn Bridge Parents and the Merchants of Smith Street (MOSS). Supported by BASIS Independent Brooklyn. RSVP on Eventbrite.
7. Wheels of NYC and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Open House | Brooklyn Navy Yard
Saturday, October 17 | Agger Fish Warehouse, Building 269, Brooklyn Navy Yard | Ticketed
More than 125 classic and modern cars parked inside a Navy Yard warehouse, with a large kids’ zone of hands-on activities alongside the live DJs, food from city restaurants, a marketplace of apparel and collectibles, and a full bar for the grown-ups. Tickets are limited and non-refundable. Times and tickets.
The same Saturday, a few buildings over, the Yard opens its 300-acre campus for the day as part of Open House New York Weekend. Families can step inside working studios in fashion, design and technology and meet the people who build things there. Two very different reasons to be at the Navy Yard on one afternoon. RSVP here.
8. Bay Ridge Halloween Fest on Fifth Avenue | Bay Ridge
Saturday, October 24 | 4–7pm | Fifth Avenue, 72nd to 85th Street | FREE | All ages
Brooklyn Bridge Parents is partnering with the 5th Avenue BID for a spooktacular free block party taking over ten car-free blocks of Fifth Avenue. Free kids’ activities include a puppet show, bouncy house, pumpkin decorating, Trunk-or-Treat, haunted trucks, games, crafts and giveaways.
The PuppetMobile brings Pinocchio from 4:00 to 4:35pm — a fresh take in which Geppetto is a New York City kid with a talent for invention who creates a robot friend. Local restaurants serve food along the route, and the decorated side streets are worth a wander. Kids are encouraged to come in costume.
In partnership with the 5th Avenue BID. RSVP on Eventbrite.
9. Pumpkin and Spiderman Fest at City Point | Downtown Brooklyn
Sunday, October 25 | 11am–1pm | City Point, ground floor next to Rumi, 445 Albee Square West | FREE | Best for ages 2 and up
Brooklyn Bridge Parents and City Point host a spooktacular morning of pumpkin decorating, seasonal arts and crafts, LEGO play and a Spiderman appearance, with a Spiderman costume contest and prizes. Costumes encouraged. Pumpkins are available first come, first served while supplies last. In partnership with City Point. RSVP on Eventbrite.
10. Halloween, all month long | Borough-wide
Through Saturday, October 31 | Free
Brooklyn does not save Halloween for the 31st. Costume parades, pumpkin patches, haunted walks, trick-or-treating on closed streets and dog costume contests run from the first weekend of the month onward, and we keep them all in one place. Our Halloween Guide 2026 is updated every week through October 31, and every event in it is free. For the night itself, our guide to the best trick-or-treating streets in Brooklyn picks the blocks for candy and decorations in 14 neighborhoods, from Brooklyn Heights to Bay Ridge.
Plus, a Halloween party for the grown-ups:
The Scenario 90s Dance Party, Halloween Edition | Williamsburg
Friday, October 23 | 8pm–midnight | Ciao Ciao Disco, Williamsburg | Tickets $35 | 21+
Calling all 90s music lovers to come dance with us on Friday, October 23 from 8 pm to midnight at Ciao Ciao Disco in Williamsburg! Come in costume, 90s hero outfit or not… We start dancing at 8 pm. 21+ only. With DJ CEO on the set you can expect unforgettable vibes that will take you back to a time you wished you never left. The best in Hip-Hop/R&B, Dancehall, Pop & House.
