Long Beach's Halloween Week Starts Friday With the House Map

In the fall of 2024, the Long Beach Herald covered the city's fifth annual Halloween map, which went live on October 25, by talking with resident Myndie Friedman. Her house was covered in skeletons. She told the paper she had been decorating since her kids were small and that she moves the skeletons around each year until the setup looks right. "I see people stop by, people knock on my door and it makes the kids happy," she told the Herald.

Neighbors who stop by houses like hers are who the City of Long Beach's Halloween Decorated House Digital Map is for. For 2026 the map has more nights than it did two years ago. The 2024 edition ran October 25 through 31, which is seven evenings. This year's seventh annual map goes live Friday, October 23, and registered homes keep their displays lit through October 31, which is nine evenings. Halloween also falls on a Saturday this year. Put those together and the 31st is just the last of nine nights. The daytime events at Kennedy Plaza and the Long Beach Public Library fill in around the map.

How the House Map Actually Works

The rules on the City's Halloween page are short, and they explain a lot about what you'll see on the route.

• Who's on it: City of Long Beach residents and businesses that signed up. Entry was free, and the deadline was 4 p.m. on Monday, October 19.
• When to go: Participants agree to have lights, animations and decorations running from 6 to 9 p.m. every night, October 23 through 31.
• What you'll see: Every listed display has to be visible from the public street. The tour is self-guided.
• What's at stake: Nothing. The City says it's for fun only and no winners will be announced.

The 6-to-9 window matters most. Each house on the map has promised to be lit during those hours on every one of the nine nights. A walk on a Tuesday should show you the same displays you'd see on Halloween itself. The City even suggests making a night of it, or two, and having dinner at a local restaurant before you start the route.

The tradition goes back a few years. In 2022, the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce called that year's decorating contest the third annual and listed the City and the Chamber as joint presenters. The 2024 edition was the fifth annual, and this year's is the seventh. Each year the route is made up of neighbors who chose to sign up and agreed to have their addresses posted on the City's website and social media. To find it, go to the City's Halloween page once the map is posted on the 23rd. The printable list linked there was still last year's file before launch, so check that the one you open says 2026.

Saturday the 24th Is the Week's Busiest Day

The first Saturday of map week has the most going on. The Kennedy Plaza Farmers' Market opens in front of City Hall at 9 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m., as it does every Saturday and Wednesday. At 11 a.m. the same morning, Halloween in the Plaza begins with a costume parade and dance party for families, plus trick-or-treating and shopping with local artist vendors. According to the City's events calendar, it's also the last Arts in the Plaza event of the season.

Families in the youngest age group may already have done one parade this month. The City Recreation Department's Halloween Costume Parade, for kids in grade 5 and under, lined up at Veterans Park by the Rec Center on October 10 and marched at noon to the Fall Festival. The Kennedy Plaza parade on the 24th gives costumes a second outing. A costume that has gone to the Rec Center and the Plaza is also ready for the map route that same evening, the second night the houses are lit.

If friends or family are taking the train in for that Saturday, check the schedule before they leave. The MTA has warned that track work on the Montauk Branch will put Long Beach Branch trains on adjusted schedules on the weekend of October 24 and 25. The special weekend timetables are posted on the MTA's LIRR timetable page.

The Library Covers the Last Three Days

After the first weekend, nothing new is scheduled until the final stretch, when the Long Beach Public Library runs a three-day lineup in the Main Library auditorium. Two of the three events take place in the evening, during the same 6-to-9 window as the map, so on those nights you'll pick one or the other. That's easier to plan for now that the map runs nine nights.

The library's listing calls the Thursday screening an annual tradition and asks the audience to come in costume. It also takes most of that evening's map window. If you plan to go, walk the route on another night. The Friday pizza party appears in the library's Teens and Adults groups, and its description promises that "Drac's pack is back." On Saturday the 31st, the Pumpkin Bar runs midday, which leaves the whole evening open for trick-or-treating and the last night of the map.

Building a Week Around Nine Lit Nights

With the map running from Friday to Saturday a week later, you can plan the week like this.

1. Friday, Oct. 23. The map goes live, and every registered house should be lit from 6 to 9 p.m. Check that you have the 2026 version on the City's page.
2. Saturday, Oct. 24. Farmers' Market at 9 a.m., Halloween in the Plaza parade at 11 a.m., then the map that evening. Guests coming by train should check the adjusted Long Beach Branch schedule.
3. Sunday, Oct. 25, through Wednesday, Oct. 28. No events are scheduled, but the displays stay lit every night. These four evenings are the easiest time to see the whole route without rushing.
4. Thursday, Oct. 29. Rocky Horror at the Main Library, 7 to 9 p.m.
5. Friday, Oct. 30. Halloween Pizza Party at the library, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
6. Saturday, Oct. 31. Pumpkin Bar at midday, then trick-or-treating and the final night of the map.

The four quiet nights in the middle are the main reason to spread things out. Every house on the map has agreed to be lit on those nights too. Families with little ones who are in bed early, or who are sharing one evening with the library, still have plenty of chances to see the route. In 2024 the map ran from October 25 to 31, all within a single week. This year it runs across two weekends.

Event times and details can change, so check the City of Long Beach calendar and the Long Beach Public Library's event listings before you go.

Do you have a favorite house on this year's map, or a Kennedy Plaza costume you want to show off? We'd love to hear about it. The team at Lucky To Live Here loves Long Beach's fall traditions, and the neighbors who make them happen, as much as anything else about living here. Contact Us any time, about Halloween or anything else going on in town.