Halloween Harvest Festival

2026 Halloween Harvest Festival + Season Closeout
Saturday, October 31 | 12 - 5 PM
Free or suggested donation

Join us for the 2026 Halloween Harvest Festival, back with family-friendly workshops, a community resource fair, the Planted Culture Vegan Food Market, as well as New York’s second-largest dog costume contest co-presented with Chateau le Woof. It’s a Halloween Harvest like no other that you do not want to miss!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

ARTMAKING

11-1pm
Field Guide: Bats in NYC with iDig2Learn
Join us for the final Field Guide for the season! Did you know nine species of bats call New York State home? Come learn about their mosquito-eating superpowers and create bat art just in time for Halloween. Join iDig2Learn and the artists of Socrates for a hands-on workshop to better understand bats’ amazing lives. No artist experience needed.

12-3pm
Mehndi (Henna) artists
Join Mehndi artists, also known as Henna, from Ajna Dance Company and connect to the rich cultural heritage of South Asia.

About Ajna
Ajna Dance is proud to teach, perform, and celebrate a wide range of classical, folk, and Bollywood styles, including Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Garba, Dandiya Raas, and Bhangra. For more info visit their website.

1-3pm
Lizania Cruz's: Ecologies of Care
As part of her Adobe Creative Residency at MoMA, artist Lizania Cruz presents Ecologies of Care, an interactive kiosk at Socrates Sculpture Park that investigates interdependent relationships among people, wildlife, and the built environment in the Sculpture Park. Park visitors are invited to contribute to a collective map, creating a living archive of the many connections they encounter. To learn more about the project, please visit our artist exhibitions page. The activations listed below will form part of Lizania Cruz's Ecologies of Care on view till November 15th.

1-2:30pm
Ecologies of Care with The City Sponge
In response to Ecologies of Care, Nick Nyhan of The City Sponge Blog will lead a walking conversation through Socrates Sculpture Park and the surrounding neighborhood, exploring strategies for flood resilience, from green infrastructure and native plantings to the ongoing shoreline restoration project.

What can we do about flooding? As rising seas and increasingly intense storms bring more water to our coastlines and neighborhoods, how can we prepare and adapt? Join us for a 45-minute walk-and-talk exploring solutions already taking shape across New York City, from large-scale coastal restoration projects to green infrastructure in our parks and streets, plus practical steps we can take at home. Along the way, we’ll highlight approaches both big and small, including native plantings, and discuss how these strategies can help our communities become more resilient to flooding. Questions are welcome! This engaging, informal conversation offers a chance to learn more about flood resilience and discover how we can all help prepare our city for a wetter future.

2:30-3pm
Ecologies of Care with Tamra Cosby and poets/storytellers from HANAC Astoria
Poet Tamra Cosby and participants in her Living Ecology workshop, hosted at HANAC Astoria, will share poetry inspired by Cruz’s Ecologies of Care installation at the Park.

12-3pm
Drop-in Pumpkin Decorating Workshop.
Come and decorate your own pumpkin just in time for Halloween. Pumpkins provided, first come, first served

12-3pm
Drop-in Costume Making Workshop with reused materials
Come by and make your own costume accessories using Materials for the Arts supplies. Make head-dresses, bracelets, belts, and whatever else you are inspired to create!

PERFORMANCES
12-12:15pm
If I Had a Bell Opening Ritual
Gathering beneath Bellwether, we will pause to listen. We will listen to the wind, to the bells, to one another, and to the longing for freedom and justice that is carried in every bell. Participants will be invited to sound a bell (if that is available to us) and to offer a single word of hope for our shared world and humanity, creating a shared chorus that honors both individual voices and the beloved community we are still building together.

12:30-1:15pm and 2-2:45pm
Flying Leap presents The Garden
The Garden is a radically inclusive, interactive performance exploring nature and the life cycle with very young children aged 0-5 and their families in public green spaces. In The Garden, families experience the life cycle through all five senses – through movement theater, poetic text in multiple languages, and interactive play – seated in the grass beneath the open sky in their local public park, lawn, or greenspace.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES FAIR
12-3pm
Come and learn about some of these amazing organizations and leave with valuable resources for you and your community.
The Department of Mental Health and Hygiene
Greater Astoria Historical Society
Growing Up Green Charter School Halloween Costume Swap: Bring your old costumes and accessories.
MoMA Learning and Engagement

CONTESTS
12-2pm
Pumpkin Carving Contest (Limited slots)
Show us your creativity with our annual Pumpkin Carving Contest. An adult must supervise young folks.

3-5pm
Annual Halloween Dog Costume Contest co-hosted with Chateau le Woof.
Join us to see our 3 Prizes for the winner of the Contest, runner-up, and 3rd Place. Dog Costume Contest registration begins at 1 PM at Chateau le Woof’s table on-site.

FOOD
12-5pm
Planted Culture Vegan Food Market: Halloween Edition
Curated by Erica Muñoz, this vegan food market returns to the Park and will offer culturally diverse vegan eats from NYC’s best vendors. Come by and enjoy food by:

• Madrina Vegana (Mexican)
• RastaRant (Jamaican)
• Well Charged (Comfort Food)
• Mama’s Pearl Kitchen (Soul Food)
• Vegan Bites Dessert
• Freakin Vegan (Comfort Food)
• and more!