New Westminster’s Halloween has a genuine community-powered centerpiece down on the waterfront, plus a fuller City calendar than most people realize. It is a different shape from most cities in this round-up: Hallowe’en on the Quay runs from 5 to 7pm, right as it gets dark, so the main event starts when the light goes rather than finishing before it.

Hallowe’en on the Quay Is the Event Worth Building the Evening Around

Hallowe’en on the Quay fills the Quayside Boardwalk with trick-or-treat stations, including a New Westminster Family Place treat table, plus spooky activities and a family DJ dance party at the Fraser River Discovery Centre. It runs on Saturday, October 31, 2026, 5 to 7pm and is free. The City's own list carries more still: the Candlelight Gallery Tour at the New Westminster Museum at Anvil Centre, 6:30 to 7:30pm on Tuesday October 27 and Thursday October 29, $12 and 18 and over; and Spooky Night Out at the tematew Aquatic and Community Centre on Friday, October 30, 6 to 9pm, $37.75, where children from 6 to 11 watch a film while the adults get an evening off — it is now waitlist only.

Two more 2026 dates are worth knowing: Halloweekend: Strange Things on the Fraser runs at 788 Quayside Drive on Saturday, October 24, Sunday, October 25 and Saturday, October 31, 10am to 4pm, at regular admission ($5 to $20), and the New Westminster Museum Cemetery Tour: Halloween Edition is Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 to 8pm at 100 Richmond Street, $15, with a second date on Friday, October 30. The cemetery tour is for adults 18 and over.

Two details make the Quay event better than it sounds. The boardwalk is pedestrian-only, which removes the single biggest source of risk in any trick-or-treat evening without anyone having to supervise anything. And the dance party at the Discovery Centre gives children something to do other than walk, which matters when they would otherwise be dragging a parent along at 5pm.

The event is organized by New Westminster Family Place, with the City, the Downtown New West BIA and the Fraser River Discovery Centre as partners, so check the City's calendar page for any last-minute changes before you head out.

More Around Town in the Last Week of October

Between the City's 2026 Halloween activities list and its general events calendar, there is more on than most people expect. The pick for a family evening is Bats, Beats and Baubles, from the City and the Downtown New West BIA, on Saturday, October 24, 4 to 7pm at the bottom of the 4th Street stairs — free.

The same Saturday also has a Halloween Family Skate at Moody Park Arena from 6:30 to 8pm, Markets With A Purpose: Spooky Edition at 520 Columbia Street from 11am to 4pm, and Halloween Fun at the Museum at Anvil Centre on October 24 and 25 ($22 per group; many time slots are already full). On Friday, October 30 the Youth Centre holds a free Halloween Family Open House from 5 to 8pm, and Queensborough has Halloween classes for young children on the 31st. Check the City's Halloween list and events calendar for times and registration.

Costumes That Do Not Need a Costume Shop

The best Halloween costumes come together from what is already in the closet, plus one or two things from a dollar store or a thrift shop. For an evening boardwalk event that is also the practical option, because you will be walking a long stretch of riverside path in whatever the weather is doing.

• Group costumes: pick a theme everyone can interpret loosely — a deck of cards, a box of crayons, a bag of jellybeans — rather than matching outfits. Loose interpretation works across mixed ages and budgets.
• Layer for the weather: the boardwalk is exposed riverside and October evenings are cold and often wet. A warm layer and a jacket that is part of the look beats a costume that only works standing still in a warm room.
• Face paint over masks: masks limit peripheral vision and breathing, which matters more when children are walking a long path after dark. Face paint is the safer choice.
• Light it up: a strip of battery-powered LED lights clipped onto a costume does double duty as design and as visibility, which is worth more here than in most cities because the route is long and partly unlit.
• Flat, closed shoes: riverside boardwalk decking plus October rain is a slippery combination, and a trick-or-treat evening is a long time to be walking in it.

Police Safety Tips, and Free Reflective Stickers

The New Westminster Police Department's Halloween safety tips noted last year that reflective stickers are available at the police department, 8am to 4pm on weekdays; there is no 2026 update yet, so call ahead.

That is worth knowing for a practical reason rather than as a PSA. Reflective stickers on a costume or a bag are the cheapest visibility improvement available, they cost nothing, and you can pick them up in advance rather than trying to source them on the afternoon of the 31st. It is the kind of practical step that gets skipped and then regretted.

The broader tips are the standard ones: be seen, walk rather than dart, cross at crosswalks, go in a group, and check treats before they are eaten. Nothing here is unusual. The difference in New West is that the main event is on a pedestrian-only boardwalk, so the usual roadway risks are already designed out rather than managed by behavior.

Sunset is the reason every one of those points matters. On October 31 it is around 5:55pm, so the Boardwalk event sits in real darkness and so does the walk home from it.

Fireworks Rules

New Westminster is stricter than most cities about fireworks. They cannot be sold anywhere in the city. You can only have them from October 28 to 12:01am on November 1, and only set them off from 4pm on October 31 to 12:01am on November 1 — and only if you are 18 or older, on private property with the owner's consent or on public property with the Fire Chief's written permission. Roman candles are banned. The City's fire bylaws and fireworks regulations have the details; check them again before the 31st.

Your New Westminster Halloween at a Glance

Saturday October 24, 4 to 7pm. Bats, Beats and Baubles at the bottom of the 4th Street stairs — free, from the City and the Downtown BIA.

Saturday October 24, Sunday October 25 and Saturday October 31, 10am to 4pm. Halloweekend: Strange Things on the Fraser at 788 Quayside Drive.

Wednesday October 28 and Friday October 30. Cemetery Tour: Halloween Edition, $15, adults only.

Saturday October 31, 5 to 7pm. Hallowe’en on the Quay. Trick-or-treat stations along the Quayside Boardwalk, a Family Place treat table, and spooky activities plus a DJ dance party at the Fraser River Discovery Centre. This is the anchor.

Before the 31st. Collect reflective stickers from the police department on a weekday. Two minutes, and it is the one thing on this list that genuinely improves the evening.

What Is Not Happening in New Westminster This Halloween

New West does not publish a city-wide trick-or-treat hour or an official safe route, and there is no municipal pumpkin patch or corn maze anywhere in the city. This is a river city with a boardwalk, not farm country, and if you are looking for mazes and u-pick pumpkins you will not find them here.

What the City does publish is a real Halloween program rather than a token one — the Boardwalk, a downtown evening, a skate, museum events and more. The honest gap is agricultural: there is nothing like a Taves or a Maan in this city, and there is not going to be one.

For mazes and pumpkin patches the answer is to drive, and the nearest cluster is up the Valley. What New West offers in exchange is an evening event in a genuinely good public space, which most of those farm towns do not.

Questions Often Asked

What time is Hallowe’en on the Quay?

5 to 7pm on Saturday, October 31, 2026, along the Quayside Boardwalk. It is organized by New Westminster Family Place with the City as a partner, so it is still worth a glance at the City's calendar page before you head out.

Is there a pumpkin patch or corn maze in New Westminster?

No. The city is on the river with no agricultural land, so there is no u-pick patch or walkable maze inside the boundary. For mazes you need to drive to the Fraser Valley farms.

Does New Westminster publish trick-or-treat hours or a safe route?

No city-wide hour or route, but the Boardwalk event is pedestrian-only, which removes most of the usual roadway risk by design. The police have posted Halloween safety tips and offer reflective stickers at the police department, 8am to 4pm on weekdays.

Can I set off fireworks in New Westminster on Halloween?

Only from 4pm on October 31 to 12:01am on November 1, if you are 18 or older and on private property with the owner's consent. Fireworks cannot be sold in the city, and Roman candles are banned.