Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. In Andover, almost none of the public celebrating is set for that day. The town's Halloween events, a children's costume morning and the History Center's fall tours all fall between Thursday, Oct. 22 and Wednesday, Oct. 28. Downtown Trick or Treat, the closest thing Andover has to a shared Halloween evening, starts at 4:30 p.m. on that Wednesday, three days before the 31st.
So the town's Halloween is really one week, starting today. Here is how it runs, day by day, with the registration steps you need to handle ahead of time.
October 31 Is Nearly Empty on the Calendar
The Town of Andover's community calendar lists one item for Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026: the Andover High School Marching Band's online wreath sale. As of this week, no 2026 trick-or-treat hours have been posted. For comparison, the town's listing for Oct. 31, 2025 set neighborhood trick-or-treating for 5 to 7 p.m. That was last year's guidance. If you're planning a Saturday evening on your front steps, check the town calendar again closer to the date.
The Andover Center for History & Culture's program calendar has the same gap. It lists nothing for Thursday the 29th, Friday the 30th or Saturday the 31st. Most of its October happens in the six days before that.
The Scarecrows Bridge the Gap
One event runs all the way to Halloween. The Andover Coalition for Education, known as ACE, runs its Scarecrow Festival in Downtown Andover from Oct. 17 through Oct. 31. The scarecrows come from two kinds of builders. ACE invites Andover Public Schools art classes, clubs, teams and whole grades, and it also invites community groups, nonprofits and organizations to enter as Community Participants.
The festival kicked off last Saturday in front of Old Town Hall. The scavenger hunt is still going. ACE's festival page says you can pick up hunt forms at Memorial Hall Library during the festival or download and print one at home. The festival also raises money. ACE is a 501(c)(3) that funds classroom programs, technology and creative learning across Andover Public Schools. This year it's also collecting $10 donations to plant pumpkin patches at elementary schools and Shawsheen Preschool.
The festival's dates run through Oct. 31, after every other event here has ended. That leaves the scarecrows as the one part of the season still on the calendar on Halloween itself.
Thursday, Oct. 22 Starts With Rachel Revere
The History Center's run begins this evening. "History at Play: Rachel Revere Speaks" features Judith Kalaora as Rachel Revere from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the History Center, 97 Main St. The center's program calendar lists the same evening as "Rendezvous with Rachel Revere," so you may see it under either name.
Saturday, Oct. 24 Is the Busiest Day
Two of the week's biggest events fall on Saturday, two hours apart, and both are in the center of town.
The morning event is the History Center's Journey Down Elm Street walking tour, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It covers historic architecture and sites along the street, including Elm House Tavern, Wonderland Theater, Free Christian Church and Abbot's Tavern. Registration is required, the price is pay what you like, and the meeting spot is emailed the day before.
That afternoon, Andover Recreation holds its annual Howl-O-Ween at The Park at Chestnut and Bartlet streets, 36 Bartlet St., from 1 to 3 p.m. The town lists a dog parade, costume contest, concert, and beer and wine garden. The schedule runs in this order:
- 1:00 p.m. The White Street Band plays.
- 1:30 p.m. Dog registration.
- 2:00 p.m. Dog parade.
Entering a dog in the parade and costume contest takes registration through Andover Recreation and costs $5 per dog. The money goes to the Andover Dog Park, and everything else at the event is free.
The Andover Farmers Market, now in its 20th year, also uses this park. Its town listing describes it as running Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, in the parking lot next to the Town Park, with 25-plus vendors. The listing doesn't give a last date for the season, so check the market's own site to see whether it's still running on the 24th. If it is, you could stop at the market before 1 p.m. and stay at The Park for the band. We covered the market's anniversary in our summer guide to Andover.
Tuesday, Oct. 27 Has a Morning Event and an Evening Talk
On Tuesday, Andover Recreation holds an event for young children and the History Center holds an evening talk.
Too Cute to Spook runs from 10 to 11 a.m. at Old Shawsheen School, 18 Magnolia Ave. Children come in costume for games, art projects and a costume parade. It's a weekday morning, so it fits families with children not yet in school.
That evening, Dr. Don Slater speaks on "Symbolism & Currency of the Revolutionary War" from 6:30 to 8 p.m., listed on the History Center's program calendar.
Wednesday, Oct. 28 Is the Town's Real Halloween
Wednesday is the busiest day for families. It has the History Center's newest tour in the morning and downtown trick-or-treating in the afternoon.
Tales of Haggett's Pond is new this year. It follows the newly paved old railroad trail from the Haggett's Pond entrance to the boardwalk deck vista point, half a mile along the trail. The stories start with the Native Americans who fished and hunted there thousands of years before Europeans arrived in Andover in the 1640s. They continue through the early colonists, the witch hysteria, connections to the Revolutionary War, the trains, and life on the pond before it was closed to recreation as the town's main water supply. The tour is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The path is an easy all-access route, registration is required, the price is pay what you like, and the meeting spot is emailed the day before.
The tour is limited to 15 people, the smallest cap of the week, so book it first. If you've walked the new path already, our post on the decade of debate behind the Haggett's Pond rail trail covers the trail's recent history. The tour covers the centuries before it.
That afternoon, Downtown Trick or Treat runs from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Downtown Andover, according to the town's event listing. The listing is short. It gives the date, the hour and a town email contact, with no fee or registration mentioned. It's also the shortest event of the week, at one hour on a school night, and it's the last town-run Halloween event on the calendar. The scarecrow festival's dates run three days past it.
What to Book Before the Weekend
Most of this week is free and doesn't need sign-up, but four things need some planning:
- Journey Down Elm Street, Oct. 24: Registration required. The meeting spot arrives by email on Oct. 23.
- Howl-O-Ween dog parade and costume contest, Oct. 24: $5 per dog through Andover Recreation. Dog registration on site starts at 1:30 p.m.
- Tales of Haggett's Pond, Oct. 28: Registration required, 15 spots. The meeting spot arrives by email on Oct. 27.
- ACE scavenger hunt, through Oct. 31: Pick up a form at Memorial Hall Library or print one from ACE's site.
The next deadline comes one week after Halloween. The Andover High School Marching Band's wreath sale runs online through Nov. 7 and includes wreaths, swags, kissing balls and poinsettias. The band calls it its largest fundraiser of the year, and the money pays for instruments, equipment, uniforms and truck rentals. Orders go through andoverbands.com/wreaths. Nov. 7 is also the date of the History Center's next listed talk, a history presentation and Q&A with Tara Lynn Masih at 1 p.m. at 97 Main St.
Our team at DiPietro Group Real Estate follows the Andover calendar week by week, from scarecrow season to the wreath orders after it. If you're thinking about what your home is worth before the holidays, or what a move to Andover might look like, schedule a free buyer or seller consultation and we'll walk you through the local picture.
