Forest Park is starting to show signs that Halloween is approaching. Houses are adorned with spooky decorations, and dozens of scarecrows are staked in front of homes and businesses.
Though trick-or-treating on Oct. 31 has been from around 3 to 7:30 p.m. in previous years, there are a handful of spooky events around Forest Park, leading up to All Hallow’s Eve.
Halloween Trivia Night – 10/16, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
This Friday at the Park District of Forest Park’s administration building, Chicago Trivia Guys are hosting a Halloween-themed trivia night. Topics of questions include the holiday’s history and horror movies. There will be candy, and teams are welcome to bring food and refreshments. The cost to play is $30 per team, which can be made up of families or groups of four.
Register at https://www.pdofp.org/events/halloween-trivia-night.
Casket races – 10/24, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
In honor of the village having more dead residents than living ones, the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce hosts the casket races every year — where costumed teams of four push decorated caskets on wheels down Beloit, aiming to get the fastest or slowest time (That’s right, there’s an award for the “dead last” team, too.)
For the 14th annual race this year, the Forest Park Review will have a team participating for the first time since 2017. Come see me dressed as a newsboy — and how we decorated our casket — at the annual Halloween celebration.
The races are free to watch and start at 11 a.m. The parade of caskets begin at 10:30 a.m. After the casket races, there is trick-or-treating down Madison Street until 2:30 p.m.
Scarecrow bike ride – 10/25, 10 a.m.
The Historical Society of Forest Park is hosting a free bike ride tour again this year. The route will pass by over 70 scarecrows in the village, decorated for the annual Invasion of the Scarecrows fundraiser. Funds go toward the historical society and Forest Park Arts Alliance.
This year’s bike ride will start at the Roos Recreation Center parking lot at 10 a.m. Amy Binns-Calvey, who writes a column for the Review, will lead the tour. Bring your own bike!
RSVP for the bike ride, and vote for your favorite scarecrows, at https://www.forestparkhistory.org/.
Habakkuk Halloween – 10/25, 6 to 9 p.m.
The weekend before Halloween, Robert’s Westside is hosting its own little party with a DJ, raffles and costume contest. Tickets start at $12.51 and are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/habakkuk-halloween-tickets-1999090916746.
Trunk-or-Treat – 10/31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
On Halloween, the park district will host a trick-or-treat event out of the trunks of decorated cars at the parking lot at 7501 Harrison St. Participation is free, but registration is required for those handing out treats. Register at https://www.pdofp.org/events/trunk-or-treat.