So much of the fun of Halloween is the costumes and decorations. You’ve done the typical trick or treating at home, so how can you mix it up this year? Head to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee! Pack up your costumes, candy, Halloween craft supplies, and treats in a tote and re-enact the classic Halloweentown scene when Aggie Cromwell magically pulls tons of Halloween trinkets from her “bag that defies logic.”
Gather around the kitchen table in the cabin and make Halloween crafts together. Decorate personalized trick-or-treat bags at the living room coffee table with the little ones while the hilarious animated Hotel Transylvania plays in the background. Glue together your little fairy’s wand and stuff the tiny scarecrow’s sleeves with straw before heading to downtown Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for Halloween festivals full of hair-raising scares and eerie excitement!
Frighteningly Fun Festivals
Halloween at The Island
October 31, 2022 | 5 – 7 PM
The Island – Pigeon Forge
The annual Halloween festival at The Island on the Parkway is the place to be with family. Get costumed up and trick or treat around The Island from 5 – 7 PM on Halloween night, go shopping, fill up on candy, and more – all with The Great Smoky Mountain Wheel lit up in the background. There are plenty of great photo ops here, and you’ll even find some seasonal moonshine flavors at Ole Smoky Moonshine! Get ready for a spooktacular time!
The Legend of Hallow Mountain
Now – October 31, 2022
Anakeesta – Gatlinburg
This family-friendly Halloween event features crafts, activities for kids, festive fall treats, and fun (not scary) characters for the younger kids. Adults can check out scare zones and the Hallow Mountain Graveyard (for guests 12+ ONLY) in the Vista Gardens area.
Trick or Treat & Kickoff Karnival
October 31, 2022 | 11 AM – 3 PM
Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies courtyard
Trick or treat in a safe space at the 15th Annual Halloween Trick or Treat Kickoff Karnival in downtown Gatlinburg. The costume contest starts at 2 PM, and kids will love candy, prizes, and games – with proceeds benefiting a local charity. It’s family fun for all ages this Halloween!
Backwoods Terror 3: Family Reunion
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October
Ripley’s Haunted Adventure
Ripley’s Haunted Adventure offers spooky fun year-round, but they really ramp it up at Halloween for Ripley’s Fright Nights! Come celebrate the creepiest season at their 24th annual event with a throwback to their 2011 Backwoods Terror show. This special event runs from 4 PM until close on Fridays and Saturdays and from 2 PM to 9 PM on Sundays.
Dollywood Harvest Festival
Now – October 29, 2022
Dollywood – Pigeon Forge
Dolly really shows off for Halloween in the Smokies! Come play as more than 12,000 glowing pumpkins light up Dollywood for the month of October at this family-friendly event. Pose by seasonal scenes of scarecrows and pumpkins, listen to live music, stop by Hoot Owl Hollow, sip cider, taste your favorite seasonal foods, and enjoy fantastic fall colors at this Smoky Mountain playground.
OktOBERfest at Ober Gatlinburg
Now – October 30
Ober Gatlinburg
Celebrate Bavarian food, drink, music, and culture at the annual OktOBERfest event at Ober Gatlinburg! Find family-friendly fun, a favorite oompah band, a bier garten, and more!
Candy, costuming, and creepy – the three pillars of the spookiest holiday of the year. From Halloween carnivals to haunted corn mazes, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are the coolest places to get your creep on for this monster-filled month! Check out some of our favorite ways to usher in Halloween with the family – and break away for a ghoulish cabin getaway…
Paranormal Activities | Ghost Walk of Gatlinburg
Down quiet alleyways and in the empty, undisturbed air of abandoned rooms drift the waning spirits from cautionary tales of unfortunate souls. Get the full experience of ghost stories and ghost hunting with Ghost Walk of Gatlinburg! During the one-mile narrated ghost tour, each party receives their own EMF detector like professional ghost hunters use.
It’s a “storytelling experience with a twist of murder and mayhem”, the perfect adventure to set the ominous mood of Halloween thrills! This is not a super-scary time, therefore it’s still family friendly and kids 12 and under are free with an adult ticket! Mysterious Mansion is another fun and creepy pick for ghouls, goblins, and more this Halloween season.
Kyker Farms Corn Maze
Spend the day taking hayrides, playing cornhole, eating delicious snacks around the bonfire, and so much more at Kyker Farms Corn Maze! Pick the perfect pumpkin to carve, let the little ones play on the Corn Cob Swing, have fun on the Bee Line zipline, or muster up the courage to wind through the Haunted Trail and Zombie Blasterz.
Halloween Fun in the Cabin
If you don’t want to get out, stay cozy in your cabin rental with hot cocoa, bake Halloween treats in the oven, decorate gingerbread haunted houses, make festive crafts, and watch all your favorite movies of the season!