Elk River's Halloween this year starts on Friday, October 9, when the city's décor tour map goes live. It ends on Saturday, October 31, at an Oliver H. Kelley Farm event that wraps up at 5 p.m. In between, the biggest downtown Halloween event of the season falls on October 23, a full week before the holiday. Put the dates in order and October 31 turns out to be the last stop on a three-week calendar.
The calendar also moves around town. It starts on residential streets, goes downtown for one afternoon, and finishes at a farm on the edge of town. Each stage depends a little on the one before it.
Week One Starts on Your Street
The 2026 Halloween Décor Tour is the second year the City of Elk River has run it. The idea is simple. Residents register their homes, and every registered Elk River home goes on an official map that stays online from October 9 through Halloween night.
Signing up is free. The registration deadline is Thursday, October 8, but that date matters less than it sounds. The city says late entries will still be added to the online map after the form comes in. They just may not show up in the city's marketing materials. So if your inflatable spider goes up on the 15th, you can still get on the map through the registration form.
The tour is new. The city's October 2025 newsletter called last year's version its "first-ever." The city's calendar shows that map launched on Friday, October 10, 2025. The city's announcement of this year's tour went up on September 23, 2026. That gives the décor tour the longest run of any Halloween event in town, about three weeks. It also makes neighborhood streets, not a park or a parking lot, the first official Halloween venue of the season.
The Middle Weekend Belongs to the Farms
Once the map is up, the next stops are pumpkin patches and harvest work.
The closest one-day option is just across the river. Otsego's Pumpkin Patch at Prairie Park, 13355 90th St. NE, runs Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to noon. It includes trick-or-treating along a Pumpkin Patch Trail, picking a pumpkin, Halloween music, and an arts-and-crafts show. Otsego recommends registering, and its notice doesn't list a price. The details are in Otsego's city notice.
The following week, Oliver H. Kelley Farm at 15788 Kelley Farm Rd. has two programs back to back. A Junior Chef Breakfast Club session, Muffins and Crepes, runs Thursday, October 15, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Harvest Days follows on Friday, October 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with harvest work and corn-husk doll making.
Those dates line up with another calendar. The Fresh Acres fall festival at 8102 72nd St. NE in Monticello labels October 15–16 as the Thursday and Friday of MEA and opens 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. That means Kelley Farm's Harvest Days falls on MEA Friday.
If you want a bigger farm outing, Fresh Acres runs through October 25. Weekend and MEA admission is $13 for ages 4 to 69, Fridays other than October 16 are $11, and ages 3 and under and 70 and over get in free. The farm has three interactive corn mazes, you-pick pumpkins, a petting zoo, and wagon rides. Pumpkins, petting-zoo feed, and concessions cost extra.
Downtown Goes a Week Early, After a Summer of Construction
Downtown Trick or Treat is Friday, October 23, from 2 to 6 p.m. It's based at Rivers Edge Commons, 679 Main Street, and it's for kids 12 and under. Local businesses and organizations hand out treats, and the city's event notice, posted October 7, lists what's planned:
- A fall family photo display in Rivers Edge Commons Park
- A petting zoo
- Food from Mac's Mini Donuts and hot dogs from the Elk River Lions Club
- A DJ playing Halloween music
- Public safety and utility staff with their trucks
- An Elk River Lutheran fire show at 5:30 p.m. on the church's new front patio
The city credits the Downtown Elk River Business Association and Spikes and Houles with making the event happen. Groups outside downtown had until October 1 to ask DERBA about taking part. The map and list of participating businesses are due out in mid-October. That list should be the best guide to which doors are open along the route.
Downtown has changed since last Halloween, which makes this year's event a bit different. In its August 7, 2026 newsletter, the city said the King Avenue and Upper and Lower Level parking lots were finished and officially open. Crews were finishing prep on the islands for mulch and getting ready for phase 2 of the downtown project next year. October 23 will be the first Downtown Trick or Treat since those lots reopened.
The fire show is new too. Elk River Lutheran's fall newsletter said the patio was under construction and expected to be done in early September, depending on weather. The city now has the 5:30 p.m. show scheduled on that "new front patio."
The downtown work isn't finished. The Elk River Star News roundup of the city's 2026 projects lists street, sidewalk, utility, and curb improvements on Main Street and Jackson Street in the 2027 Downtown Redevelopment Plan. So this year's trick-or-treat route runs between two construction phases, with the parking finished and the streets still to come. The Star News roundup explains the rest of the schedule.
October 31 Lands at the Farm, in Daylight
Halloween itself falls on a Saturday this year. Elk River's main Halloween Day event is Halloween on the Farm at Oliver H. Kelley Farm, from 1 to 5 p.m. The MNHS event page lists trick-or-treating, chicken jack-o'-lantern carving, and seasonal treats, plus a craft station in the visitor center where kids can make Halloween buttons.
The event page doesn't list a ticket price. Kelley Farm's general admission is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors, veterans, active military, and college students; $8 for ages 5 to 17; and free for kids 4 and under and MNHS members. That page doesn't say whether the Halloween event uses the same prices, so call the farm at 763-441-6896 before you go.
The farm event ends at 5 p.m., and the décor tour map stays up through Halloween night. That puts the season's last evening back on the same residential streets where it started on October 9.
The Whole Season on One Page
| Date | Event | Where | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 9 to Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween Décor Tour map | Registered Elk River homes | Online all month | Free to register |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Pumpkin Patch | Prairie Park, 13355 90th St. NE, Otsego | 10 a.m. to noon | Registration recommended, no price listed |
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Junior Chef Breakfast Club | Oliver H. Kelley Farm | 9:30 to 11 a.m. | See MNHS |
| Fri., Oct. 16 | Harvest Days | Oliver H. Kelley Farm | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | See MNHS |
| Through Sun., Oct. 25 | Fall festival | Fresh Acres, Monticello | Fri. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | $11 to $13; season pass $25 |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Downtown Trick or Treat | Rivers Edge Commons, 679 Main St. | 2 to 6 p.m.; fire show 5:30 p.m. | No price listed |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween on the Farm | Oliver H. Kelley Farm, 15788 Kelley Farm Rd. | 1 to 5 p.m. | Check with the farm |
Fresh Acres' hours on the Thursday and Friday of MEA, October 15 and 16, are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A Few Things Still Unsettled
Some details weren't public as of October 7. The downtown business roster and route map are due in mid-October. Kelley Farm hasn't posted a separate Halloween price. Elk River Lutheran's own newsletter hasn't confirmed the patio is finished, but the city has already scheduled the fire show there. The city's Downtown Trick or Treat page is where the downtown updates should appear first.
Our family has been building homes around here for a long time, and you can learn a lot about a street by how it looks on a Halloween map. If your house goes on this year's tour, or you're picturing what a future home might look like on a map like this, Stephanie Houghton would love to hear about it. Let's Connect.
