Easton CT Halloween Events 2026: Your Guide to the Lineup

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Easton's community celebration still ends the night before. The town's Trunk or Treat and bonfire are set for Friday, October 30. The Park & Recreation listing adds a note in bold: "Please note: not on Halloween!" The town's Halloween events all fall in the eight days leading up to that Friday, and two of the main ones are built around legends. One is borrowed from the Hudson Valley. The other belongs to Easton and lives in a small burial ground where Stepney, Sport Hill and Westport Roads meet.

The Ghost Story Easton Actually Owns

Union Cemetery's oldest surviving headstone dates to 1761, and earlier graves are possible, according to a history by Elizabeth Boyce in the Easton Courier. The same piece says the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren documented reports of apparitions there in their 1992 book Graveyard. Witnesses describe the White Lady as a young woman in white, sometimes with a veil or bonnet. CT Insider retold Ed Warren's own account. He wrote that he filmed the White Lady at 2:40 a.m. on September 1, 1990.

Boyce's research also points somewhere quieter. She names two women as possible inspirations, Harriet Seeley Bryan, who died in 1836, and Harriet R. Seeley, who died in 1853. She is careful to call them possibilities rather than confirmed identities, and she ends on a gentle note: "The core of her legend is a sorrowful tale, but she is not a terrifying spirit."

That reading helps explain why Easton's events keep their distance from the graves. The cemetery is an active burial ground run by a cemetery association. The Easton Courier reported in 2022 that volunteers were mowing and maintaining it and that the association's funding was limited. The same report says signs and an ordinance prohibit access after dusk. Speaking to FOX61, Boyce, as Historical Society president, put the request plainly:

"We ask that when people go there looking for white ladies and red eyes that they be mindful that people's loved ones are there."

A 5K That Runs Away From the Cemetery

So Easton celebrates the White Lady in daylight, on a road course that starts at a church, not at her supposed haunt. The 5th annual "Chasing the Legend – Easton's Lady in White" 5K run/walk is on Saturday, October 24. Check-in starts at 9:00 a.m., the race starts at 10:00, the Kids Shuttle Run follows at 11:00 and the Kids Fun Run at 11:15. The town's flyer gives the address as 59 Church Road. The race registration page places it at Christ's Church and describes a North Park Avenue course with a route map.

The race was keeping its distance at least as far back as 2022. When the Easton Courier covered the 2022 edition, it corrected an earlier description of the route. The course ran away from Union Cemetery and did not pass it. That year the Cemetery Committee, Easton Park & Recreation and Christ Church co-sponsored the race. Proceeds went to the Cemetery Committee and Christ Church ministries, according to Rev. Ally Brundige. The 2026 materials don't name this year's beneficiary, so the cemetery link is confirmed only for that earlier year.

Entry costs go up after this Saturday:

The registration page adds a few details. T-shirts cost an extra $15, the race runs rain or shine, and online sign-up stays open until 15 minutes before the start.

The Same Saturday Morning, a River Gets Its Own Ceremony

An hour after the 5K starts, a second gathering begins elsewhere in town. The Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited has finished Phase 1 of its Mill River restoration. Nearly half a mile of the river along Congress Street now has new pools, boulder features, riffles and improved trout habitat. The rescheduled ribbon-cutting and streamside walk starts at 11:00 a.m. on October 24 at the Covenant Church parking lot. Fly rods will be on hand for demonstrations, and families are invited to bring their own fishing rods. The chapter is also matching donations dollar for dollar up to $4,500 for continued work on the river.

Between the race and the river walk, that Saturday's community events all take place outdoors and in daylight, at churches and along the riverbank.

The Borrowed Legend, Told by Candlelight

The second legend is the Headless Horseman, and it comes indoors. Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk returns to Easton on Thursday, October 29, to perform Sleepy Hollow as a one-man show. The Staples Academy Foundation bills it as "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow." The performance is at the Congregational Church of Easton, 290 Center Road. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the show runs from 7:30 to 8:30. The foundation's event page describes it as candlelight storytelling drawn from Kruk's book Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley. The town newsletter lists tickets at $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and all students get in free.

Easton's own ghost gets a Saturday-morning road race, and the Hudson Valley's Horseman gets a Thursday evening by candlelight at the Congregational Church. Neither event takes anyone into a graveyard after dark.

Counting Down to Friday the 30th

The family events line up in order. Each one leads toward the bonfire.

1. Friday, October 23, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Haunted Hallway at the Easton Community Center offers a Halloween craft, inflatables and hallway trick-or-treating. Admission is free, no pre-registration is needed, and families are asked to bring a bag of nut-free treats to share if they can.
2. Saturday, October 24, morning. The Lady in White 5K at 10:00, then the Mill River walk at 11:00.
3. Thursday, October 29, 7:30 p.m. Jonathan Kruk's Sleepy Hollow at the Congregational Church.
4. Friday, October 30, from 4:30 p.m. Trunk or Treat, hosted by Easton Park & Recreation and the Lions Club. Trunks set up from 4:30 to 5:30 at the Samuel Staples parking lot, and trunk-or-treating starts at 5:30. The bonfire and costume contest follow at 6:00 at Morehouse Fields, with music, snacks, and sparring and a performance by the Knights of Gore. Trunk registrations go to [email protected].

The Morehouse Field fence becomes part of the setting that night. For Scarecrow Palooza, Park & Recreation is inviting residents, schools and local businesses to build scarecrows and fix them to the split-rail fencing for the Trunk or Treat. Entrants register on the Easton Recreation website, where the first 10 get a free hay bale. They then email a photo of their scarecrow with their name to [email protected] to get a judging number. The newsletter also mentions a Senior Center "Wild Halloween party" on October 30, though it gives no time.

Filling the Days Between

The quieter evenings around those dates come mostly from the Easton Public Library and the land trust. The library hosts an all-ages Trivia Night on Friday, October 16, at 6:00 p.m. with pizza. Chef Deja of Khemi's Vegan Cuisine returns on Saturday, October 17, at 2:00 p.m. for a fall farm-to-table cooking demonstration using produce from local farms. Registration is recommended for both. Aspetuck Land Trust's free Haskins Lecture with Joan Maloof is on Thursday, October 22, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., across the town line at The Westport Library.

For the produce side of the season, Silverman's Farm at 451 Sport Hill Road says its market and animal farm are open seven days a week, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., through December 31, 2026. Its approximate apple calendar lists Ida Red and Northern Spy for early to mid-October; Red Rome, Cameo and Sun Crisp for mid-October; and Red Winesap and Enterprise for mid to late October. The farm asks visitors to call 203-261-3306 or check its social media for current pick-your-own availability.

The Senior Center's Holiday Boutique is already open, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and from 8:00 a.m. to noon today, Columbus Day. Much of its stock of lights, trees and ornaments came as a donation from Posters Hardware, which is retiring. Proceeds support Senior Center classes and programs.

After the Bonfire, the Owls

Once Halloween is over, the next nighttime event goes into the woods on purpose. Aspetuck Land Trust is holding a saw-whet owl demonstration at Trout Brook Valley Preserve on Wednesday, November 4, from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. It costs $10 per person, free for members. RSVPs are required and the group is capped at 25. Easton's fall calendar keeps its after-dark outings for nights with a guide, a sign-up list and a reason to be there.

At Elizabeth Altobelli, we keep an eye on the dates that shape life in Easton, from the Morehouse Field bonfire to the farm stands on Sport Hill Road. Those same seasonal rhythms matter when we plan when and how to present an Easton home. If you're wondering how this fall's market sees your property, request a complimentary home valuation.