Woodbridge's Busiest Halloween Saturday Lands on October 24

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026. Even so, the fullest day on the Woodbridge and Occoquan calendars is the Saturday before it. On Oct. 24, six events overlap between 10 a.m. and the 7 p.m. start of an outdoor movie in Occoquan. Their windows are staggered closely enough that a family could chain several of them together. Two deadlines decide whether that plan works: a registration cutoff two days before, and the last shuttle of the afternoon.

The holiday itself has a shorter schedule. It's a costume parade on Mill Street in the morning and store-to-store trick-or-treating at Potomac Mills in the afternoon. Between the two Saturdays, there's a free trunk-or-treat on a Thursday evening.

Saturday, Oct. 24, by the Clock

Every event below is dated Oct. 24, 2026, by its organizer.

The four daytime Halloween events overlap from 11 a.m. to noon, and from there they wind down one after another. Pumpkin carving ends at noon, Trick or Treatment at 2, Leesylvania at 3 and Fall-O-Ween at 4. Because of that pattern, the day works best as a sequence.

Two Deadlines Set the Order

The first deadline comes before the weekend. Prince William County Parks & Recreation runs the pumpkin carving at Veterans Memorial Park. It charges $15 per participant, with one pumpkin for each registered person, and anyone 6 months or older can sign up. Registration closes 48 hours before the program starts. For a 10 a.m. Saturday start, that means Thursday morning, Oct. 22. The Woodbridge Gazette's fall guide pitches the event as a way to "skip the pumpkin mess at home."

The second deadline is on the day. Prince William Water's annual Trick or Treatment runs at the H.L. Mooney facility on Rippon Boulevard. Construction there means no one parks on site. Prince William Water's Oct. 5 announcement says every attendee must park in the auxiliary lot at Mary G. Porter Traditional School, 15311 Forest Grove Dr. Free shuttles run from 9:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and ADA-compliant shuttles are available. The last shuttle to the event leaves at 1:30 p.m. The event is listed until 2, but arriving after 1:30 doesn't work.

Most stops on a Halloween Saturday don't come with a wastewater plant tour, and this one is worth the shuttle ride. Environmental and community groups host the trick-or-treat tables, and visitors can tour a working wastewater facility. Costumes are encouraged. The utility asks people to avoid costumes that could be considered offensive or that include weapons.

With those two limits in place, one route fits the published hours:

1. 10 a.m. Carve at Veterans Memorial Park, with the registration done by Thursday.
2. Noon. Drive to Mary G. Porter Traditional School and board the shuttle well before the 1:30 cutoff.
3. Mid-afternoon. Finish at Fall-O-Ween at Stonebridge, which runs until 4.

Leesylvania fits in place of either of the last two stops. The state park's Annual Fall Festival at Boat Launch 2 has hayrides, crafts, a trunk-or-treat and vendors. You pay the standard park admission or parking fee and nothing more, and you don't need to register. Its 3 p.m. close leaves room for a Leesylvania stop after Trick or Treatment, if that's the shuttle stop you choose.

Fall-O-Ween is the most flexible option on the list and the one where dogs are welcome. Chic Events DC organizes the free event. It includes kids' and pets' costume contests and arts-and-crafts vendors, and costumes are encouraged "including for four-legged family members," according to the Gazette's listing. Details are posted on the organizer's event page. Stonebridge's own events calendar didn't list Fall-O-Ween when this was written. That doesn't mean it was canceled, but it's worth checking the organizer's page before you go.

Occoquan Takes the Afternoon and Evening

Occoquan picks up as the Woodbridge events wind down. Pilates by Cynthia celebrates the grand opening of its new studio at 308 Poplar Alley from 1 to 3 p.m., with raffles and light bites. That afternoon window overlaps the end of Fall-O-Ween. A family can do the Halloween events in the morning, and an adult can stop by the studio opening on the way into town.

The evening event is Movie in the Park: Coco at River Mill Park. The park and concessions open at 6 p.m., and the film starts at 7. Tickets are $5, and children 5 and under get in free. VFW Post 7916 sponsors the screening. The Town of Occoquan's listing notes that the film is rated PG and runs 1 hour 45 minutes, so it should end close to 9 p.m. Coco's story follows a boy's journey into the Land of the Dead, a natural fit for a late-October night outside.

If you're building the whole month around Occoquan, Buzz Bookstore at 406 Mill Street hosts a Spooky Book Talk on Sunday, Oct. 18, from 1 to 2 p.m. It covers horror and other eerie books, and no reservation is needed. Cozy Calico Books opened at 199 Union Street this spring, so Occoquan now has two independent bookstores.

A Weeknight Option Between the Two Saturdays

For families with younger children, the next option comes before the weekend. Prince William County Parks & Recreation hosts a free Trunk or Treat at Chinn Aquatics & Fitness Center, 13025 Chinn Park Drive, on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. It's open to ages 6 months through 12 years. It's the only Woodbridge Halloween event on these calendars that falls on a weekday, which makes it easier to fit around a full Saturday.

Halloween Day Runs Morning and Afternoon

On Saturday, Oct. 31, the schedule is shorter and more spread out. The Town of Occoquan's Costume Parade & Contest runs from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants line up near the Riverwalk Shops at 125 Mill Street by 10 a.m. Mayor Earnie Porta leads the parade as Iron Man, heading down Mill Street to River Mill Park, where judges pick winners for cutest, scariest, funniest, most original and best family or group costume. There's no fee and no registration. Afterward, participating businesses hand out treats as families trick-or-treat their way back through town.

The parade affects traffic. The 100 through 400 blocks of Mill Street close on a rolling basis between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Anyone driving through town that morning should plan around those 30 minutes.

That afternoon, Potomac Mills holds its Mall-O-Ween Boo Bash from 1 to 3 p.m., with trick-or-treating from store to store across the mall, Halloween characters and a photo station. The mall's listing doesn't give a price. The parade ends at noon and the mall event starts at 1, so the morning and afternoon events line up much as they do on Oct. 24, with a shorter list.

Getting between the Woodbridge side and Occoquan this season means driving through an active work zone. VDOT's I-95 and Route 123 interchange project has cut Occoquan Road to one lane in each direction between Hylton Avenue and Devils Reach Road. That reduction is scheduled to stay in place until summer 2027. Southbound I-95 traffic is also shifted onto the newly built section of the bridge over Occoquan Road. On a Saturday with a set shuttle cutoff or a 7 p.m. film start, that single lane is worth factoring into the timing.

The Town of Occoquan's calendar notes that listed events can change, and the Gazette updates its fall guide as details shift. Check the Prince William Water shuttle details and the county's pumpkin-carving page in the days before Oct. 24, since those two set the shape of the day.

At Cheantae Lewis, we follow Woodbridge's calendar as closely as its market, because the shuttle cutoffs and the work zones are part of what living here is like. If you're wondering what your home near Stonebridge, Leesylvania or Occoquan is worth this fall, get your free home valuation and we'll walk you through the numbers.