It’s spooky season, and throughout Riverside and on campus, there are plenty of Halloween activities for students to participate in. 

To start off, from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31, UCR’s Student Recreation Center will host a “Scream Week” filled with Halloween-themed workouts and activities. During this week, the SRC will be hosting zombie-themed dance classes, a floating pumpkin patch, a costume-themed basketball game, a Halloween movie night and a haunted house.  

On Oct. 26, R’Garden will be holding its fall harvest festival. This event is open to the general public and will include activities such as games, pumpkin patches, trick or treating, music and more. The gardening club is also selling pumpkins now until Nov. 2 for $5 each. To order a pumpkin, all you have to do is Venmo “Gardening-club” your full name, phone number and how many pumpkins you would like to purchase. The R’Garden and Gardening Club are constantly posting fall activities on their Instagram pages, so be sure to look out for them.    

Starting Oct.19 to 26, the Highlander Union Building will be hosting a virtual “Hub Halloween Showcase.” To participate in this event, all you have to do is follow “ucrhub_programs” on Instagram and share what you plan on doing to get into the Halloween spirit on your Instagram story. By tagging the HUB programs account, you are entering a giveaway to win a Halloween-themed prize. 

Every year, UCR hosts its annual staff Halloween contest. This contest is reserved for people employed at UCR and is open from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1. Contestants can participate in eight categories: scariest costume, best theme, best solo costume, people’s choice, staff assembly’s choice, best Halloween decorations, best family costume and best pet costume. All photo submissions can include a maximum of 20 people and are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 1 and should be emailed to staffassembly@ucr.edu

There are plenty of Halloween activities to choose from off of campus. The city of Riverside is hosting the Riverside Halloween Festival on Oct.16 from 2-10 p.m. This event will occur at White Park and has a general admission fee of $10. There will be art and food vendors, live entertainment, a pumpkin patch and even a costume contest with a grand prize of $200 for the winner. 

The California Riverside ballet will host its 30th annual Ghost Walk from Oct. 22 to 23 at White Park. The tickets range from $15 to $25 per person and will feature performers from surrounding Riverside high schools. The celebration will feature a walking tour of the spooky side of Riverside, along with live performances, food vendors, pumpkin patches and a kids’ carnival.

There are so many Halloween activities for students, faculty and the whole riverside community to be involved in. As Halloween gets closer, be sure to be on the lookout for more Halloween-themed activities near you.