What cool stuff happens in Vernon in October, prior to Halloween? Tons! Well, five cool things for sure. We’re going to look at all five of those things and we’re starting now!

Five Things To Do In Vernon Before Halloween

1. Get your pumpkin at the Pumpkin Patch - 642 St. Anne’s Road

We love the Pumpkin Patch. In fact, we love it so much that we have our client appreciation/charity event every year in October at the Patch. We just held it, and it was another great event – if you are wanting to attend next year for some food, drinks, and free pumpkins, let us know and we would be happy to hook you up. The Pumpkin Patch, despite the descriptive name, is not only about pumpkins! It is about squash for $1!! $1 for a squash, no matter the size! And decorative corn, corn stalks and gourds are all also for sale. The Glaicar’s, some of the nicest people you will ever meet, started the Pumpkin Patch over 20 years ago with the idea of having a place for families to come and enjoy the pumpkins. It gives children the opportunity to see how they grow and the chance to pick out their special pumpkin to bring home and create their special jack-o’-lantern. Their whole objective is to keep the process simple so it continues to be affordable for everyone and fun for all ages.

You can also take pictures on their hay wagon at the front of the house, and the decorations all over are so cool and fun! The time it must take to place these little pumpkins all over, I just can’t believe the incredible effort they put in to make this a fun place for people to come every single year.
I know it's one of my favourite places to be and we love this beautiful place that we get to spend time in every October. Don’t miss out.

2. The Field of Screams at O’Keefe Ranch - 9380 Highway 97

The Field of Screams is back this fall, with multiple themes. For 2022, it’s called Theatre of Terror and features 18 nights of terror with four different corn mazes, each with its own specific horror movie genre theme, featuring plots from multiple cinematic horror films. The first maze is Classics from the Crypt which recreates the classic horror stories we grew up with including Dracula in his haunted castle, the Creature of the Black Lagoon, Wolfman and Frankenstein.

Maze number two is Nightmare Next Door featuring 1980s classic neighbourhood horror stories bringing slasher-horror films to life.

Then maze number three - Forgotten Space featuring sci-fi alien creatures and a crashed spaceship, so some eerie extra terrestrials here!

Then the fourth maze returning this year due to popular demand, is the dark maze: Welcome to the Dark Side. It proceeds to do it’s best to scare the crap you of you with whatever type of demon they choose.

This all sounds like a blast, so pick one of the 18 nights available and have some scary fun with the fam!

3. The Armstrong Pumpkin Festival - downtown Armstrong

This year was the 22nd Annual Harvest Pumpkin Festival in Armstrong. It was created in 2000 to bring the community together, and there is something for everyone at the festival. It’s held on the second Saturday of October. Armstrong-Spallumcheen has deep roots in agriculture and community - and that is what this festival celebrates. It is a great place to bring your family and friends for fun. There’s a pancake breakfast, scarecrows in the streets, live entertainment, the great pumpkin weigh in (by the way, the reigning champion was a 1000 pound pumpkin!), and the pumpkin catapult. I mean really, who hasn’t wanted to do that in their life, right? Just me? There’s also a demolition derby! So more smashing things. Fun!!

This year the proceeds went to supporting the families of the tragic accident that happened a few weeks prior to the festival. Great community event, join the Pumpkin Festival next year for sure.

4. The Caravan Theatre Walk of Terror - 4886 Salmon River Road 

2022 is the 19th year for the Walk of Terror, called Spagmos, which is a 30-minute processional through the fields and forests of Caravan Farm Theatre where a huge number of community and professional performers will entertain you. It’s all outside and spans 50 acres. The event ends at the great Timber Barn. Each person gets an MP3 player and earphones as well. This year the WOT features the pyrotechnic, stilt walking wizardry of KINSHIRA, Kelowna’s Circus ensemble, and FREAK MOTIF, the Calgary-based, eight-piece funk band. There are strobe lights, haze, fog, and disturbing images (which aren’t recommended for children).

The show is only part of the adventure - the other part is the food truck and the bar/concession, and you can enjoy a fireside drink and snack, so don’t forget to come a bit early or stay a bit late to partake in that!

Get a taste of what to expect on the Walk of Terror here. 

5. Gabe Newman’s Ghost Tours

Gabriel Newman the 2nd, will give you a spooky tour of the O’Keefe property, O’Keefe Ranch, including the cemetery obviously, and you can even get private access to a building or two. It’s about an hour and 20 minute tour through the ghostly hot spots at the Ranch.

He also does walking tours! You can tour through downtown Vernon, and Gabe will entertain you with stories of haunted houses, monsters, gruesome murders, paranormal anomalies and the freakfest in downtown Vernon. There’s lots of weird ghost stories in Vernon that Gabe knows all the history on, so another fun, freaky thing to do.

That wraps up the five coolest pre-Halloween festivities in Vernon, BC!

If you’re looking to move to Vernon, don’t forget to call the folks that make these riveting videos, and yes I mean RE/MAX Vernon Salt Fowler – we’re here to help make your move to Vernon as fun and as stress-free as possible. Not scary! No, not scary. Fun. Call 250-549-7258, text 250-309-9586 or email webinfo@saltfowler.com at RE/MAX Vernon Salt Fowler and “Just Add Salt!”.