Halloween Ideas and Events in Mission

Mission doesn't have its own pumpkin patch or corn maze - the nearest pumpkin-patch farms are about twenty minutes away in Abbotsford - but the downtown business association runs a recurring trick-or-treat, and the City has Halloween programs for young children on the day itself. Between them that is a real Halloween without needing an attraction in town.

Downtown Mission Trick or Treat

The Mission Downtown Business Association's trick-or-treat is a recurring annual event along 1st Avenue and the downtown streets around it. This year it runs on Saturday, October 31, from 2 to 4pm, rain or shine; look for the jack-o'-lantern cut-out in the windows of participating businesses.

A downtown route means shops, awnings and lighting rather than residential front gardens, and a five-year-old can cover a lot of ground without being walked out. It is the kind of event that works because it is small and the organizers know the street.

City recreation programming

The City of Mission's Fall & Winter Leisure Guide has two Halloween programs at the Mission Leisure Centre on Saturday, October 31: Spooky Sensations: Halloween Sensory Play for children ages 1 to 5, 9 to 9:45am ($12, course #52628), and Halloween Potions & Slime for ages 5 to 9, 10:30 to 11:30am ($20, course #52627). Both need registration and were nearly full at the time of writing; register through the City's online registration.

The sensory session is worth singling out, because it is the part of a municipal Halloween that actually widens who can come - a calm room for young children who find a costume-and-noise evening overwhelming. The guide also lists a free Halloween Early Years Event on Tuesday, October 27, run by the school district's Early Years team with City Recreation.

The honest gap

Mission doesn't have a pumpkin patch or corn maze within city limits. Families who want that part of the season typically make the roughly twenty-minute drive across the river to Abbotsford. Taves Family Farms at 333 Gladwin Road runs a pumpkin patch with three magic-themed corn mazes through October 31, and Maan Farms at 790 McKenzie Road has its Forest Pumpkin Patch and two corn mazes daily until November 1. Maan's evening Halloween Fright Festival (Thursday to Sunday plus Wednesday, October 28, with entry times from 7 to 9pm, until October 31) is a genuine scare attraction and not recommended for anyone under 14.

Fireworks are not an option in Mission: the City's Fireworks Bylaw prohibits the use, sale and possession of fireworks. Fines run up to $10,000. The City and RCMP have added patrols on Halloween in recent years; to report fireworks, call the RCMP non-emergency line at 604-826-7161.

So: the City's programs on Halloween morning for young children, downtown for the trick-or-treat from 2 to 4pm, and Abbotsford if the pumpkin patch is the priority. A Mission Halloween is a community one rather than an attraction trip, and that is not a shortcoming.

Your Halloween at a Glance

Tuesday, October 27. The free Halloween Early Years Event, from the school district and City Recreation.

Saturday, October 31, morning. Halloween Sensory Play (9am, ages 1 to 5) and Halloween Potions & Slime (10:30am, ages 5 to 9) at the Mission Leisure Centre, registration required.

Saturday, October 31, afternoon. The downtown trick-or-treat along 1st Avenue, 2 to 4pm — look for the jack-o'-lantern cut-outs in shop windows.

Through October 31. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes at Taves and Maan Farms in Abbotsford.

What Is Not Happening

There is no pumpkin patch or corn maze inside Mission, no city-wide trick-or-treat hour, and no legal way to set off fireworks in the city. If you have seen a Halloween listing that is not in this article, check it on the organizer's or the City's own site before you go; dates drift year to year.

The basics for the night are the same everywhere: go in a group, carry a light, cross at a crosswalk, and check anything unwrapped before a child eats it.