Fall Fest was set for Saturday, September 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the lawn at Ross Ferraro Town Center, 960 N. Gary Ave., with a car show on the schedule. Three days before, the Village called off the whole day, car show included, because thunderstorms were likely. It also said Fall Fest would not be rescheduled.
So the one Saturday that usually anchors fall in Carol Stream is gone for 2026. What's left is a string of smaller events, and the ones that matter most have registration cutoffs that come well before the events do. If you plan by event dates alone, you'll miss part of this season.
What October Holds Before the Main Weekend
The first half of the month is mostly small things you can drop into a regular week. Several are already running or coming up within days.
- Lotería en familia, Monday, October 5, 6 to 7 p.m., in the Create & Learn Center at Carol Stream Public Library. The program is held in Spanish and you need to register.
- Scarecrow Story Walk, October 1 through 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., outdoors at the library. Families read a scarecrow story along the path, count the scarecrows and tell a youth librarian the total to get a prize.
- Rotary Club of Carol Stream Gary Ave Cleanup, Saturday, October 10, 9 a.m. to noon. Volunteers meet at Carol Stream Town Center and clean the club's adopted stretch of Gary Avenue from Lies Road to Fullerton.
- Fitness Free Day, Monday, October 12, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., at Fountain View Fitness, 910 N. Gary Ave. Admission is free, with facility tours and a chance to try the equipment.
- Not So Scary Golf, also Monday, October 12, noon to 5 p.m. The Park District runs it at Coyote Crossing Mini Golf, 27W650 North Ave. in West Chicago, and families are invited to come in costume for a Halloween outing with no frights. The listing doesn't give a price.
The Water Reclamation Center Open House at 245 Kuhn Road was yesterday, October 3. It had hayrides, free pumpkins, duck races and a Touch-A-Truck, so if your porch already has a pumpkin from Kuhn Road, that's where it came from.
The Dates That Decide October 23 and 24
The main weekend falls on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, and both days belong to the Carol Stream Park District. The Saturday event has the deadlines.
Date | What happens | Where | Cost or condition |
|---|---|---|---|
Friday, Oct. 16 | Early-bird registration ends for the Trick or Treat Trail | Online through the Park District | Early-bird rate ends |
Friday, Oct. 23 | Pre-registration closes for the Trick or Treat Trail | Online through the Park District | Last day to register ahead |
Friday, Oct. 23, 7 to 9 p.m. | Splash Into Fall | Fountain View Recreation Center, 910 N. Gary Ave. | $5 residents, $7 nonresidents |
Saturday, Oct. 24, noon to 2 p.m. | Trick or Treat Trail | Red Hawk Park, 651 W. St. Charles Road | Walk-up $20 per child, cash only, if space allows |
Pre-registration for the trail closes on the same day as Splash Into Fall. If your Friday plan is the pool, sign up for Saturday's trail before you leave the house. Otherwise you'll be counting on a walk-up spot, which costs $20 per child in cash and only opens up if space allows. The early-bird cutoff on October 16 is 12 days from today.
Friday Night at Fountain View
Splash Into Fall fills the pool at Fountain View Recreation Center with a floating pumpkin patch. Swimmers hunt for treasures among the pumpkins, and the evening also includes fall-themed pool toys, family swim time and Halloween giveaways. The Park District bills it as an event for all ages, and admission is $5 for residents and $7 for nonresidents.
It runs from 7 to 9 p.m., so dinner comes first. A short trip up Fountain View Drive is Barrio Taqueria & Cocina at 1057 Fountain View Dr. On May 1, 2026, Luis Maldonado bought the restaurant. He also owns Ikal Y Sanse in Campton Hills. He kept the Barrio name and changed the menu.
"We are going to pretty much bring the idea of Ikal to Barrio, with a little more focus on street cuisine," Maldonado told the Daily Herald in May. He described the food as dishes "you would find in street markets," made fresh and a little more casual than the home-style cooking at his Campton Hills restaurant. If you haven't been back since spring, the menu you remember may be different now.
Saturday on the Red Hawk Path
The Trick or Treat Trail runs from noon to 2 p.m. on the walking path around Red Hawk Park, 651 W. St. Charles Road. The Park District puts the loop at about 1.1 miles. Kids ages 4 to 17 come in costume and walk the trail for candy and games, and there's a bounce house too.
A mile-plus loop for a two-hour event is a fair amount of walking for younger kids. Starting near noon leaves room to go slowly. The 4-to-17 age range is wide enough that middle schoolers and older teens are part of the event too, not just little kids.
These two days are the closest thing to a community-wide Halloween gathering this year. Splash Into Fall happens next door to Ross Ferraro Town Center, where Fall Fest would have been. The trail is across town at Red Hawk Park.
Halloween Lands on a Saturday
October 31 is a Saturday in 2026. The Village has set trick-or-treating hours from 3 to 7 p.m. around the community, and it says there won't be trick-or-treating at Village Hall.
Carol Stream Public Library is adding itself to the route from 3 to 5 p.m. Depending on the weather, kids can pick up a treat at a tent by the sidewalk or in the lobby. The library closes its treat table two hours before the Village's window ends, so go there first and save your neighbors' porches for later.
The library has a couple of smaller Halloween items in the weeks before. On Monday, October 19, it starts handing out a preschool craft kit called Book Reading Ghost, which makes a ghost suncatcher. The kits go first come, first served, one per child, and you can't register for them. The Scarecrow Story Walk ends October 29, two days before Halloween, so it's best done earlier in the month.
Where the Jack-o'-Lanterns Go on November 7
The season wraps up a week after Halloween at Ross Ferraro Town Center, the same site that lost Fall Fest. The Recycling, Shredding, and Pumpkin Smash Event runs Saturday, November 7, from 8 a.m. to noon. The Village runs it with eWorks, SCARCE, Accurate Document Destruction, Flood Brothers Disposal and DuPage County, which helps pay for it. Any DuPage County resident can come, not only people who live in Carol Stream.
The Village explains why it collects pumpkins: recycling them cuts down on the methane landfills give off and puts nutrients back into the soil. The pumpkins only go to compost if they're clean, so get them ready before you load the car.
- Take off wax, yarn and googly eyes. The Village lists these by name.
- Bring old textiles and paper for shredding on the same trip.
- Electronics are free for most items, including computers, laptops, printers, game consoles, cell phones, cable boxes, small appliances such as microwaves and vacuums, and holiday string lights.
- TVs and monitors cost $25 per unit under 21 inches and $35 per unit for 21 inches and up. Pay ahead online through eWorks. Checks aren't accepted.
- Leave DVDs, cassettes, batteries, large appliances, very large wooden-box speakers, and hazardous items such as fluorescent tubes, thermostats and smoke detectors at home.
String lights are on the accepted list, so this is also the day to get rid of last year's broken strand before you start decorating for the holidays.
That next season is on the calendar too. The Village's Holiday Tree Lighting Extravaganza is Friday, November 20, from 6 to 8 p.m., back at Ross Ferraro Town Center. It's free, with Santa, a petting zoo, cookie decorating and performances planned, and the detailed schedule hasn't been posted yet. So in the span of six weeks after a canceled September, the Town Center lawn gets two events.
If your neighbors have been asking how the fall calendar affects things around here, or you just want to talk through what's coming up in Carol Stream, Joe Soto is happy to help with no pressure, whether that's before the October 16 early-bird cutoff or after the November 7 pumpkin drop-off. Let's Get Started.
