Michigan Travel · Kalamazoo
Things to do in Kalamazoo Oct. 23–25: Halloween Forest at Milham Park, Tricks & Trails at the nature center and a free Concert Band show at Chenery
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Families in Kalamazoo have three costume-friendly trick-or-treat options on the weekend of Oct. 23–25, two of them free, and the Kalamazoo Concert Band opens its 65th season Saturday night with a free concert built around the nation’s 250th birthday.
Here is what’s on, according to the organizers.
Friday, Oct. 23 — Trick or Treat on the Trails. Sherman Lake YMCA, 6225 N. 39th St. near Augusta, hosts its trick-or-treat trail from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The evening includes a costume contest, a contest for the best-decorated treat station, cider and doughnuts, and games and crafts. It is free, but the YMCA requires registration in advance.
Saturday, Oct. 24 — Halloween Forest at Milham Park. Kzoo Parks brings back its free Halloween Forest from 2 to 4 p.m. at Milham Park, 607 E. Kilgore Road. Kids can collect candy at trick-or-treat stations and play fall games and inflatable games, including a pumpkin toss and a bobbing-for-apples race. Magician John Dudley performs a Spooky Fun Magic Show from 3 to 3:45 p.m. Lake Michigan Credit Union sponsors the event.
Costumed guests can pose at a photo backdrop for a contest. The city parks department says it will post the photos on the Kzoo Parks Facebook page by noon Tuesday, Oct. 27, and the ones with the most likes win. Winners will be named Oct. 29. Parking is in the Milham Park lot off Kilgore Road near the pavilion, with overflow across the street at Loy Norrix High School.
Saturday, Oct. 24 — Tricks & Trails at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. From 4 to 7 p.m., the nature center at 7000 N. Westnedge Ave. offers seasonal crafts, spooky science and story times in its Visitor Center, then sends families out on the Habitat Haven trail to collect candy. The fee is charged per vehicle: $12 for members and $15 for nonmembers. Families can register ahead or drop in.
Saturday night — the Kalamazoo Concert Band at Chenery. The band’s free season opener, “America’s Story at 250 Years,” starts at 7 p.m. at Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave. Guest conductor and cornet soloist Chris Bradley, principal cornet of Scotland’s Whitburn Band, joins the band, along with the Kalamazoo Community Chorale and the Kalamazoo Male Chorus, for music, images and stories from the country’s history. Doors open at 6 p.m., and a woodwind quintet plays in the lobby starting at 6:15. No tickets are needed; seating is general admission, and parking is free.
Sources:
Kzoo Parks, “Halloween Forest,” accessed Oct. 19, 2026, https://www.kzooparks.org/Events/Kzoo-Parks-Events/Halloween-Forest
Kalamazoo Nature Center, “Tricks & Trails,” accessed Oct. 19, 2026, https://naturecenter.org/events/tricksandtrails/
NowKalamazoo, “Trick or Treat on the Trails at Sherman Lake YMCA,” accessed Oct. 19, 2026, https://nowkalamazoo.org/event/trick-or-treat-on-the-trails-at-sherman-lake-ymca-2/
Kalamazoo Concert Band, “Free October Concert — Oct 24, 2026,” accessed Oct. 19, 2026, https://kalamazooconcertband.org/free-october-concert/
Photo: MSwierenga, “Chenery Auditorium.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chenery_Auditorium.jpg
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