Trick-or-treating tables, bounce houses and a family movie under the stars are coming back to Wald Park on Friday, October 23, as the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce hosts its fifth annual Haunt the Hills. The free community event drew nearly 3,500 people to the Grand Lawn last year, and organizers are gearing up for another big turnout this fall.
Trick-or-treating runs from 4:30 to 6 p.m., with participating chamber-member businesses staffing tables along the Grand Lawn, according to Vestavia Voice. Games, inflatables and bounce houses round out the early evening, giving kids plenty to do before the night's main events get underway. Katie Woodruff, communication manager with the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, said the event is a way for the community to enter the spooky season together.
Costume and Pumpkin Contests Headline the Evening
A family-friendly costume contest kicks off at 6 p.m., judged in person by a panel, the outlet reports. Families can also enter carved or decorated pumpkins ahead of time, with two separate categories for carved and decorated entries. The pumpkins will be displayed throughout the event, and visitors can vote for their favorites through an online survey running from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., with winners in both the costume and pumpkin categories announced at 6 p.m.
At 6:30 p.m., the night shifts to an outdoor screening on the Grand Lawn. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for the movie, which last year was Hotel Transylvania — a showing that kept hundreds of people on the lawn well past trick-or-treating hours. Photographer Jon Anderson documented the 2025 gathering at Wald Park.
Food Trucks, Parking and Pets Welcome
There's no admission charge, though food and drinks purchased from food trucks parked in the Wald Park lots and nearby grassy areas will cost extra. Pets are welcome at Haunt the Hills, and parking will be spread across three satellite lots: Wald Park itself, Vestavia Hills Elementary West, and the Vestavia Hills Board of Education. The chamber says any changes to the schedule or a rain-date announcement will be posted to its website and social media.
Only chamber sponsors are permitted to hand out candy, promotional items or other materials at the event, and any business hosting a vendor booth must be an active chamber member. This year's sponsor list includes Buffalo Rock, Pepsi, McDonald's, Standard Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, Top Hat Chimney Sweeps, The Retreat Day Spa and state Rep. Mike Shaw. Kevin Nelson, regional business development coordinator at Buffalo Rock, said the company is proud to take part in Haunt the Hills.
A Park Built for the Crowd
The gathering is only possible because of the ground beneath it. Wald Park underwent a $16.6 million redevelopment completed in December 2023 as part of the city's Infrastructure and Community Spaces Plan, a project that moved more than 7,500 cubic yards of material to reshape the 32-acre site and build the centerpiece Grand Lawn, according to Williams Blackstock Architects. The redesign also reoriented the lawn toward Highway 31 to open sightlines and connect the park to the city's commercial corridor. That same overhaul added a custom, fully accessible playground and a Miracle League Field, giving the park inclusive recreational facilities for children with disabilities.
Haunt the Hills launched in October 2022 as the chamber's dedicated family trick-or-treating night, per Vestavia Hills Magazine, making this year's event its fifth. It joins a much longer run of chamber-sponsored gatherings at Wald Park, including I Love America Night, a summer tradition founded in 1982 that draws thousands of residents with live music, food trucks and fireworks, according to the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents more than 700 local business and professional members, and active membership is required for any business to staff a vendor table at Haunt the Hills.
Why a Park-Based Event Matters
Holding trick-or-treating off the street carries real safety weight. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data analyzed in JAMA research shows the risk of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night is 43% higher than on any other night, with children ages 4 to 8 facing a tenfold increase in pedestrian crash risk, according to the American Red Cross. Peak danger falls between 6 and 7 p.m., exactly when sunset, commuting traffic and trick-or-treating typically overlap — a window Haunt the Hills sidesteps by keeping families on the Grand Lawn instead of neighborhood sidewalks.
The event also lands amid record national Halloween spending. The National Retail Federation projects Americans will spend a record $13.5 billion on the holiday in 2026, with 74% of the country participating and average per-person spending reaching $115.14. Vestavia Hills, a suburb of roughly 38,300 residents whose school district ranked fourth in Alabama in 2025, fits the family-dense, civically engaged profile driving that kind of turnout at local events.
Haunt the Hills isn't the only costumed gathering on the Over the Mountain calendar this fall. Nearby communities are hosting the 13th annual Homewood Witches Ride, benefiting the UAB O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Cahaba Heights Witches Ride, supporting Down Syndrome Alabama, both drawing hundreds of costumed participants who toss candy for charity, per Birmingham Mommy.
