The summer festivals are done, the leaves are turning, and Montreal is pivoting hard to Halloween mode. Starting this weekend and running well into October, a wave of genuinely excellent family events is kicking off across the city. Whether your kids want to navigate a spooky maze, meet costumed characters at an amusement park, or sit front-row at a show built just for toddlers, the calendar is stacked.

🎭 Roadtrip at Maison Théâtre: Theatre Built for Babies (Sept 28 – Oct 11)

If you have a child between one and four years old, Roadtrip at Maison Théâtre is one of those shows that tends to genuinely surprise parents. This isn’t babysitting disguised as culture — it’s a full theatrical production designed specifically for very small humans, using movement, sound, and light in ways that hold the attention of kids who have not yet learned to sit still for anything. Maison Théâtre has been making work at this scale for decades, and Roadtrip is part of a season-opening run that sells out fast, so booking ahead is genuinely recommended here.

📍 Where: Maison Théâtre, 245 rue Ontario Est, Quartier Latin. Metro Berri-UQAM (Orange/Green/Yellow lines).
🗓️ When: September 28 to October 11. Tickets at maisontheatre.com.

🎃 Halloween Shivers at Jardin Botanique (Oct 1 – Oct 31)

The Botanical Garden’s annual Halloween program is one of the city’s most underrated family events, and it runs the entire month. Starting October 1, the garden transforms around the characters Pétiole and Kalbacius, a sorcerer’s apprentice storyline that threads through workshops, an outdoor labyrinth, and encounters with spectacular plants staged for maximum Halloween drama. The Great Greenhouse becomes genuinely atmospheric after dark, and the programming includes magic wand workshops, potion-making sessions, and presentations on plants with genuinely strange properties. Entry to the garden and greenhouses is included with admission; the Halloween activities run during the same hours. The Gardens of Light lantern installation is also still running through the season, so you get two major programs for one ticket.

📍 Where: Jardin botanique de Montréal, 4101 rue Sherbrooke Est, Rosemont. Metro Pie-IX (Green line).
🗓️ When: October 1 to October 31. Garden open until 6 p.m., greenhouses until 9 p.m. Tickets at espacepourlavie.ca.

🎡 Kids Pumpkin Festival at La Ronde (Oct 3 – Oct 25)

La Ronde’s annual kids Halloween event is a daytime takeover of the amusement park running every weekend through October. The park is decorated with thousands of pumpkins, the rides run family-style, and the programming is built around shows like Ribambelle et les citrouilles and Les Monstres Moches, which land somewhere between genuinely funny and mildly spooky in exactly the right proportion for ages 3 to 10. Characters from the Royaume des bonbons roam the park for photos, there’s a corn maze, and the whole thing wraps at 5:30 p.m. before the park switches over to its adult Fright Fest programming for the evening. This is the practical solution if you want your kids to do an amusement park Halloween without anyone actually being scared.

📍 Where: La Ronde, 22 chemin Macdonald, Île Sainte-Hélène. Metro Jean-Drapeau (Yellow line).
🗓️ When: Weekends October 3 to 25, daytime until 5:30 p.m. Regular La Ronde admission applies; check laronde.com for hours and packages.

👻 SOS Halloween at SOS Labyrinthe, Old Port (All of October)

SOS Labyrinthe in the Old Port is already one of the better active family outings in the city — a two-kilometre indoor maze where the objective is to find four hidden treasures while navigating dead ends, obstacles, and misdirection. For October, they add the SOS Halloween overlay: costumes everywhere, spooky lighting, and themed challenges woven into the maze. It works for a wide age range (roughly 6 and up), and the indoor setting means it’s weather-proof, which matters as October afternoons get unpredictable. The maze also has a Blackout Nights format for older teens and adults on Thursday evenings, but the family hours during the day are properly family-friendly.

📍 Where: SOS Labyrinthe, 500 rue de la Commune Ouest, Old Port. Metro Square-Victoria–OACI (Orange line), then a 5-minute walk.
🗓️ When: Open daily throughout October. Check soslabyrinthe.com for hours and current pricing.