Carmel Valley's Halloween Runs a Full Week This Year, One Town Center at a Time

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, but Carmel Valley's town centers did not all schedule for the 31st. The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch holds its event on Sunday, Oct. 25. One Paseo holds its on Friday, Oct. 30. Del Mar Highlands Town Center has the day itself, Saturday, Oct. 31. Since no two of them overlap, a household can attend all three.

Once that sequence is clear, the rest of the month is easy to plan around it. The smaller events, the pumpkin patches, and even a new place to eat between stops all fit around those three dates.

The week at a glance

Two Saturdays before, One Paseo goes first

One Paseo's Halloween season opens before the week itself. Its free Hocus Pocus movie night was postponed for weather and now runs Saturday, Oct. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event page title and calendar link both give the new date. The same evening has one of the center's Shop, Dine & Unwind live music sets, with Kenna. TJ Moss plays on Oct. 24 and David De Alva on Oct. 31, so each Saturday of the stretch has its own set.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Carmel Valley Library at 3919 Townsgate Drive holds a Mini Yarn Pumpkins craft from 6 to 7 p.m. It is for ages 12 and up, walk-in, and limited to the first 20 people.

A third early date shows that One Paseo is already planning past October. Holiday Mini Photography Shoots start on select dates beginning Oct. 18. Sessions are 15 minutes, cost $325 and require a reservation. That makes One Paseo the center with both the earliest Halloween event on the calendar and the earliest holiday booking.

Sunday, Oct. 25: Pacific Highlands Ranch opens the week

The first of the three main events is east of the I-5 and SR-56 junction. Halloween in the Village at The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch runs from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. The listing gives a date and a time window but no details about activities or price. Older trick-or-treat pages for the Village are still online and refer to 2025, so the 2026 listing above is the one to use.

The Village holds a second event the following Thursday. Pacific Social hosts a Pumpkin Carving Party hosted by Ghost Tequila on Oct. 29 from 6 to 9 p.m. The listing does not give an admission price.

The weeknights belong to adults

Between Sunday's event at the Village and Friday's at One Paseo, the scheduled events are aimed at adults. On Monday, Oct. 26, Party Fitness Social Club holds a Halloween Pop Up Celebration for ages 21 and up at Pacific Highlands Ranch Recreation Center, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Eventbrite lists tickets at $23.18. Along with Thursday's carving party at Pacific Social, that puts both of the week's evening events in Pacific Highlands Ranch.

The city-run recreation center closer to the core of the neighborhood has nothing posted yet. Carmel Valley Recreation Center's page lists its upcoming items as "More To Be Determined."

Friday, Oct. 30: One Paseo takes the afternoon before

One Paseo's main event is the day before Halloween. The free Trunk or Treat with the San Diego Police Department runs from 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, with trick-or-treating, candy giveaways, bounce houses and police vehicles on display. It ends early enough to leave time for dinner afterward.

That dinner could be the newest place on Paseo Place. Goop Kitchen opened Aug. 31 at 3745 Paseo Place, in the space Tender Greens used to occupy. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, it is the brand's first dine-in restaurant. Goop Kitchen previously ran 16 delivery- and takeout-only locations in California and three in New York. The paper reports that the whole menu is gluten-free and made without seed oils, refined sugars or corn. It covers salads, bowls, wraps, soups, pizza and pasta, and includes a pepperoni pizza named Pepperoni Potts. The restaurant has outdoor patio seating and is open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 31: Del Mar Highlands has the day itself

Del Mar Highlands Town Center is the only one of the three hubs holding its main event on Halloween. Its Halloween at The Highlands program has two parts, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon:

1. 10 a.m.: A free Party at the Pop Jet with Kathryn the Grape, at the Pop Jet Fountain in the lower plaza. Costumes are encouraged.
2. 4 to 6 p.m.: Trick-or-treating at participating businesses, while supplies last. Maps are available at the Pop Jet Fountain.
3. During trick-or-treating: Three meet-and-greet stations. Toy Land is between Panda Express and Ralphs Fresh Fare, Superhero Headquarters is at the Pop Jet Fountain, and the K-Pop Power Zone is on the outside deck of Sky Deck, above Jimbo's.

People who RSVP on Eventbrite for the trick-or-treating are entered in a drawing for four tickets to Cinepolis. The center notes that the event will be photographed and filmed.

The gap between the morning party and the 4 p.m. trick-or-treating leaves time for other stops. In Pacific Highlands Ranch, the San Diego Public Library's Pacific Highlands Ranch branch shows The Addams Family from 3 to 4:45 p.m. in its Community Room at 12911 Pacific Pl. The screening is for all ages and walk-ins are welcome. At One Paseo, the David De Alva set is the last of the season's Saturday music listings.

Pumpkin patches and when each one closes

Closest to Carmel Valley, the patch season ends on Halloween. The Del Mar Pumpkin Station at 15555 Jimmy Durante Blvd. runs through Oct. 31, with free admission and parking. It is open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until 7 p.m. on other days. Walking the patch is free, pumpkins are priced individually, and each attraction costs one $5 ticket. Rides such as the Ferris wheel and the antique carousel are priced per child, and an adult riding the carousel with a child rides free. The giant slides and the petting zoo are priced per person. That means the patch's last day is Halloween itself.

To the north, Helen Woodward Animal Center at 6447 Helen Woodward Way in Rancho Santa Fe holds its Howl-O-Ween Harvest Family Festival from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The festival includes animal encounters, fall crafts, games, face painting, trick-or-treat stations and mini pumpkins. San Diego Family's 2026 guide lists the remaining dates as Oct. 17, 24 and 31, with admission from $10 to $19. The Oct. 31 session finishes at 1 p.m., three hours before trick-or-treating starts at Del Mar Highlands.

Carlsbad Strawberry Company at 1050 Cannon Rd. stays open longest, through Nov. 8. October admission is $20 Monday through Thursday and $25 Friday through Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays it is open until 10 p.m., though activities close at 5:30 p.m. The San Diego Family guide reports that the farm will hold a Día de los Muertos celebration on Nov. 1.

Sunday, Nov. 1, and the décor that stays up

On the morning after Halloween, the Sunday farmers market runs on its usual schedule. California's certified-market list, current as of Oct. 1, 2026, shows the Carmel Valley Farmers Market at 3710 Del Mar Heights Rd. on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., year-round. The Union-Tribune reported in March that the market was growing under new management.

Del Mar Highlands' Harvest at the Highlands fall display stays up until Nov. 11, 2026, so the center keeps its fall decorations for 11 days after Halloween. For the holidays, One Paseo's tree-lighting and December Nights pages still list 2025 dates.

At Danielle Short & Associates, we track Carmel Valley's calendar as closely as its streets, from the Friday afternoon at One Paseo to the Sunday market on Del Mar Heights Road. When the town centers post their 2026 holiday dates, we will be glad to help you plan around them, so let's connect.