What’s Happening at The Lake: Halloween on a Saturday, Coffin Races and the Fall Wine Walk, October 26 to November 1, 2026

Plan ahead: Wine Walk tickets are $45 through Downtown Lake Geneva. Baker House tours and the Trick-or-Treat Train need reservations. The hayride is cash at the window, no reservations. Spooky City is free and needs nothing.

Hey Lake Lovers,

Halloween on a Saturday only happens every 5 or 6 years. The last one was 2020, and that one didn’t count.

So this week is built around 1 day. Burlington in the morning, candy in Lake Geneva at 3, a hayride or a Halloween band after dark. Then Sunday the whole town shifts to wine.

It’s also the week a lot of things end. The Cruise Line’s season, the hayride, the Trick-or-Treat Train, the Whitewater Tuesday market. The October 19 to 25 post has last week’s Candlelight Walk coverage if you missed it.

This week at a glance

• Mon 26Quiet. Last week of fall color on the Shore Path. Pearce’s Farm Stand is open through the 31st.
• Tue 27Last outdoor Whitewater City Market of the year, 4 to 7 PM. Mark Thierfelder at Grand Geneva, 7 to 10.
• Wed 28Dan Blitz at Pier 290, 5:30 to 8:30. Ladies Night at the Pier 290 bar.
• Thu 29Baker House haunted tour at 7. Craig Colson at Mars Resort, 6 to 9. Big Al Wetzel at Harpoon Willie’s, 8 to 11.
• Fri 30Last Trick-or-Treat Train in East Troy, 5 and 6 PM. Hayride 6 to 11. Infinite Journey’s Steve Trevino at Mars. Kids’ Halloween movie at Williams Bay High School.
• Sat 31Spooky City in Burlington all day. Lake Geneva trick-or-treat 3 to 6. Hayride’s final night. Halloween shows at Geneva Lake Distilling, Harpoon’s and Lake Lawn.
• Sun Nov 1Clocks back at 2 AM. Fall Wine Walk noon to 4. Lake Lawn’s free Family Halloween Party, noon to 2, resort trick-or-treat 2 to 4. Last ghost walk of the year.

Saturday morning: Spooky City and the coffin races in Burlington

Downtown Burlington closes Pine Street on Halloween for a free day that’s been running more than 30 years. Trick-or-treating at more than 60 businesses from 11 to noon, free hayrides, a kiddie costume parade at 10:45, and the coffin races at noon.

The coffin races are the draw. Costumed teams carry decorated coffins down a block and a half of Pine Street, dodging obstacles, with prizes for speed and for the best-dressed crew. It’s a half hour of pure small-town Wisconsin.

It ends around 1:30. That leaves time to drive the 30 minutes back for Lake Geneva’s 3 PM trick-or-treat. The full schedule, parking and a plan for doing both are in Wednesday’s Spooky City guide.

When

Saturday, October 31, 9 AM to about 7 PM. Coffin races noon to 1:30.

Where

Downtown Burlington, Pine Street and Wehmhoff Square. About 30 minutes east of Lake Geneva on Highway 36.

Cost

Free. Beer tent and food trucks are on you.

Ages

All ages until mid-afternoon. The 3 to 7 PM Spirit Walk is a bar crawl.

Book

Nothing to book

Halloween night, by who you’re with

Last call: what ends this week

• Tuesday, Oct 27: final outdoor Whitewater City Market, 4 to 7 PM at Cravath Lakefront Park. The indoor Saturday market picks up in November, 9 AM to noon.
• Friday, Oct 30: last Trick-or-Treat Train out of the East Troy Depot, 5 and 6 PM. $32.50 adults, $29 ages 3 to 14. Reserve first.
• Saturday, Oct 31: final hayride night, final Baker House tour, and the last day of the Lake Geneva Cruise Line season. Pearce’s Farm Stand closes for the year.
• Sunday, Nov 1: last Lake Geneva Ghost Walk of the season, 7:30 PM from Seminary Park.
• Postponed: The Belfry’s Cars tribute, Panorama, was set for Oct 30 and 31 and is listed as postponed on the Belfry calendar. No new date yet.

One Saturday: Burlington, then home for candy

1. 9:30 AMBurlington. Park a few blocks off Pine Street. Pumpkin decorating and face painting at Bank CMG, free Scooby Doo short at the Plaza Theater.
2. 10:45 AMKiddie costume parade from Wehmhoff Square down Pine.
3. 11:00 AMTrick-or-treat the downtown businesses. Hayrides run from Bank CMG until 1.
4. 12:00 PMCoffin races. Get a curb spot on Pine by 11:45.
5. 1:30 PMLunch, then the drive back. Highway 36 to Highway 50 is about 30 minutes.
6. 3:00 PMLake Geneva trick-or-treat, 3 to 6. Or Williams Bay and Fontana at 4.
7. 6:00 PMDan Patch hayride, gentle wagons first. Cash. Or home, candy sorted, done.
8. 9:00 PMStill up? Duo Sonic at Harpoon Willie’s until midnight, or Bar West at The Abbey until 12:30.

Halloween weekend at a glance

Day by day

Monday, October 26

Peak color is fading but the Shore Path is still worth the walk, and it’s empty on a Monday. The Wisconsin DNR puts southern Wisconsin past peak by the end of the month.

Pearce’s Farm Stand on Highway 50 is open daily, 9 AM to 5:30 PM, through Saturday. That’s carried from the Oct 7 check.

Tuesday, October 27

Last outdoor Whitewater City Market, 4 to 7 PM. Farmers, food carts and live music at Cravath Lakefront Park.

Mark Thierfelder at Grand Geneva’s Lobby Bar, 7 to 10. Tuesday’s live music post has every set this week.

Wednesday, October 28

Dan Blitz plays dinner at Pier 290 in Williams Bay, 5:30 to 8:30. It’s Ladies Night at the bar, half off drinks from 4 to 9.

Mark Thierfelder again at Grand Geneva, 6 to 10.

Thursday, October 29

The Baker House haunted tour at 7 PM, $20, 13 and up. Thursday is the quiet night for it.

Terry Byrne at Pier 290, 5:30 to 8:30. Craig Colson at Mars Resort, 6 to 9. Big Al Wetzel at Harpoon Willie’s, 8 to 11.

Friday, October 30

The last Trick-or-Treat Train leaves East Troy at 5 and 6 PM. Kids ride to a park, trick-or-treat, pick a pumpkin on the way back. About 80 minutes total.

Williams Bay shows a kids’ Halloween movie at the high school tonight, part of Boo in the Bay. Check the village page for the time.

The hayride runs 6 to 11. Baker House tours at 7 and 7:45. Pier 290 has D’Lite Duo from 7 to 10 and a Sea Smoke wine dinner upstairs at 6. Mars Resort has Steve Trevino of Infinite Journey, 7 to 10.

Saturday, October 31

Burlington’s Spooky City from 9 AM, coffin races at noon.

Trick-or-treat: Lake Geneva and the Town of Geneva 3 to 6, Williams Bay and Fontana 4 to 7, Delavan 4 to 6, Walworth 4 to 6, Elkhorn 5 to 7, East Troy 5 to 7:30, Burlington 6 to 8. Delavan’s Goblin Walk to the Legion haunted house follows at 6. All of them are in the Halloween guide.

After dark: hayride’s last night, Baker House’s last tours, ghost walk at 7:30, Halloween Party at Geneva Lake Distilling 5 to 9, Traitors’ Masquerade at Lake Lawn 8 to 11:30, Duo Sonic at Harpoon’s 9 to midnight, Steve Trevino at Mars, and 3 rooms at The Abbey.

The Lake Geneva Cruise Line runs its final boats of 2026 today.

Sunday, November 1

Clocks fall back at 2 AM.

The Fall Wine Walk checks in at The Bottle Shop from 10 to noon, then 24 stops downtown until 4. $45, $20 for designated drivers, 21 and up.

Lake Lawn’s free Family Halloween Party is noon to 2, with trick-or-treating across the resort from 2 to 4. Jeff Walski plays Mars Resort 5 to 8. The last ghost walk leaves Seminary Park at 7:30.

Frequently asked questions

See you at the lake.