Halloweentown Was Almost Scaled Back. Here’s Why St. Helens’ Halloween Party Is Still On

For a brief moment this week, it looked like one of Oregon’s biggest Halloween traditions might be getting a serious haircut.

Spirit of Halloweentown was facing possible cuts after a $350,000 shortfall emerged in St. Helens’ tourism and event funding just weeks before opening day. The issue stemmed from a budgeting miscommunication involving city tourism funds, which support Halloweentown along with other community events.

Witches? Fine. Ghosts? No problem. Municipal budgeting? Now we’re scared.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. On September 10, the St. Helens City Council approved transferring $250,000 from the city’s contingency fund and borrowing another $100,000 from its Community Development Fund to cover the gap. The move avoided cuts to Spirit of Halloweentown and allows the full celebration to move forward as planned.

And for Portland-area families looking for an easy fall day trip, that’s very good news.

Why St. Helens Is Halloweentown

If you’ve somehow made it this far in life without seeing “Halloweentown,” first of all, we admire your ability to avoid late-1990s Disney Channel programming.

The 1998 movie follows teenager Marnie Piper as she discovers that she comes from a family of witches and travels to a magical community appropriately named Halloweentown. St. Helens served as the backdrop for the magical town in the movie, and the city eventually embraced that connection in a very big way.

Every fall, downtown St. Helens transforms into the Spirit of Halloweentown, complete with its giant pumpkin, Halloween decorations, performers, movie references and enough costumes to make a trip to the grocery store afterward feel disappointingly normal.

This year’s event runs on select Saturdays and Sundays from September 26 through November 1. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each event day.

The 2026 dates are September 26-27, October 3-4, October 10-11, October 17-18, October 24-25 and October 31-November 1.

There’s A Lot More Than A Giant Pumpkin

Yes, the giant pumpkin is still there. Yes, you should probably take a picture with it. That’s basically required by Oregon law once October arrives.

But families can build an entire day around the festival.

The 2026 lineup includes a haunted house, Boo Bash Pavilion, pirate encampment, harvest games, a filming-location trolley tour and entertainment throughout the day. The Harvest Games Zone features activities like a hay maze and pumpkin bowling, while performers range from magicians and jugglers to the St. Helens Dancing Witches.

Each event day also ends with the pumpkin lighting at 8:30 p.m., giving families willing to stay into the evening one more reason to hang around downtown.

There are also costume contests scheduled during the weekends, which finally gives your child a legitimate reason to wear the $47 costume they will otherwise put on twice before suddenly declaring that they hate it.

Halloweentown Fans Get A Little Extra

The event isn’t simply Halloween-themed. St. Helens continues to lean into its Hollywood history, including appearances from actors connected to the original “Halloweentown.”

J. Paul Zimmerman, Emily Roeske and Phillip Van Dyke are currently scheduled to appear October 17-18, while Judith Hoag, who played Gwen Cromwell Piper, is scheduled for October 24-25. Celebrity appearances can change, so serious fans should check the official schedule before picking a weekend.

Photo opportunities with celebrity guests also require separate tickets and aren’t included with regular festival admission.

For kids who haven’t seen the movie, none of that is required homework. The festival works perfectly well as a giant Halloween celebration.

For parents who watched “Halloweentown” growing up, however, this may be your chance to pretend the outing is entirely for the children while quietly becoming much more excited about meeting someone from the cast than they are.

We won’t tell.

You Don’t Have To Buy A Ticket Just To Visit

Here’s one important distinction for families.

Walking around the plaza square, exploring downtown and checking out the food-vendor area is free. Tickets are needed for the package of festival attractions, which includes experiences such as the haunted house, Masonic Building attractions, Boo Bash Pavilion, Harvest Games Zone and filming-location tour. Children 5 and younger receive free admission to the ticketed attractions.

That means families can still drive up, enjoy downtown St. Helens, check out the decorations and soak up some Halloween atmosphere without necessarily turning the outing into an expensive all-day adventure.

Of course, “we’re just going to look around” remains one of the most dangerous sentences a parent can utter within 100 feet of food vendors and Halloween merchandise.

Plan Ahead For Parking

Parking may be the least magical part of Halloweentown, so this is worth planning before you pile everyone into the car.

Parking in St. Helens is extremely limited during the event because of street closures and other restrictions. The designated festival parking lot is at 451 Plymouth Street. Parking costs $25 per vehicle when purchased online, plus fees, or $30 at the event.

Arriving early is a good idea, and residential neighborhoods should be avoided.

One change for 2026 makes things a little easier. The designated parking area is close enough to the festival that visitors no longer need to take the shuttle used in some previous years.

In other words, buy parking early, leave Portland with some extra time and accept that thousands of other people have also decided that gigantic pumpkins sound like a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.

Is Spirit Of Halloweentown Worth The Trip?

For families who enjoy Halloween, absolutely.

Part of the charm is that this isn’t an event dropped into a convention center or parking lot. You’re visiting the actual Oregon town that became Halloweentown on screen, and St. Helens clearly understands the assignment. For several weekends, the whole downtown gets swept up in the celebration.

There’s enough to keep younger kids entertained without everything being terrifying, while older kids and adults get the movie nostalgia, haunted attractions and more elaborate Halloween atmosphere.

And considering that Spirit of Halloweentown briefly looked like it might have to scale things back this year, there’s an extra reason to make the trip.

Halloweentown has survived witches, warlocks, monsters and now a $350,000 tourism funding shortfall.

Frankly, at this point, we’re not betting against the giant pumpkin.

For the full 2026 schedule, tickets, parking information and celebrity appearances, visit the official Spirit of Halloweentown website.