The Big Events Happening in Long Beach in October 2026
Three events anchor the month, and two of them share a weekend.
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor (September 18 to November 1)
Dark Harbor returns for its 13th season, running select nights from September 18 through November 1 at the Queen Mary (1126 Queens Highway). This year’s lineup includes six mazes, among them the new Shipwrecked: Brace for Impact and a reworked version of Big Top Terror. New for 2026 are an Alien Abduction ride and blacklight bumper cars, plus the returning Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse and Breakout: Maximum Security mazes.
Tickets start at $50.99 and pricing changes by night, so weekends run higher than weeknights. Parking on the Queen Mary property requires a Preferred Parking pass bought in advance; general parking is off site with a shuttle. Buy tickets and parking ahead of time if you’re going on a Friday or Saturday, since those nights sell out first.
2XU Long Beach Marathon Weekend (October 9 to 11)
The 42nd annual Long Beach Marathon takes over downtown and the waterfront for three days. The Race Expo and packet pickup run Friday, October 9 from 1 to 7 PM and Saturday, October 10 from 10 AM to 4 PM, both at the Long Beach Convention Center’s Hall C (400 E Seaside Way), a new location for 2026.
Saturday morning brings the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K, starting at 6:50 AM at the aquarium itself. Sunday, October 11 is race day for the marathon (5:30 AM start) and half marathon (7 AM start), both starting at Shoreline Drive and Shoreline Village Drive and finishing near Marina Green. The Finish Line Festival runs 7 AM to 1 PM Sunday at Marina Green, with a Michelob Ultra beer garden, food trucks, and photo ops.
Organizers expect close to 28,000 runners this year. The full marathon is already showing sold out on the official site, so if you want to run, check runlongbeach.com now for whatever distances still have openings.
Japanese Classic Car Show (Saturday, October 3)
JCCS marks its 21st year at Marina Green Park, 9 AM to 3 PM. Every car on the lawn was built before 1995, and this year’s poster features a Toyota Crown Wagon, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Honda Civic, and Datsun 521 pickup. The Japanese Classic Motorcycle Show runs alongside it. It’s a walkable, family-friendly morning right on the waterfront, and it lands the same week the marathon expo sets up nearby, so plan parking accordingly if you’re doing both.
Halloween Events Worth Planning Around
Halloween in Long Beach isn’t a single night. Here’s how the month actually breaks down.
Shoreline Village Zombie Walk and Halloween Party (Saturday, October 17)
This free, family run tradition returns to Shoreline Village starting at 4 PM. The kids area runs 4 to 7 PM with a DJ, yard games, a bounce house, face painting, and a balloon artist. For adults, there’s a costume contest and a pie eating contest, and the Zombie Walk itself kicks off at 8 PM along the boardwalk. It’s a different event from the old ticketed Long Beach Zombie Fest that used to run at Rainbow Lagoon; this one is free, community run, and centered on Shoreline Village.
Trick or Treat on 2nd Street (Saturday, October 31, 4 to 6 PM)
Belmont Shore’s long running Halloween tradition has participating businesses along 2nd Street hand out candy to trick or treaters. Look for the jack o’lantern signs in storefront windows. Chase Bank runs a photo booth for the neighborhood’s Instagram contest, and most families follow it up with dinner at one of the Shore’s restaurants before heading home.
El Dorado Frontier Pumpkin Patch
El Dorado Frontier, inside El Dorado East Regional Park (7550 E Spring St), runs its 7th annual pumpkin patch on weekends starting in late September. Hours are 11 AM to 5 PM the first couple of weekends, then extend to 11 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays and Sundays starting October 11. General admission is $5, and kids 13 and under get in free with a pumpkin fun pass. Beyond the pumpkins, there’s a train ride, a carousel, mine buggies, gold panning, and a scavenger hunt. Regional park parking runs $8 on weekends, and the entrance is off Spring Street, not the Nature Center side of the park.
Fall Flavors: Oktoberfest in Long Beach
Long Beach’s German beer scene stretches its Oktoberfest season across most of the month. Rasselbock Kitchen and Beer Garden (4020 Atlantic Ave, Bixby Knolls) taps its ceremonial keg on September 19 and keeps the celebration going with live music, stein holding contests, and Paulaner and Weltenburger on tap through October 31.
For a single day event, Long Beach Beer Lab (518 W Willow St, Wrigley) combines its 9th anniversary with an Oktoberfest bash on Sunday, October 11 from noon to 5 PM. It’s free, all ages, and includes bounce houses and face painting for kids alongside the beer.
Free Things to Do in Long Beach in October
Several of October’s best events don’t cost anything to attend. The Zombie Walk and Halloween Party at Shoreline Village is free start to finish. Trick or Treat on 2nd Street is free, aside from whatever you spend on dinner afterward. The Long Beach Marathon’s Finish Line Festival is free to attend even if you’re not running, and so is watching the race itself from anywhere along the course, including the beach path and Ocean Boulevard.
Bluff Park, Shoreline Village’s boardwalk, and the Naples Island canals are all still free to walk in October, and the weather is often the most comfortable stretch of the year for it. For more options, see our full Free Stuff To Do category.
Family-Friendly Stuff to Do in October
The Aquarium of the Pacific hosts its 22nd annual Southeast Asia Day on Saturday, October 17, from 9 AM to 5 PM. The festival is included with general admission and features live music, dance, and craft demonstrations from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, with performances scheduled roughly every 45 minutes throughout the day. That’s the same Saturday as the Shoreline Village Zombie Walk, so families splitting the day can do the aquarium in the afternoon and the Walk’s early kids programming that evening.
El Dorado Frontier’s pumpkin patch and the Shoreline Village Zombie Walk’s early kids programming are both built for younger kids specifically, with costumes optional at the pumpkin patch and encouraged at the Walk. If your family is watching the marathon rather than running it, Marina Green on Sunday morning is an easy, stroller friendly spot to catch runners crossing the finish line.
For a deeper list of evergreen family options, our Top 25 Things to Do in Long Beach covers the year round favorites.
Frequently Asked Questions About Long Beach in October 2026
Is Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor happening in 2026?
Yes. Dark Harbor is back for its 13th season, running select nights from September 18 through November 1, 2026, at the Queen Mary. Tickets start at $50.99 and vary by night, with weekend dates priced higher and selling out first.
Is the Long Beach Marathon sold out for 2026?
The full marathon distance is showing sold out on the official race site as of this writing. Runners interested in the half marathon or the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K should check runlongbeach.com directly, since availability by distance can change closer to race weekend.
Is the Zombie Walk at Shoreline Village happening this year?
Yes, it returns Saturday, October 17, 2026. The free kids area opens at 4 PM, and the Zombie Walk itself starts at 8 PM. This is separate from the larger, ticketed Long Beach Zombie Fest that used to run at Rainbow Lagoon Park in past years and is not currently operating.
What’s the weather like in Long Beach in October?
October in Long Beach typically runs mild, with highs in the mid to upper 70s and cooler mornings and evenings, especially near the water. It’s usually one of the driest, sunniest months of the year, which is part of why so many outdoor festivals stack up during it.
Is Long Beach worth visiting in October?
October is one of the better months to visit. The weather holds up, summer crowds thin out, and the calendar is full without the peak season prices of July and August. Dark Harbor alone draws visitors from across Southern California, and Marathon Weekend brings tens of thousands more.
Plan Your October 2026 Long Beach Trip
If you only have one weekend, October 9 to 11 is the heaviest stretch, with the Marathon Expo, the Aquarium 5K, race day, and JCCS all within a few days of each other. If Halloween is the priority, build your trip around October 17 for the Zombie Walk and October 31 for Trick or Treat on 2nd Street, and use Dark Harbor to fill whatever night in between works for your schedule.
For more on what’s coming to the city long term, see our Long Beach Olympics 2028 guide, and catch last month’s roundup in our May 2026 events guide if you’re planning further ahead. For year round event coverage, browse our Events category.