4 halloween food, drink, and parties in Ankeny and nearby.
The Day of the Dead Drag Brunch in Montreal offers a ticketed, adult-focused celebration. For a free, outdoor experience closer to home, consider the Pumpkins & Pints Harvest Market in Ankeny.
Trick-or-treat in a historic 1876 town setting.
Five haunted houses and four scare zones for nighttime frights
Free wine tumblers for the first 300 attendees.
See all Halloween parties, events, and celebrations in your area.
Move fast sideways: the same night usually holds three comparable parties one tier less famous, and bars around the sold-out venue absorb the overflow crowd with no cover. Check for official resale or waitlist options rather than sketchy third-party tickets, since Halloween is peak fake-ticket season. Book the backup as soon as the first choice wobbles, not at 9 pm that night.
Decide the ride plan before the first drink: one sober driver with a named thank-you gift, or rideshares with a preset pickup pin a block from the venue, since surge zones at closing are chaos. Halloween Saturday surge pricing peaks 1-2 am, so leaving 30 minutes before close saves real money. Share live locations within the group until everyone's home.
Masks come off at every door, no exceptions, so plan your costume around that moment. Heavy face paint usually passes if your face still matches your ID, but full-coverage prosthetics can trigger a secondary check. Carry a physical ID, not a phone photo, keep it in the same pocket all night, and let the makeup half of a couple hold the tickets.