Inverness's trick-or-treat window opens at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, and closes at 7:00 p.m. Sunset in the Chicago area that day is 5:45 p.m., and civil twilight ends at 6:14 p.m. That puts the last 46 minutes of trick-or-treat in full dark. Hours later, at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, Daylight Saving Time ends and the clocks go back an hour. Sunday is also the last day of the fall festival season at Goebbert's in South Barrington.
So this is the last weekend of fall here, and it's built on a schedule. Inverness has no downtown to set the pace, so the weekend is a handful of fixed times spread across North Park, Crabtree Nature Center, Palatine and South Barrington. If you know those times, you get the whole weekend. If you don't, you can easily end up at the wrong place an hour too late.
Friday, 6:00 p.m. Has Two Starts
The one Halloween event Inverness hosts itself is the Inverness Park District Trunk-or-Treat. It runs Friday, October 30, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at North Park, 300 N. Highland Road. Admission is free, and the Park District asks families to register ahead of time. You can register through the Park District's program catalog, which lists the event as 2026 Trunk or Treat.
At the same minute, the Forest Preserves of Cook County opens its Owl-oween Bash at Crabtree Nature Center, 3 Stover Road. That one runs from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. with a jack-o'-lantern walk, campfire stories and costumes encouraged. It's free, but registration is required, and you sign up through the nature center at 847-381-6592.
The two start together but they don't end together. The Trunk-or-Treat wraps at 7:00, and Crabtree keeps going for two more hours. A family can do the hour at North Park and still get to the campfire with most of the Owl-oween evening left. It only works if you're registered for both before Friday, since both organizers ask for sign-ups.
For older kids or adults, Friday has two other options on the same timetable. Palatine Park District's Broadway Bound performs Cooking Can Be Murder from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, 150 E. Wood Street. Tickets are $10. Rolling Meadows Park District's Spooky Skate at Nelson Sports Complex holds its Friday session from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday Morning Belongs to Palatine
Saturday's main event is late in the day, which leaves the morning open. Palatine Park District fills it with its Halloween Party, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Community Center, 250 E. Wood Street. Tickets are $10 per child and $1 per adult. Pre-registration is required, and both adults and children have to register.
That 1:00 p.m. end time leaves two hours before trick-or-treat opens. Rolling Meadows also runs a Saturday Spooky Skate from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. Come in costume and admission is $5, and skate rental adds $4.
Saturday, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., in Four Villages at Once
Inverness's neighbors picked the same trick-or-treat hours this year:
- Inverness: Saturday, October 31, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., per the Village of Inverness notice posted September 23
- Palatine: Saturday, October 31, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., the Village-recommended hours
- Barrington: Saturday, October 31, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., throughout the Village, per the Village of Barrington
- South Barrington: Saturday, October 31, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., as the mayor announced in the October 2 message
Inverness's streets run right up to its neighbors' borders, and families who visit grandparents or friends a few blocks over may cross a village line without noticing. Matching hours mean the window is the same on both sides. It also means the whole area winds down at the same time. Porch lights across all four villages go off on the same schedule, and the window can't be stretched by heading to the next town.
The Village is giving out Halloween door signs at Village Hall, 1400 Baldwin Road, and you can also download one from the Village site.
Everything Turns at 5:45 p.m.
Here's how the four-hour window breaks down once you add Saturday's light:
| Time on October 31 | Light conditions | Share of the window |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 to 5:45 p.m. | Daylight | 2 hours, 45 minutes |
| 5:45 to 6:14 p.m. | Civil twilight after sunset | 29 minutes |
| 6:14 to 7:00 p.m. | Dark | 46 minutes |
Most of the window is in daylight. The last 75 minutes are the part to plan for. That's when the Inverness Police Department's reminders matter most. Costumes should be brightly colored or reflective so trick-or-treaters are easy to see. An adult should check every treat before anyone eats it. Throw out unwrapped treats, and check wrappers for signs of tampering.
The table also suggests a simple plan. Little kids who do best in daylight can do their rounds between 3:00 and 5:45, then be home handing out candy as it gets dark. Older kids who want the jack-o'-lantern hour will be out in the dark stretch, and that's when reflective gear and a flashlight are worth having.
Sunday, 2:00 a.m., and the Last Day at Goebbert's
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, November 1, and clocks go back one hour. Everyone gets an extra hour of sleep after a late Saturday, and Sunday's sunset comes about an hour earlier on the clock than Saturday's did.
That earlier dark lands on the last day of the season at Goebbert's South Barrington Fall Festival. The festival runs through November 1 and is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and no tickets are sold after 5:30 p.m. Weekend admission is $27 at the gate or $24 online, plus a 45-cent village amusement tax on each ticket. Buying online saves a family of four $12 before the tax. With the clocks changed, the 6:00 p.m. close will feel much later than it would have the weekend before, so an early-afternoon visit gets the most daylight out of the ticket.
If Goebbert's sounds like too much on a tired Sunday, Rolling Meadows' last Spooky Skate session runs from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., with the same $5 costume admission.
What's Still Open After the Weekend
Halloween weekend closes the festival season, but a few things carry on. When Goebbert's cafe and activities close for the season, the Fall Market stays open through November 25. That leaves most of November for a last stop at the market. Crabtree Nature Center's calendar continues with a free Veterans Day program, "Plants in the Military," on Wednesday, November 11, at 10:00 a.m.
Inverness's next village gathering is Hometown Holiday on Friday, December 4, listed in the Park District's catalog alongside the Trunk-or-Treat. For a sense of what the rest of the year looks like in a village without a downtown, see our earlier Inverness August guide to the corridors and preserves around it, or the Inverness neighborhood page.
If this weekend has you thinking about where your family wants to spend future Halloweens, or you're wondering what your Inverness home is worth heading into the winter market, Ashlee Fox knows these streets block by block. Request a free market consultation, and we'll walk through the numbers with you.
