When Wicked West Fest debuted in 2017, Westmont's communications director summed up the idea in three words: the fall calendar needed "one brand." The phrase describes a shared identity for Westmont's existing fall programs. Wicked West Fest is not a single festival with one gate, one ticket, or one planning committee; it brings together programs run by several organizations, each with its own arrangements.
For Westmont residents planning to attend, the details vary by event: the Haunted Forest Tour has its own location, library events have their own requirements, and some activities charge an entry fee. Checking those details before you go can help with planning.
How Wicked West Fest Took Shape
Before 2017, Westmont already ran a scarecrow contest, a haunted hayride, and a downtown trick-or-treat event every October. They just had no shared identity. That year, the village put out a call for suggestions, collected more than 40 name ideas from residents, and landed on Wicked West Fest, paired with the tagline "The Nightmare Before Holly Days." The goal, as the village described it at the time, was to gather everything already happening under one recognizable umbrella so it would read as a season rather than a scattering of unrelated events.
The village brought the existing programs together under the Wicked West Fest name, while the park district, library, and Chamber continued to run their own events.
Who Is Actually Running What
This is the part a generic "things to do in October" roundup skips, and it's the part that actually matters if you're planning your weekends. Six different organizations own separate pieces of the fest, each with its own registration process, fee structure, and point of contact.
Event | Who runs it | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
The Last Straw | Westmont Park District | Gregg House Museum, 115 S. Linden St. | Most activities free; scarecrow-making has a nominal materials fee |
Haunted Forest Tour | Westmont Park District | Diane Main Park, 200 W. 59th St. | $8 per person, separate time blocks for younger kids and scarier evening tours |
Scarecrow Decorating Contest | Westmont Chamber and Westmont Historical Society | Downtown Westmont | Community voting decides the winner |
Trick-or-Treat Trail, Costume Contest, Caskets on Cass | Westmont Special Events Corp and the Chamber | Cass Avenue | Costume contest is free; casket race requires a team entry fee |
Mummy Luminary, Mini Pumpkin Painting | Westmont Public Library | 428 N. Cass Ave. | Registration required |
Haunted Pancake Breakfast | Westmont Lions Club | KC's, 25 N. Cass Ave. | $8 for adults, $5 for children and seniors |
Zombie Pub Crawl | Westmont Special Events Corp | Multiple downtown bars | 21-and-over, ticketed, separate from every family event on this list |
There is no single Wicked West Fest pass; admission and registration arrangements vary by event.
The One Date Already Confirmed for 2026
Most of this year's specific dates weren't locked in as of this writing, but one piece of the puzzle already is. The Westmont Park District has The Last Straw scheduled for Sunday, October 4, 2026, at the Gregg House Museum, the same low-key opener that's kicked off the season in past years.
That location deserves a second look, because it's not the generic "historic house" backdrop it might appear to be in event photos. The Gregg House was built in 1872 by William L. Gregg, a brick manufacturer who put up his own Second Empire Victorian using the first batch of bricks his new company produced. The house survived Gregg's brief three years in it, decades as a farmhouse, a restaurant, a speakeasy, a funeral home, and a convent for Holy Trinity Catholic Parish nuns. By the 1970s it was slated for demolition. The Westmont Area Historical Society formed in 1976 specifically to save it, physically moved the structure one block to its current spot on park district land in 1977, and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
So when your kids are decorating pumpkins and panning for gold on the museum lawn this October, they're standing on a building that was almost torn down twice before the village decided it was worth saving. That's a different kind of backdrop than a rented barn.
What Changes Every Year, and What That Tells You
The fest looks static from the outside, but the individual pieces shift more than most residents realize. The Haunted Forest Tour used to run through Twin Lakes Woods; in recent years it moved to Smith Woods inside Diane Main Park. Admission climbed from $6 in 2017 to $8 in the most recent seasons, a modest increase but a real one if you're budgeting a family outing across several ticketed stops.
The Zombie Pub Crawl ran in the early years, disappeared for stretches, and returns for 2026 with two routes for participants to choose between, including stops at Johnny's Blitz, DJs Sports Bar & Grill, and The Uptown Tavern. Westmont Special Events Corp organizes the event, while the park district and library run their own October programs.
How the Events Are Organized
Westmont Special Events Corp, the nonprofit behind Taste of Westmont, Cruisin' Nights, the Zombie Pub Crawl, and the Muddy Waters Blues Museum collection, operates as an all-volunteer board handling more than 75 events a year. The organization is currently searching for a new headquarters and needs to vacate its current space by early 2027, with requirements of roughly 500 square feet of office space and 400 square feet to store the Muddy Waters exhibit.
The participating organizations run separate events under the Wicked West Fest name. Their schedules, registration, fees, and locations vary by event.
Planning Your October Without a Single Gate to Walk Through
The practical upshot for anyone living here: treat Wicked West Fest as a directory, not a ticket. A few things worth knowing before you build a weekend around it.
- Library events require advance registration. If you want the Mummy Luminary craft session or Mini Pumpkin Painting, call or register online ahead, since walk-ins aren't the model there the way they are downtown.
- Most Cass Avenue events are free and drop-in. The Trick-or-Treat Trail, Scarecrow Decorating Contest voting, and Costume Contest don't require tickets, just showing up.
- The Haunted Forest Tour and Haunted Pancake Breakfast both charge admission, and both have separate contact numbers if you need details, since neither is handled by the village directly.
- The Caskets on Cass race needs a team and an entry fee arranged in advance through the Chamber, not something you can join same-day.
- If you're 21 and interested in the Zombie Pub Crawl, that's a separate ticketed event from everything family-oriented on this list, run by Westmont Special Events Corp on its own registration page.
Because the events are organized by different groups, check the details for each event before you go.
Knowing how a place actually runs, down to which nonprofit owns which Tuesday night event, is the kind of familiarity that only comes from paying attention year over year. It's also the same instinct behind good real estate guidance: understanding not just what a neighborhood looks like on paper, but how it actually functions week to week. If you're weighing a move in or around Westmont and want that same level of on-the-ground knowledge applied to a home search, the team at McCurry Homes has been paying attention to these blocks for a long time. Start your meaningful move whenever you're ready.