Carve out some time for spooky season with transit
Witch way to the party?
Use transit to make your Halloween season as spook-tacular as possible! We've collected a graveyard of events you can use transit to get to and they are scattered throughout this page. Some are free, some have a fee, and some require registration ahead of time. Make sure to visit the website of each event for details. Have a fang-tastic time!
Creepin' it real.
Like vampires, we know that finding a parking spot for your car can be a pain in the neck. Magical for you, we have several FREE Park & Ride lots across the city.
Spooky season travel tip
You can increase your trip planning options or travel further by making sure to check off, "Bike to transit" — Rack & Roll. With this year-round program, you can bring your bike, your scooter, or even your broomstick, aboard all of our buses and trains.
Pumpkinfest
Saturdays and Sundays between 10 am and 5 pm: From now until Sunday, October 27
"Our farm is transformed into a giant Halloween playground. Bring a picnic and come join us for a ghostly gathering in a country setting..." Activities include: face painting, hay structures, tree house and slides, corn field mazes, wagon ride through the mysterious forest, petting farm, pumpkin picking, and more! Visit the Proulx Farm website for details.
How to get to Proulx Farm (1865 O’Toole Rd. Cumberland, Ontario K4C 1N2):
Rack & Roll to Innes/Valin, then bike over: south on Innes (2 km), left on O'Toole (500 m). The farm entrance will be on your right.
If you've got it, haunt it!
What a great time for little ghouls and boils in Ottawa this Halloween season when kids get treats and Kids go free! If you're 12 years old or younger, you can take OC Transpo buses and trains for FREE all day, everyday. Don't look like a kid because now you're a gourd-geous pumpkin wearing a witch hat? We recommend getting a child card.
For all the mummies and deads, or broom-mates aged 13 years or older: on weekends and holidays, you can ride together with the 2-for-1 DayPass. What an eerie-sistible deal!
Spooky season travel tip
Candy and chocolate bars cannot be used to pay fare. However, they are a nice way to show your Bus Operator how much you appreciate them!
Travelling on a weekday? Forgot your Presto? Don't have exact change? No more witchful thinking. You can tap your debit or credit card with O-Payment.
Spooky games, magic, crafts, and party
Dates and times: To be announced
Awesome Halloween: "Dance the spirits away, play spooky games, and enjoy a spellbinding magic show by Ian Quick."
A Halloween Party for Monsters of All Ages!: "Dress up in your best monster duds and celebrate Halloween at this boo-tifully silly party! Fun activities for families with young children ages 3 to 8."
Handmade Fun: Spooky Halloween Crafts: "Join in some terrifyingly good family fun by making scary or silly popsicle-stick crafts, which you can use to decorate your home for Halloween."
Canadian Museum of History: 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau, Québec, K1A 0M8
Easily haunt between Gatineau and Ottawa as all passes and transfers (except O-Payment) are scary acceptable on Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) and OC Transpo!
Travel on the fright side.
OC Owl may dress up as Dracula, but they sure don't suck! As our resident night owl and public safety ambassador for Transecure, OC Owl also wants you to travel safely!
Spooky season travel tip
Don't trick yourself and get a boo-boo by rushing for a bus or train — another one is on its way. What ghost around, comes around!
Pumpkins After Dark
Thursday, October 10 to Thursday, October 31
"Explore the magical pathway of lit pumpkin sculptures and displays, with music, sounds and special effects. With classic Halloween characters, dinosaurs and dragons, movie and pop culture icons – this family friendly event has something for everyone." Visit the Pumpkins After Dark website for tickets and details.
Safe Stops: After 7 pm you can ask the bus operator to let you off the bus along the route closer to your destination.
Night Stops: After 9 pm, wait at night stops. They are centrally located, in well-lit open areas (to scare away the ghosts, demons, and vampires). They are also close to emergency call boxes or payphones.
The Hunter's Moon
Wednesday, October 16 after sunset
Look up! There's not exactly a specific location for this, but it's still something worth taking the time to witness. As the first full moon after the autumnal equinox (September 22), this one will be larger and oranger than usual.
What makes it larger and oranger? The Hunter's Moon is the fourth (and last) moon for 2024 that orbits very close to the Earth. They call this a supermoon.
Why is it called the Hunter's Moon? It was a sign for hunters to prepare for the winter and because of the time of day (or night) it appeared, it allowed for plenty of bright light to hunt. It's the perfect thing to forshadow the trick or treating monsters of October 31.
Are you ready to hunt the Hunter's Moon? Once the sun sets in the east or southeast is a great time to view, but try to find somewhere that is open and clear of buildings or trees. The moon will be at its fullest at 7:26 am on Thursday, October 17.
Bat's all folks!
If you reach a dead end and can't phone home like E.T., our customer service team is always there. Howl at us: 613-560-5000.