On Saturday, October 17, Fox Lake Parks & Recreation held the 2026 Pumpkin Jubilee at Lakefront Park. Libertyville Recreation partnered on it again, and families could ride the Metra Milwaukee District North Line up from Libertyville on the Halloween Express. The event had 25 vendors, pumpkins from Von Bergen's Country Market at $4 each, and a halftime show from the Grant Community High School Marching Band and Color Guard. Before the event, Jennifer Kuhn, Fox Lake's Director of Parks & Recreation, told the Daily Herald that it was "exactly the kind of event we want at Lakefront Park: families outside together, community partners involved, and people discovering Fox Lake."
The Jubilee started the stretch of the year when the village itself runs the calendar. From now until mid-December, the Police Department, Public Works, the Fire District and Parks & Recreation each host something, and the events move around town. The next one is at the police station on Route 59. After that come your own block, a bus route between local bars, Millennium Park on Rollins Road, and finally back to Lakefront Park. If you know which address goes with which date, you can plan the next eight weeks.
Five dates, five places
| Date | Event | Where | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Oct. 26 | Halloween Howl | Fox Lake Police Department, 301 Illinois Route 59 | 4 to 7 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Village trick-or-treat hours | Neighborhoods across Fox Lake | 4 to 7 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Fox Lake Fall Crawl | Check-in at the Fox Lake Community Center, then by bus | Noon to 4 p.m. | $35, or $10 designated driver |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Festival of Lights Parade and Visits with Santa | Millennium Park, 6 Rollins Rd. | 5 to 7 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Santa's Workshop and Kris Kringle Market | Lakefront Park, 10 Riverview Ave. | 1 to 3 p.m. | Free |
Four of the five are free. The one that charges admission is also the only one that doesn't stay at a single address.
The police station hosts first
The Halloween Howl is Monday, October 26, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Fox Lake Police Department, 301 Illinois Route 59. The listing names three hosts: the Village Police Department, the Public Works Department and the Fire District. Admission is free, and the activities are touch-a-truck, trick-or-treating and a scavenger hunt.
That host list explains the touch-a-truck. The departments that bring their trucks are the ones that drive them around Fox Lake the rest of the year, so kids get to climb on the same vehicles they see on the street. It also falls on a weeknight in late October, early enough that it doesn't compete with the weekend of Halloween.
The weekend itself belongs to the neighborhoods. Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the Village of Fox Lake has designated Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. as the official trick-or-treat window. The Howl ends at 7 p.m. on Monday, and trick-or-treat hours end at 7 p.m. on Saturday, so families can do both inside the same three-hour window on two different days.
The one event that travels
A week later, the calendar moves to the bars. The Fox Lake Fall Crawl runs Saturday, November 7, from noon to 4 p.m. The village's 2026 listing sets a $35 participant ticket and a $10 designated-driver ticket. The ticket page says check-in runs from 11 a.m. to noon at the Fox Lake Community Center, and attendees then travel between stops by bus. It also says participating locations will be announced on social media, and ticket holders will get the details by email the week of the event.
The ticket price is up from last year. In 2025, a Visit Lake County weekend roundup listed the crawl at $30 with trolley transportation from Jones Charter. The 2026 ticket costs $5 more. The $10 designated-driver ticket means a driver can come along for less than a third of the full price.
The 2026 stops haven't been announced yet. For reference, the village's 2025 listing named these participating businesses:
- 50K
- Black Lung Brewery
- J's Clubhouse
- Johnny's Cafe
- El Puerto's
- Moretti's
That is last year's lineup, and the 2026 stops could be different. The 2025 list still shows the scope of the event. It covers a brewery, a Mexican restaurant, a cafe and neighborhood bars across town, and it takes a bus to connect them in four hours. The Jubilee drew people to one park. The crawl does the opposite and spreads them across the village's own businesses on a November Saturday, when the Chain O'Lakes crowds are gone.
The parade heads to Rollins Road
Three weeks after the crawl, the calendar moves to Millennium Park. The Festival of Lights Parade and Visits with Santa is Saturday, November 28, the weekend after Thanksgiving. Admission is free, and Parks and Recreation is the listed contact. The listing gives the evening in three parts:
- 5 to 6 p.m. The parade steps off at Grant Community High School and travels to Millennium Park, 6 Rollins Rd.
- 6 p.m. Tree lighting, with performances by the Grant Community High School Choir and the Merry Maskers.
- 6 to 7 p.m. Visits with Santa.
The listing doesn't give a street-by-street route. If you want to watch from the curb, the reliable fixed points are the start at Grant Community High School and the finish at Millennium Park. Grant students turn up at both ends of the season. The marching band and color guard played the Pumpkin Jubilee in October, and the choir sings at the tree lighting in November.
Because the evening starts at 5 p.m. in late November, the parade runs after dark.
December brings it back to the lakefront
The season ends where it started. Santa's Workshop and Kris Kringle Market is Saturday, December 12, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Lakefront Park, 10 Riverview Ave. Admission is free. The listing includes cookie decorating, Santa visits, holiday crafts and the Kris Kringle Market, with Parks and Recreation as the contact. It's the only free event of the five that ends before dark, so it's the easiest one to bring small kids to.
Lakefront Park also matters because of the Metra station. The village pointed out in October that the station is a short walk from the park, which is why the Halloween Express worked. Out-of-town relatives who visit in December could take the train to the market.
The village has a larger project planned for this park. In December 2024, Fox Lake announced a $600,000 state OSLAD grant for an ADA-compliant pier and boardwalk at Lakefront Park and gave spring 2026 as the estimated completion target. The project has changed since then. The August 12, 2025 Village Board agenda included a motion to reject all proposals for the pier and boardwalk design-build project. The August 26, 2025 agenda then listed a resolution to approve IMEG for design, permitting and bidding services on the project. Village Board agendas are the place to watch for the next step.
Why the order matters
Taken together, the five events show how Fox Lake runs its off-season. Each department hosts on its own ground. The police and fire crews hold an evening at the station, the village sets the trick-or-treat hours for everyone's street, local bars share the crawl, and Parks & Recreation runs both parks. Admission is free at four of the five, and the paid one sends its ticket money to Fox Lake businesses on a slow November Saturday.
For planning purposes, three of the dates are fixed now and two need a quick check closer to the day. Halloween Howl, the Festival of Lights and Santa's Workshop have set times and addresses. Before November 7, look for the Fall Crawl venue list on the village's social media. Before December 12, check the Parks and Recreation contact for the Kris Kringle Market vendors.
I'm Bradley Fox, and I keep track of the Chain O'Lakes towns all year, including the months when nobody is on the water. If you have questions about Fox Lake or the communities around it, or you want to know what's happening near a particular street, Bradley Fox is a quick message away. Let's Connect.
