Fall Fest and Halloween — Palm Bay, Florida

The Palm Bay Recreation calendar lists two Halloween-season events for 2026: the Trail of Terror on Saturday, October 24, from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, and Fall Fest on Saturday, October 31, from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Both appear on the City of Palm Bay Recreation events list, where the Trail of Terror carries the subtitle The Legend of Turkey Creek and Fall Fest is described as a free event celebrating the fall season (Palm Bay Recreation events). The same list fills the rest of the Palm Bay fall with free ranger-led tours of Turkey Creek Sanctuary and one paid evening program in November.

October 24 is the busiest day on the Palm Bay list. The Puerto Rican Day Parade and Multicultural Festival runs from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM that Saturday, and the Trail of Terror opens at 6:00 PM the same evening (Palm Bay Recreation events). Fall Fest follows a week later on Halloween night itself, which in 2026 falls on a Saturday.

Palm Bay Fall Fest is a free evening festival with trunk-or-treat, a costume contest, spooky hayrides, food and craft vendors, music and games, according to Mayor Rob Medina's October 2026 Mayor's Message.

The October 2026 message sets the 2026 Fall Fest at Fred Poppe Regional Park on Saturday, October 31, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM, and calls it a free community event with trunk-or-treat, a costume contest, spooky hayrides, food and craft vendors, music and games for all ages (October 2026 Mayor's Message). The program has stayed close to the same shape for several years. The October 2025 message described a free family-friendly event with food and craft vendors, a costume contest, trunk-or-treat and spooky hayrides (October 2025 Mayor's Message), and the October 2024 message listed vendors, food vendors, a costume contest, trunk-or-treat, spooky hayrides, music, crafts and games, adding that Fall Fest is free to attend (October 2024 Mayor's Message).

The Palm Bay date moves with the calendar. In 2026 the city scheduled Fall Fest at Fred Poppe Regional Park on October 31, while in 2024 and 2025 it ran on the last Saturday before Halloween: October 26, 2024 (October 2024 Mayor's Message) and October 25, 2025 (October 2025 Mayor's Message).

Palm Bay Fall Fest is held at Fred Poppe Regional Park, the city park at 1951 Malabar Rd NW that also contains the Ted Whitlock Community Center.

The City of Palm Bay gives the park address as 1951 Malabar Rd. NW and places the Ted Whitlock Community Center inside Fred Poppe Regional Park (Palm Bay Recreation holiday events). The Palm Bay rentals page lists the Ted Whitlock Community Center at the same address, with a large meeting room, small meeting room, kitchen and gymnasium, and a phone number of (321) 952-3231 (Palm Bay Recreation rentals).

Fred Poppe Regional Park has been the Fall Fest site in every year covered by the city sources reviewed here. The 2023 festival was reported to the Recreation Advisory Board as the annual Fall Fest held at Fred Poppe Regional Park (Recreation Advisory Board minutes, November 7, 2023), and the Mayor's Messages for 2024, 2025 and 2026 all name the same park (October 2026 Mayor's Message).

Palm Bay Fall Fest has run each October since at least 2023 at Fred Poppe Regional Park, and the 2023 festival drew 5,000 attendees, according to Recreation Advisory Board minutes.

Recreation Department Director Fred Poppe told the Palm Bay Recreation Advisory Board on October 3, 2023 that Fall Fest would be held on October 28 (Recreation Advisory Board minutes, October 3, 2023), and the November 7, 2023 report recorded that the annual Fall Fest at Fred Poppe Regional Park had 5,000 attendees that year (Recreation Advisory Board minutes, November 7, 2023). The City of Palm Bay Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023 says the Recreation Team brought back their Annual Fall Fest event, alongside the Turkey Creek 5k Trail Run (Palm Bay ACFR fiscal 2023, page 13).

No later Palm Bay headcount was found, but the November recaps describe growth. The November 2024 Mayor's Message called that year's Fall Fest even bigger than the year before, with the most vendors and attendees the city had ever had (November 2024 Mayor's Message), and the November 2025 message used the same words for 2025 (November 2025 Mayor's Message). The 2024 festival ran 5 to 9 PM on Saturday, October 26 (October 2024 Mayor's Message), and the 2025 festival ran 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Saturday, October 25 (October 2025 Mayor's Message).

The Trail of Terror is a City of Palm Bay Halloween event listed for October 24, 2026, under the subtitle The Legend of Turkey Creek, and the city calendar gives its time but no further detail.

The Recreation events list shows Happy Halloween Trail of Terror from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM that Saturday (Palm Bay Recreation events). The subtitle shares its name with Turkey Creek Sanctuary, part of the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands program, which covers 130 acres, was established in 1981, and has a 1.85 mile boardwalk through hydric hammock, mesic hammock and sand pine scrub (Palm Bay Turkey Creek Sanctuary). Public access and parking for the sanctuary are at the Margaret Hames Nature Center by the Tony Rosa Community Center, 1518 Port Malabar Blvd. NE, and the sanctuary is open daily from 7 AM until sunset or when posted.

Turkey Creek Sanctuary also carries the quieter Palm Bay fall programs. Ranger-led tours run on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month from 10 AM to 11 AM, covering about 1 to 1.5 miles of boardwalk and trail (Palm Bay Turkey Creek Sanctuary), and the fall 2026 list includes free tours on October 18 and November 1, plus a Fall Owl Prowl on November 15, priced at $10 per person for ages 12 and up, for which the listing names no venue (Palm Bay Recreation events).

Halloween programming has also moved between Palm Bay venues. In 2023 the Recreation Department Director reported that a Halloween event would be hosted by the Palm Bay Aquatic Center on October 21, a week before that year's Fall Fest (Recreation Advisory Board minutes, October 3, 2023).

The Town of Malabar holds its own Malabar Fallfest on October 24, 2026, the same Saturday as the Palm Bay Trail of Terror and the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The Town of Malabar describes its Fallfest as an evening with trunk-or-treat hosted by residents, a vendor fair and the Haunted Lair, with vendor booths at $25 and free booths for businesses located in Malabar that hold a Malabar Business Tax Receipt (Town of Malabar Fallfest). Malabar is a separate town, so its event is not on the City of Palm Bay calendar.

Inside Palm Bay, the October 2026 Mayor's Message describes the 29th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade and Festival on October 24, hosted by U.T.B. United Third Bridge, Inc., stepping off at 10:00 AM from Turner Elementary School and traveling north on Emerson Drive and west on Malabar Road to Palm Bay City Hall, 120 Malabar Road SE (October 2026 Mayor's Message).

Last verified: October 13, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay Recreation events list and the October 2026 Mayor's Message.