Spooky Season Fun in Ankeny's Original Neighborhood

If you’re visiting Uptown Ankeny, the shopping and dining district nestled around SW 3rd Street where the city of Ankeny was born, you’ll notice the edges of the leaves on our shade trees are just starting to change. Venture further into the heart of our neighborhood, and you’ll start to notice that this place takes spooky season seriously.

Halloween-Themed Events in Uptown Ankeny

Don’t get me wrong, we love summer in Uptown Ankeny: putting on the farmers’ market for our city and surrounding areas each week, welcoming summer cyclists and community members to relax on the many superb patios in our neighborhood and enjoying lazy shopping days in our retail stores are all big parts of Uptown’s identity. But when it comes to the holidays, our Uptown Ankeny Association and Uptown businesses go all-out with decorations, attractions and events to celebrate with our community and help create holiday memories for our visitors.

First up on the Uptown Ankeny Spooky Season must-do list is our Fright Lights attraction, which includes a dozen Halloween-themed light displays, lit each night from Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 until Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. This collection of displays is designed to be viewed as you walk, cycle or drive through Uptown and is completely free to enjoy. We encourage you to do some shopping, grab a bite or a drink and end your evening strolling through these bewitching displays.

Once our Fright Lights attraction goes up, the countdown to Halloween In Uptown begins! This year’s event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 from 4 – 8 p.m. along SW 3rd and SW Maple Streets in Uptown Ankeny. Halloween In Uptown is our biggest event of the year, during which visitors can enjoy four blocks of trunk-or-treating, a DJ dance party and a costume contest, plus more frightening fun around every corner! Check-in for the costume contest will be from 4 – 6 p.m., and you can find the check-in booth on the Uptown Ankeny Association’s office lawn at 601 SW 3rd Street (corner of 3rd & Cherry). Costume contest winners will be announced at 7 p.m. and must be present to win.

Each Friday in October, the Uptown Ankeny Outdoor Cinema will host a different Halloween movie from our Spooky Series in the Uptown Garage Brewing & Porch Light Coffeehouse Backyard. Movies begin at 7:30 p.m. and lawn chairs and blankets are welcome, but outside alcohol is not allowed. Luckily, if you’d like to partake or are looking for a non-alcoholic beverage, Uptown Garage Brewing is on site to take care of those needs. We always end the Uptown Ankeny Outdoor Cinema with The Nightmare Before Christmas, which both fills our spooky cup and simultaneously gets us starting to look toward the winter holidays ahead.

2024 Spooky Series Lineup:

• Oct. 4: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Oct. 11: Addams Family Values
• Oct. 18: Scooby Doo (2003)
• Oct. 25: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Whether you enjoy family-friendly events with your kids, or prefer one-of-a-kind shopping and dining experiences, we hope to see you for some scary good times in Uptown Ankeny this October! For more information, please visit our website: uptownankeny.org.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership calendar of events is a one-stop resource for activities taking place throughout the region. Find networking information for Greater Des Moines (DSM) businesses, including Chamber luncheons, roundtables and ribbon cuttings. You can also find live music happening each week thanks to the “Live Music This Week in DSM” blog series.

The holiday season is the perfect time to shop local in Greater Des Moines (DSM). Support local businesses, creators and makers across the region. You can find ideas on where to shop using the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s #DSMlocal Guides and other regional business directories listed here. Don’t miss the Holiday Promenade each year, when you can skate at Brenton Skating Plaza, shop local businesses, see Santa and attend a downtown tree lighting!