Spooky fun begins Thursday across Anderson County

October 21, 2026 by G. Chambers Williams III

Halloween activities are set to begin this week in Anderson County, including events scheduled in Clinton, Norris, Rocky Top and Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host the Children’s Halloween Party on Thursday (Oct. 22) from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

This 44th annual event is expected to draw hundreds of children and their parents,

Activities will be held throughout the western fields of A.K. Bissell Park, including a hayride, weather permitting. Parking is available at the west parking area near the Recreation Center and on the east side near the Oak Ridge Library at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

To help ensure a smooth event, the west side parking area will be filled first. Traffic in front of the Recreation Center will flow in one direction exiting onto the Turnpike from the east side parking area.

• One of the most-popular local events, the sixth-annual Norris Halloween Trail will be held from 3:30-6 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 24, starting outside the Norris Community Center at 20 Chestnut Drive.

It’s described as a spooky tour for kids through the woods around the Norris Disc Golf Course, which is next to the Community Center.

This mild hike with Halloween-style decorations, treats and “spooky fun” will include more than 20 “stations” where kids can stop for an activity, including such spots as the “Haunted Doghouse.”

Kids are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes. There will be treats available, as well as food trucks in the parking lot.

Advance registration is required for the Halloween Trail, and can be done through the Norris Recreation Commission’s Facebook page or at NorrisHalloweenTrail.Eventbrite.com. The event is free, but space is limited.

There were more than 500 participants and volunteers on the trail last year, the Recreation Commission said in a recent Facebook post.

“We are looking forward to providing another exciting and safe way to enjoy Halloween for children of all ages,” the post said. “The concept is that the kiddos will walk along the trail and be greeted by a ‘host’ at a variety of ‘treat stations’ along the trail. Children will receive candy or a special goody at each of these stations.”

• Clinton’s annual Trick or Treat event will be held from 2-5 p.m. this Sunday (Oct. 25) in the Clinton Community Center.

This is a free event in which children of all ages can come to collect a bag full of candy, play in bounce houses, bowl, have family photos taken, and eat some snacks. The event is hosted by the city.

• Scary music, and treats will be offered at the free Oak Ridge Community Band Halloween Concert at A.K. Bissell Park beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The organizers say those attending the event should bring the children’s Halloween buckets, along with chairs or blankets for outdoor seating.

There will be treats for the kids during intermission, and everyone is encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes for this entertaining event, an announcement said. Band members will be in costumes, too.

“The concert program is chock full of creepy, spooky, hair-raising, and goose-pimply tunes, such as ‘Bandoween,’ written by a ‘plethora of men, all dead,’” the announcement said.

“Other ghostly music to be performed includes Erika Swanoe’s ‘The Haunted Carousel,’ Robert Sheldon’s ‘The Phantom of Dark Hollow,’ and Gounod’s ‘Funeral March of a Marionette.’

“As an extra delight for the audience, narrator and tenor vocalist Brian Ensign will sing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Music of the Night’” from ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ accompanied by the band.”

The commission is still seeking “commissions, civic organizations, local businesses, school organizations, sport teams, families or individuals that would like to host a treat station along the trail.

• In Rocky Top, several local churches have joined to set up a Halloween “trunk-or-treat” event to be held from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the George Templin Memorial Field.