Halloween Programming Revealed At The South Street Seaport Museum

South Street Seaport Museum has revealed a full roster of Halloween-inspired events throughout the month of October to celebrate the 2024 spooky season. Visit the Seaport Museum this October for family fun and Halloween activities! seaportmuseum.org/halloween

HalloWeekend Neighborhood Celebration

October 26 | 11am-5pm | Free General Admission

Get ready for all treats and no tricks as the Seaport Museum comes alive with Halloween fun! From 11am to 5pm on Saturday, enjoy free General Admission to the Museum, which will be packed with festive activities for all ages. Throughout the day take part in the sailors' superstitions spooky scavenger hunt throughout the 1885 tall ship Wavertree, and try your hand at pumpkin or gourd decorating inspired by maritime scrimshaw techniques, while supplies last. You can even BYOP--bring your own pumpkin--to decorate if you have a special pumpkin in mind! And, from 2pm to 4pm, venture into the captain's saloon for a tarot card reading. Readings are first come, first served. Plus, during the all-ages Seaport Kids x Halloween Block Party on Seaport Square, stop by the Seaport Museum's table to make paper chain decorations and create your own spooky Halloween card with stamps inspired by the printing collection at Bowne & Co. The block party is hosted by Mommy Poppins, Brooklyn Bridge Parents, and the Seaport. Don't miss out on this frightfully fun day! While we encourage pre-registration, we warmly welcome walkups to join in the Halloween fun.

HalloWeekend Aboard Wavertree

October 27 | 11am-5pm | Pay What You Wish General Admission

The Halloween fun continues on Sunday from 11am to 5pm with Pay What You Wish General Admission to the Seaport Museum! Step aboard Wavertree for a spooky scavenger hunt through sailors' superstitions and descend into the cargo hold to experience a Halloween-inspired soundscape that adds a seasonal touch to the ship's expansive interior. Continue the haunting creativity with Halloween paper chain decorations and card-making activities. Try your hand at the October Sailors Scrimshaw family activity using recycled plastic, or bring your own pumpkin to carve to add a spooky, maritime twist to a traditional jack o'lantern. Pre-registration is encouraged for General Admission, but walkups are always welcome to join in the festive family fun!

Trick-or-Treating

October 31 | 4-6pm | Free

On Thursday for Halloween evening, stop by the introduction galleries at 12 Fulton Street and Bowne & Co. Stationers at 211 Water Street to show off your costume and get your treats! From 11am to 5pm, the Museum will be open for you to enjoy Pay What You Wish General Admission and continue the Halloween fun with the October Sailors Scrimshaw activity, paper chain making, and card crafting. Feel free to bring your own pumpkin for more festive fun! All Museum spaces and Bowne & Co. will close at 5pm with trick-or-treating continuing outside at the entrance. No registration is needed for trick-or-treating-just drop by in your best costume!

Get More Halloween Fun at the Seaport Museum Throughout the Month

Halloween Origami Folding and Letterpress Printing

October 12 | 12-2pm | 207 Water Street | Free

Embrace spooky season and unleash your creativity at Bowne & Co.'s Halloween-inspired drop-in workshop on Saturday, October 12, 2024, from 12pm-2pm, at 207 Water Street, NYC. Admission is free, and pre-registration is encouraged, but walk-ups will be accommodated as possible. Visit anytime between 12pm and 2pm for a free hands-on experience in crafting origami bats, and other spooky folded-paper creatures, along with Halloween-themed paper chains. For an extra thrill, skilled Bowne designers will be on hand to guide you through crafting your own letterpress-printed broadside posters using a 19th century printing press from the Seaport Museum's working collection. seaportmuseum.org/halloween-crafts

Sinister Secrets of the Seaport

Ongoing | Lower Manhattan | $30-$40

Spooky season is upon us! Now is the perfect time to get your ticket to join a 90-minute walking tour that will take you on a winding journey that unravels the darker past of the South Street Seaport Historic District and Lower Manhattan. This entertaining tour tells the scandalous, dubious, and sinister tales lurking in the cobblestone streets, historic buildings, and waterfront. Throughout the tour, your guide will share historical stories ripped from the headlines of newspapers and publications from the 1790s to the 1990s that provide a new perspective on the history of the area that helped to make New York a global metropolis. You'll also be able to test your "Ear for Crime" in an interactive game throughout the walk, which even has a prize for the winner at the end of the tour. Registration is required for this Halloween treat. seaportmuseum.org/sinister-secrets

Seaport Museum Book Club: The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice by Alex Hortis

October 28 | 6:30pm | 207 Water Street | Free

Sign up today to join the Seaport Museum for the October session of the Seaport Museum Book Club, which will take place at 207 Water Street instead of McNally Jackson Seaport. This month, we will be reading The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice.

Independently, we will read the first narrative history about the dueling trial lawyers, ruthless newsmen, and shameless hucksters who turned the Polly Bodine case into America's formative tabloid trial. At the end of the month we will come together to discuss how this became an origin story of America's addiction to sensationalized reporting of criminal trials and how The Witch of New York vividly reconstructs an epic mystery from Old New York-and uses the Bodine case to challenge our system of tabloid justice of today. seaportmuseum.org/bookclub