The Johnston Brief
Two things trip up newcomers to Johnston every year: the fact that kids here tell a joke before you hand over the candy, and the fact that "when is trick-or-treat" has an unusually complicated answer. Here's the plain guide to Halloween and the Christmas-lights season around Johnston, plus the local traditions worth knowing.
Johnston and the Des Moines metro moved trick-or-treating to Halloween itself (Oct. 31) starting in 2025, ending the old night-before Beggars' Night. Metro hours were 6 to 8 p.m. in 2025, and they're set yearly, so confirm with the city. Kids still tell a joke for candy. For lights, Jolly Holiday Lights at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and Reiman Gardens in Ames are both a short drive away.
Johnston now trick-or-treats on Halloween night, October 31, and in 2025 the metro window was 6 to 8 p.m. For decades the Des Moines area did it differently: trick-or-treating happened on Beggars' Night, October 30, the night before Halloween, until Johnston and most metro cities ended that tradition and moved to Halloween night starting in 2025.
Because the date and hours are set each year by the city, always confirm the current schedule with the City of Johnston before Halloween rather than assuming. We post the confirmed time each October in the weekly Johnston Brief and on the events calendar.
If a costumed seven-year-old stands on your porch and says "knock knock" before reaching for the bowl, you're experiencing the most charming piece of Des Moines-area Halloween. The joke-for-a-treat tradition goes back to Beggars' Night's origins in 1938, when the custom started as a way to steer Halloween energy away from vandalism. Kids once sang songs or recited poems; over the years it became telling a joke. Even now that trick-or-treating has moved to Halloween night, the joke custom lives on, and it genuinely surprises people who move here from anywhere else.
Once the kids age out of trick-or-treating, the metro has a real haunted-house scene a short drive southeast into Des Moines. These are genuinely scary and built for older kids, teens, and adults, not little ones. Dates and hours change every year and most run only on fall weekends, so confirm the current season before you go.
Sleepy Hollow Haunted Scream Park (4051 Dean Ave, Des Moines), about 25 minutes from Johnston, is Iowa's biggest, running 30-plus years, with 10-plus attractions on one site plus food vendors. Typically open fall Thursday through Sunday evenings, cash only with ATMs on site.
Linn's Haunted House (3805 6th Ave, Des Moines), roughly 15 to 20 minutes away, is one of the oldest in the metro, open since 1984: a pitch-black, crawl-through, suspense-over-gore classic on fall weekend nights.
Want the daytime, family version instead? The Johnston pumpkin patch guide has the corn mazes, hayrides, and apple orchards.
Johnston doesn't have a single famous light street, but plenty of neighborhoods put on a show every December, and two of the metro's biggest displays are a short drive away:
Dates and prices shift year to year, so confirm before you load up the car. For the full rundown, see our Christmas lights near Johnston guide, and for more cold-weather ideas, our winter in Johnston guide.
Central Iowa has a few choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms within a short drive of Johnston. They hand you the saw; you handle the debate over which one is "the one." Most run weekends from just after Thanksgiving into mid-December, and some let you tag a tree earlier in the fall. Call ahead or check current hours, because a good farm sells out of the big trees fast.
THE Christmas Tree Farm (near Maxwell, northeast of the metro) lets you tag a tree in the fall and come back to cut it after Thanksgiving, with snacks and drinks on site. Howell's Tree Farm (Cumming, southwest of Des Moines) has 50 acres and thousands of evergreens, from the same family barn you may know from fall. Deal's Orchard (Jefferson, northwest) does cut-your-own or pre-cut trees with an Apple Barn, Santa's sleigh, and hot cider.
Prefer pre-cut and easy? Local lots and garden stores stock trees through December too.
The Johnston Brief is a free weekly email. Every October we run the confirmed trick-or-treat hours, and every December the lights are on the list. Local, useful, no spam.
Halloween and the holidays are the headliners, but the town keeps a full calendar year-round: Green Days and its fireworks in June, the farmers market through the warm months, and more. See the full Johnston events calendar, our guide to Fourth of July fireworks, and things to do in Johnston any time of year.
Johnston and the rest of the Des Moines metro moved trick-or-treating to Halloween itself, October 31, starting in 2025, ending the old night-before Beggars' Night tradition. In 2025 the metro hours were 6 to 8 p.m. Times are set each year, so confirm the current date and hours with the City of Johnston before Halloween.
Beggars' Night was the Des Moines-area custom, dating to 1938, of trick-or-treating on October 30, the night before Halloween, where kids traditionally tell a joke before getting candy. The tradition began as a way to curb Halloween vandalism. In 2025 metro cities, including Johnston, officially moved trick-or-treating to Halloween night itself.
Telling a joke to earn candy is the signature Des Moines-area tradition, and many Johnston kids and neighbors still do it. Even with trick-or-treating moving to Halloween night, the joke-for-a-treat custom remains a beloved local quirk that surprises newcomers.
Johnston neighborhoods light up through December, so a slow evening drive is worth it. For the big shows, Jolly Holiday Lights is a drive-through display at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that benefits Make-A-Wish Iowa, about a 20 to 25 minute drive, and Reiman Gardens in Ames runs a ticketed walk-through with more than 150,000 lights, about 35 minutes north.
Jolly Holiday Lights, the drive-through display at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, has run about $25 per car in recent years, with $1 of every ticket going to Make-A-Wish Iowa. Confirm the current price and dates before you go, as it typically runs from late November into early January.