The Waukee Brief
Two things trip up newcomers to Waukee 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" changed recently. Here's the plain guide to Halloween and the Christmas-lights season in Waukee, plus the local traditions worth knowing.
Waukee moved trick-or-treating to Halloween itself (Oct. 31) starting in 2025, ending the old night-before Beggars' Night. In 2025 the hours were 6 to 8 p.m. Times are set yearly, so confirm with the city. Kids still tell a joke for candy. For lights, the big shows are a short drive away: Jolly Holiday Lights at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and the Reiman Gardens walk-through in Ames.
Waukee now trick-or-treats on Halloween night, October 31, and in 2025 the city's 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. The Waukee City Council moved the event to Halloween night starting in 2025 after a resident survey drew more than 1,200 responses that strongly favored the change.
Because the date and hours are set each year by the city, always confirm the current schedule with the City of Waukee before Halloween rather than assuming. We post the confirmed time each October in the weekly Waukee 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 traces back to Beggars' Night's origins in the late 1930s, 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 about 25 to 30 minutes east in 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) is one of Iowa's biggest, with multiple attractions on one site plus food vendors, typically open fall Thursday through Sunday evenings.
Linn's Haunted House (3805 6th Ave, Des Moines) is one of the oldest in the metro: a pitch-black, crawl-through, suspense-over-gore classic on fall weekend nights.
Want the daytime, family version instead? The Waukee pumpkin patch guide has the corn mazes, hayrides, and apple orchards.
Waukee neighborhoods light up in 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. Our full holiday-lights guide has the details, and for more cold-weather ideas see the winter in Waukee guide.
Central Iowa has a few choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms within a short drive of Waukee. 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.
Howell's (Cumming, about 20 minutes south) is a metro classic that does Christmas trees along with its fall pumpkin patch. Deal's Orchard (Jefferson, about 45 minutes northwest) does cut-your-own or pre-cut trees with an Apple Barn and hot cider. Prefer pre-cut and easy? Local lots and garden stores around Waukee stock trees through December too.
The Waukee 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: the Independence Day Celebration and fireworks at Centennial Park in July, the Waukee Arts Festival, the farmers market from spring to fall, and more. See the full Waukee events calendar, our guide to Fourth of July fireworks, and things to do in Waukee any time of year.
Waukee holds trick-or-treating on Halloween night itself, October 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. The city moved the event to Halloween night starting in 2025, ending the old October 30 Beggars' Night, after a resident survey drew more than 1,200 responses that favored the change. Times are set each year, so confirm the current date and hours with the City of Waukee before Halloween.
Beggars' Night was the longtime Des Moines-area custom of trick-or-treating on October 30, the night before Halloween, where kids traditionally tell a joke before getting candy. Waukee and most metro cities moved trick-or-treating to Halloween night, October 31, starting in 2025, but the joke-for-candy tradition carries on.
Telling a joke to earn candy is the signature Des Moines-area tradition, and many Waukee kids and neighbors still do it. Even with trick-or-treating moving to Halloween night, the joke-for-a-treat custom remains a local quirk that surprises newcomers.
Two of the metro's biggest displays are a short drive from Waukee: Jolly Holiday Lights, a drive-through show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines (about 25 to 30 minutes east) that benefits Make-A-Wish Iowa, and the Reiman Gardens walk-through in Ames (about 40 minutes north). Confirm current dates and prices before you go.
Howell's in Cumming, about 20 minutes south of Waukee, and Deal's Orchard in Jefferson, about 45 minutes northwest, both offer choose-and-cut or pre-cut Christmas trees. Most tree farms run weekends from just after Thanksgiving into mid-December, so call ahead or check current hours before you go.