On the last Saturday in October, the Museum of the City of New York does something a little unusual for an institution devoted to the city's past: it hands the galleries over to children in costumes. Spooky City: Faces and Places of NYC, the museum's annual family Halloween festival, runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 1220 Fifth Avenue. It is included with museum admission, and children must be accompanied by an adult throughout; this is not a drop-off program.
The premise is simple and, for a history museum, quietly clever. Rather than cordoning off the exhibitions for a party, Spooky City turns the permanent collection into a puzzle. The day's centerpiece is Code Breakers: An MCNY Gallery Mystery, aimed at ages 9 and up, in which families follow a set of clues through the entire museum to solve five history-inspired riddles. A scavenger hunt sends younger visitors through the galleries to learn about New York City history and popular culture, gathering treats along the way. The 2026 program also includes storytelling, live African dance and drumming, and a Monster Mash dance party with DJ Stormin' Norman, plus complimentary popcorn and candy.
The craft tables, open from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., are built around the city itself. Children can assemble three-dimensional foam spiders from pipe cleaners, googly eyes and pom-poms; decorate a blank Halloween treat bag with fabric markers and stickers; design a wearable mask from blank forms, washi tape and markers; and, in Build Your Haunted City, cut and paste a spooky skyline, neighborhood or imaginary haunted metropolis out of construction paper and patterned scraps. A costume contest, which requires its own registration, rounds out the afternoon.
The event's name, Faces and Places of NYC, points at the museum's own collection. The festival is framed as an invitation to discover "the many faces and places of New York through creativity and imagination." The program is presented in connection with the MCNY Kids Art Studio, the museum's drop-in art space for children ages 3 and up, where activities change monthly and kids can take their work home or leave it on display for other visitors. The Kids Art Studio's regular Saturday session is cancelled on October 31, 2026, because Spooky City takes over the building that day.
Spooky City has become a fixture on the museum's calendar, though it has changed shape from year to year. The 2025 edition ran in the evening, from 3 to 7 p.m., with a scavenger hunt, trick-or-treat bag making, leaf prints inspired by the trees of Central Park, harvest games like cornhole and ring toss, and a "Grave" Etching activity that explored the symbols and icons carved into New York City's historic gravestones.
The 2026 lineup is the most performance-heavy yet, largely because of its DJ. Stormin' Norman, born Norman McHugh, grew up in East London and has been a Harlem resident for decades. He came up in the WBLS 107.5 FM "Thunderstorm" DJ collective, the group credited with bringing live mixing to daytime radio, and his sets went on to fill New York's top clubs; Time Out Magazine named him a top NYC DJ. In 2008 he founded the Sundae Sermon Music Festival, which began with him and friends setting up turntables in Morningside Park so they could bring their children along, and which grew into a beloved uptown institution now held in St. Nicholas Park. He has explained the name as a reflection of his approach to playing music: "playing music from the heart is like a spiritual experience; it's like going to church." Stormin' Norman is no stranger to the Museum of the City of New York, either. He has spun the museum's free summer Uptown Bounce series, including a 2026 House x Disco edition that turned the building into a dance floor with sets spanning disco favorites, soulful house and anthems drawn from the city's nightlife culture.
That is the particular pleasure of Spooky City: a Halloween party that is also a lesson in how New York has celebrated, dressed up and danced for a century. Families who arrive at 11 can build a spider, solve a mystery in the galleries, take a turn on the runway and still be home before dark. Admission is included with museum tickets, and the museum notes that children and neighbors in zip codes 10029, 10035 and 10037 are always admitted free to its family programs.