Halloween in Lahaina: Costumes, Contests, and Spooky Fun.

On Saturday, cars will drive down Front Street on Halloween for the first time since the fire. The road reopened to vehicles on Aug. 1, from Pāpalaua to Shaw, with new pavement, railings, sidewalks and trees along the makai side. The County announced that change in a July 17 release, and Hawaiʻi Public Radio confirmed a week after the date that the road had reopened.

No street-wide celebration has been announced for this year: no closure, no costume crowd filling the road between the banyan and the harbor. West Maui's Halloween this year is a set of scheduled events at Kāʻanapali, the Cannery, Honokōwai Beach Park and two Front Street restaurants. Most of them start within the same hour. For a family with keiki in costume, the real question is which 5 p.m. to pick.

The reopening covered traffic, and a street party has always needed more

The July release reopened Front Street "with no regularly restricted hours." It also said Market Street, Papelekane Street and Mokuhinia Place would stay closed during the state's dredging of Lahaina Harbor, and that temporary construction closures could still happen as the commercial district rebuilds. Fencing still runs along the mauka side and around off-limit areas, and the County asks people to stay out of fenced-off areas.

The street party depended on permits even before the fire. A Civil Beat column from November 2023 recalls that the County denied street-closure permits in 2008 for everything except the keiki parade, and that the closures and the large party came back later. The same column described Halloween 2023 as the first in living memory without Lahaina town, with Front Street quiet, empty and dark. Last November, a longtime Lahaina visitor site updated its Halloween page to say the party would have to wait until the town is rebuilt.

Since the fire, Halloween has moved to places that could host it. In 2024, Hawaii News Now reported on Lahaina residents bringing trick-or-treating back to a neighborhood that survived, so keiki would have a place to gather. In 2025, Lahaina Strong held its second Halloween Mākeke at Ka Laʻi Ola as a family gathering, Maui Now reported. This year's calendar follows the same pattern: shopping centers, a beach park and individual restaurants each run their own event, each on its own clock.

Saturday, Oct. 31, by the clock

Put the West Maui listings side by side and the day has a clear shape. It starts at lunch, gets crowded at 4, peaks at 5 and goes late.

Three events open at 4 p.m. Two costume contests start at 5. One of the two Front Street events, Coco Deck's, has already crowned its keiki winner by then. If you've been planning a single walk the way Front Street Halloween used to work, the day doesn't run that way this year.

The 5 o'clock choice

At Whalers Village ʻOhanaween, you don't sign up. Roaming judges look for costumed keiki during the afternoon and invite some of them into the 5 p.m. contest. At 5:30, everyone is invited to join the costume parade. The trick-or-treat route runs through the center's stores and restaurants, including Hula Grill, Leilani's On The Beach, Hilo Hattie, Honolulu Cookie Company, Café Jai, JJ Tacos, Maui Divers Jewelry, Na Hoku, Swell Soda Company and Cool Cat Express. The center lists support from the Kāʻanapali Operations Association and Pilikahakai Foundation.

At the Lahaina Cannery Halloween Spooktacular, the contest has categories, which matters if you have more than one child or plan to dress up yourself. The divisions are Keiki 0–2, Keiki 2–5, Keiki 6–10, and ʻOhana & Adults. Spiderman photos run from 4 to 6 p.m., and face painting and balloon twisting from 4 to 7 p.m.

The two centers stop at very different times, and that may settle the question. Whalers Village ends at 7 p.m. The Cannery keeps trick-or-treating going until 9 and has a band until 10:30. One way to do both: Whalers Village for the 5 p.m. contest and the 5:30 parade, then the Cannery for a second round of trick-or-treating and Espresso Band Maui. The Cannery's event summary lists 4 to 11 p.m., while its heading and event details say 10:30. The listed activities finish by 10:30.

Honokōwai Beach Park is the third option and the least commercial one. Hana Kokua's free event lists trick-or-treat stations, kendama, community art, costume contests and movies after dark. The listing's calendar entry shows 4 to 5 p.m., even though its description promises movies after dark, so if you're planning on the movie, check with Hana Kokua first.

If you're stopping at Whalers Village anyway, a few Halloween deals come with it. Cool Cat Express is taking 20% off food and drinks for kamaʻāina with a valid Hawaiʻi state ID. Hilo Hattie has 15% off apparel on Oct. 31. Hula Grill is serving a Halloween Hula Pie.

The two Halloween events still on Front Street

For anyone who wants Halloween on Front Street itself this year, two restaurants about a block apart are holding it, at very different hours.

Coco Deck's Halloween Tailgate Party at 1312 Front Street is the daytime version: football on the screens, cornhole, wing specials and the restaurant's monster mascots. The keiki costume contest takes check-ins from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Staff judge it, the winner is announced at 4 p.m. and must be present, and the prize is Trampoline Park passes. Because Coco Deck finishes its contest before the shopping centers start theirs, a costumed kid could enter at Coco Deck and still reach a 5 p.m. contest. Coco Deck has been open since its September 2024 grand opening, Maui Now reported, so this is its third Halloween on the street.

Māla Ocean Tavern's Día de los Muertos party at 1307 Front Street is the late version. It runs from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., the kitchen serves food until midnight, DJ Skinnie, also known as DJ Flaco, plays, and tickets are $18 presale or $25 at the door. On the parking question, Māla's own site sends diners to its lot or to Lahaina Cannery Mall parking, not to residential parking along Front Street. Since the Cannery's band plays until 10:30, a night could start with trick-or-treating at the Cannery and end at Māla after the keiki are home.

Between those two restaurants, much of the old Halloween stretch is still being rebuilt. Kimo's has announced it will return to Front Street at the Chan Wa Building, but in July Maui Now reported that construction and opening plans were still to come.

Before Saturday

A few events fall on the days before Halloween.

• Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation's free Hawaiian Music Series has Ikaika and Bodi Mendez on the Waiola Church lawn. The foundation's calendar doesn't list an event of its own on Oct. 31.
• Friday, Oct. 30, in Olowalu. Maui Paintball's Halloween Haunted Hunt runs its last night at $22 per person. The operator says there's no Oct. 31 session, and times are on its booking page.
• All week at Whalers Village. Cariloha Bamboo has 30% off everything through Oct. 31, and Honolulu Cookie Company's Halloween Treat Box is available through the 31st.

The next big date on Front Street comes after Halloween. The County has set the grand opening of ʻUlu o Lele Marketplace for Tuesday, Nov. 10, and says individual shops may open later as they're ready, according to a County release posted Oct. 21.

If you're figuring out how a West Maui weekend fits together for your own ʻohana, or you're an off-island owner who'd like to know what your neighbors are up to this season, I'm always happy to talk story.