The Pumpkin Walk at the Langley Demonstration Garden

The first Pumpkin Walk, on October 30, 2021, was meant to be a modest end-of-season party for the garden. LEPS staff carved more than 50 pumpkins, lined the paths with them and capped the evening at 200 people because the garden is small. It sold out, and the organisers said afterwards they had not expected it to be anywhere near that popular.

It has come back since. We found it again on a Saturday in 2024 and over two nights in 2026, both times by donation.

What it is

A slow wander along the winding paths of the Demonstration Garden after dark, past carved jack-o’-lanterns, lights and the odd spooky surprise. It is pitched at families: jack-o’-lanterns and eerie lighting rather than jump scares. In 2024 LEPS added a short lesson on nocturnal animals and a bat craft, and costumes have been encouraged every year.

When it happens

It runs in the evening, 6 to 8 pm, in the last stretch of October:

• 2021: Saturday, October 30
• 2024: Saturday, October 26
• 2026: Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24

This year: the 2026 walk is over. LEPS has not posted a date for 2027. In past years the date surfaced in early to mid October (the 2021 announcement ran on October 12), so start watching the garden’s Instagram and the Hey Langley events page at the start of the month.

What it costs

Admission is by donation. In 2021 LEPS asked people to bring money or a non-perishable food item for Langley’s food banks, and the night raised $400 plus plenty of donated food. The 2026 listing doesn’t say where donations go, so ask at the gate if that matters to you.

Getting there and parking

The garden sits inside the Derek Doubleday Arboretum. LEPS describes it as on the north side of the 21200 block of Fraser Highway, between Old Yale Road and 216 Street. There is a free parking lot at the arboretum and toilets on site, according to the Township.

Tips for going

• Light. Take a flashlight or headlamp for every member of the group who can hold one. The garden is not lit like a park path.
• Strollers. LEPS stresses the paths are narrow. A compact stroller or a carrier will be easier than a wide double.
• Dogs. LEPS hasn’t said whether dogs are welcome at the walk. Email the garden before you bring one.
• Rain. The 2021 walk went ahead rain or shine, and the whole thing is outdoors.
• Something warm. In the first year the organisers suggested bringing a hot drink for the walk round.

How it started

The Demonstration Garden is older than the walk by almost three decades. The Township set it up in 1992 on 221 Street in Murrayville to show sustainable gardening (composting, native plants, saving water), with LEPS running it. In the fall of 2012 LEPS salvaged what it could from the old site for the move to the arboretum, and LEPS says the garden has been in its permanent home there since 2013. It is open year-round and staffed on weekdays from May to August. The Pumpkin Walk began in 2021 as the garden’s season wrap-up and grew from there.

Other Halloween things in Langley

• Langley haunted house map: decorated houses, yard displays and scare walks, on one map built by neighbours.
• Halloween in Langley: Township activities, Grave Tales at the fort and the fireworks rules.
• Greater Vancouver Zoo: the zoo runs Boo at the Zoo on Halloween for kids in costume.
• Community gardens in Langley: if the Demonstration Garden makes you want a plot of your own.
• Langley’s annual events, month by month.

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