"The judging will be wrapped up by noon on Wednesday, October 28." That line from the Halloween Home Decorating Contest page sets the schedule for the whole month in Ladera Ranch. The Harvest Festival, the first Ladera Run for Hope and the teen haunted maze all fall inside the contest's two-week voting window. Decorating opens today, and that sets the order of everything else.
The Contest Dates
The contest guidelines lay out the timeline. Mid-October Saturdays work around it.
- October 1. Decorating your home and yard can begin. The guidelines call it a Wednesday, but October 1 falls on a Thursday this year.
- Wednesday, October 14. Last day to decorate before judging, and the day registration closes. Registration opened September 1.
- Thursday, October 15, through Wednesday, October 28. Entries go up on the interactive map at LaderaLife.com, where neighbors can browse the displays and vote for their favorites.
- Sunday, November 8. All decorations must be down by this date.
The stakes are friendly. First place gets a $150 gift card, second gets $100 and third gets $50, and the winners also get yard signs announcing their finish.
The rules show what kind of event this is. Decorations have to stay on your own property and out of pocket parks and off sidewalks. Only decor visible from the street counts, judging covers the exterior only, and in-person haunted houses are not allowed. That makes the contest something you see from the sidewalk, a drive-by and walk-by show that fits Ladera's village streets.
A Legacy Award honors homes that have won first place two or more years. These homes are no longer judged, but they stay on the map so the community can keep enjoying them. The current recipients are 15 Bainbridge Avenue and 175 Sklar Street. For anyone planning a route, those two addresses are the community's own picks for where to start.
Founders Park Gets the First Saturday of Voting
Voting opens on a Thursday. Two days later, on Saturday, October 17, the Harvest Festival takes over Founders Park at 28275 Avendale Blvd from noon to 3 p.m. The event has a confirmed 2026 date.
Founders Park may sound familiar for another reason. On Sundays it's the one big Ladera field the youth leagues don't book, as we covered in our look at why Founders Park stays open when the sports fields are booked from 7:30 a.m. On October 17 it becomes the community's Halloween stage instead.
The program includes music, games, crafts, photo ops, recreation program demos, food trucks and a beer garden run by Ten Mile Brewing. The schedule is tight, so it helps to know the times before you go.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 11:45 a.m. | Ticket booth opens |
| 12:00 p.m. | Event begins, Kids Market opens, costume contest registration opens |
| 1:15 p.m. | Kids Imagine Nation "Halloween Party" show |
| 1:45 p.m. | Costume contest registration closes |
| 2:15 p.m. | Costume contest judging |
| 2:30 p.m. | Ticket booth closes |
| 3:00 p.m. | Event concludes |
The costume contest has two kids' age groups, 0 to 6 and 7 to 12. Families with kids in both groups should register by 1:45 at the latest.
The Kids Market is the most homegrown part of the afternoon. The festival runs it with Kids Markets, and young entrepreneurs sell what they make, from handmade crafts, soaps and slime to inventions and neighborhood services. The listing pitches it as a head start on holiday shopping, which fits a festival held in the middle of a contest that ends just as the holiday calendar begins.
October 24 Runs From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The second Saturday of voting has an event at each end of the day.
It opens at Town Green, 28801 Sienna Pkwy, with the first Ladera Run for Hope, from 7 to 9 a.m. The Ladera Ranch Run Club hosts it with Ladera Ranch Community Services, known as LARCS, and proceeds benefit Breast Cancer Solutions. Runners and walkers are both welcome. The Eventbrite page lists the start and finish area opening at 6:30 a.m., a survivors celebration at 6:50 and the start at 7. Registration is on Eventbrite. Questions go to [email protected], and Katherine Harbison is the contact for sponsorships.
This is the run's first year, so it's the only event on the October calendar without a history. The club behind it is already part of the weekly routine. Its group run meets Thursdays at 6:15 a.m. outside Oslo Coffee Co. Oslo is a family-owned shop at 25642 Crown Valley Pkwy, Suite E1, in Mercantile West, open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily as of this week.
After the 9 a.m. finish, breakfast is easy to find nearby:
- Toastique, 27642 Antonio Pkwy, Suite H3, in Mercantile East. It had its grand opening in November 2025 and now serves espresso and all-day brunch from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
- Corky's Kitchen & Bakery, 27522 Antonio Pkwy, Suite P-1, open daily from 6:30 a.m.
- Bruegger's Bagels, 27702 Crown Valley Pkwy, Suite F3, open at 6 a.m. on Saturdays.
- Lola's Cafe, 1101 Corporate Dr., Suite A1, serving breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m.
- Paris Baguette, 25612 Crown Valley Pkwy, Suite L9, in Mercantile West, open from 6 a.m.
That evening, Oak Knoll Village Clubhouse hosts the Teen Leadership Council's Haunted Maze & Outdoor Movie Night, from 7 to 10 p.m., for students in grades 6 through 12. The movie is Hotel Transylvania. Teens get the maze first, then a 360-degree photo booth and free popcorn, candy and nachos, and they should bring a low-back chair for the screening. One line on the listing matters most for planning.
"This event sells out every year! Be sure to register as soon as enrollment opens."
So the same Saturday can start at Town Green before sunrise and end in a maze after dark, with the voting map still open in between. Four days later, judging closes at noon on October 28.
When One Map Closes, the Next Opens
The Halloween decorations have to be down by November 8. The holiday season follows the same format, with a contest window and in-person events set inside it.
The Holiday Decorating Contests run December 3 through 15 on an interactive map. They include categories for individual homes and a "Light Up Ladera" category for whole neighborhoods. The first weekend of that window is the busiest stretch on the holiday calendar.
- Monday, November 30, through Friday, December 11. Letters to Santa at Avendale Village Clubhouse, where children can leave letters for Santa to answer.
- Thursday, December 3, 4 to 7:45 p.m. Santa Visits at Heritage Farm on McGwire Road. The 4 to 4:30 p.m. slot is reserved for families with children with autism, special needs or disabilities.
- Saturday, December 5, 2 to 5 p.m. Winter Fest on Town Green, with a Kids Market, holiday activities and a display lighting at 5 p.m. Mercantile Way will be closed between Sienna Parkway and First Street from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.
- Sunday, December 6, 4 to 6 p.m. Menorah Lighting and Festival of Lights at Covenant Hills Clubhouse, 1 Covenant Hills Drive, with music, crafts, candle lighting and Hanukkah snacks.
The LaderaLife pages don't show publish dates. The weekdays on these holiday listings match the 2026 calendar, though the October 1 date in the Halloween guidelines shows they aren't always updated each year. The Mercantile Way closure is the most likely detail to affect plans, so check the Winter Fest page again in early December.
Back to October. Registration for the Halloween contest closes on Wednesday, October 14. The rest of the month's schedule is built around that date.
At The Bowen Team, we love seeing Ladera's front yards double as a community event every fall. If a few October walks past those yards have you wondering what your own Ladera Ranch home is worth, you can get an instant home valuation any time. Our Ladera Ranch neighborhood page has more on the villages behind those front lawns.
