Three Great Things to Do Downtown This Weekend

Celebrate Halloween at Navy Pier

Come down to Navy Pier this weekend for an assortment of Halloween-themed activities. There’s a haunted house — mega-scary in the evenings, lights on and low-scare in the daytime — zombie hunting, 500-pound pumpkin carving and a costume contest Saturday, at 3 p.m for kids and 7 p.m. for adults 18 and over.

Get an old-fashioned scare

The Music Box Theater is screening a new 35mm print of the 1953 movie War of the Worlds on Sunday. Before the show, a University of Chicago professor will play excerpts of Orson Welle’s War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which scared the bejeezus out of the entire country 75 years ago this Halloween. The event starts at 1 p.m. Tickets, for $10, are available here.

Bring your kids to the movies

The 30th annual Chicago International Film Festival kicks off on Friday and runs through Nov. 3. It’s the largest children’s film fest in North America, describing itself as showcasing, “the best in culturaly diverse, non-violent, value-affirming new cinema for children, and is one of the only Academy Award qualifying children’s film festivals in the world.” You can check the schedule of screenings here. There are also workshops for kids. Movie tickets are $6 for kids, $9 for adults. Or get a bargain with the $40 family pass.