Cutler Bay Halloween Spooktacular: A Golf Cart Halloween Parade Near Me

The Town of Cutler Bay holds its annual Halloween Spooktacular from 5 to 9 pm on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Cutler Ridge Park, 10100 SW 200 Street, and the main event is a decorated golf cart parade that loops 4 miles through the neighborhood. For South Dade families typing halloween parade near me, this is the one where the floats are golf carts, with a costume contest, trunk or treat, inflatables, food trucks and a live DJ back at the park.

The Spooktacular did not start with carts. In a 2021 report by FIU's Caplin News, a Cutler Bay parks and recreation staffer said the town had hosted the event for 10 years, and that it began as a haunted house for children. The parks department kept adding attractions, and the same report described a costume contest and a trunk or treat in the park parking area alongside the parade.

The golf cart parade was added around 2017 with only a handful of entries, according to that report. By 2021 the turnout broke records: a longtime resident told the reporter there was usually one line of carts on the soccer field before the start, and that year there were 10. Cutler Bay is a golf cart town, and neighbors now spend weeks building skeleton carts, pumpkin carts and LED-lit rigs to outdo one another.

In 2025 the town split the Spooktacular across two nights, October 24 and 25, from 6 to 10 pm. Friday carried the trunk or treat and costume contest, and Saturday carried the golf cart parade followed by a park screening of Monsters, Inc. after the carts returned to the park. Costume sign-up that year closed at 7:45 pm and each age group was capped at 20 entrants.

For 2026 the town has folded everything into one Saturday evening, starting an hour earlier at 5 pm and wrapping at 9 pm. The official 2026 listing names Trunk or Treat, the Costume Contest, the Halloween Golf Cart Parade, inflatables, food trucks and a live DJ. A movie is not on this year's list, so do not plan the night around a screening that the town has not announced.

The parade stages on the west soccer field at Cutler Ridge Park. Lineup opens at 5 pm, lineup closes at 5:50 pm, and the carts roll out at 6 pm sharp. The one hard entry rule on the 2026 page is simple: your golf cart must be decorated to join. A plain cart with a passenger in a witch hat will not make it into the lineup.

The route is 4 miles and ends where it starts. Carts leave the park, turn left onto SW 200th Street, then right onto Bel Aire Drive, which bends into SW 195th Street. From there the loop works through SW 98th Avenue, SW 194th Terrace, SW 97th Avenue, SW 191st Terrace and SW 96th Avenue before a long run down Tiffany Drive.

The second half swings through SW 89th Court, SW 89th Road, SW 89th Avenue, SW 192nd Drive, SW 88th Court and SW 196th Drive, then turns back onto SW 200th Street for a 0.874-mile run home to the soccer field. If you are watching rather than driving, Tiffany Drive and the residential stretches near SW 196th Drive give front-yard views without the crush at the park gate.

The town's parade participation rules, updated in October 2026, require every golf cart to be driven by someone with a valid driver's license. Decorations must fit the holiday theme and be family friendly. In the queuing area, music has to stay low so parents and kids can hear each other, and once the parade is moving, drivers are encouraged to play themed music.

Several vehicles are banned outright: ATVs, dirt bikes, side-by-side off-road vehicles, electric and motorized bicycles, go-karts and riding lawn mowers. A specialty vehicle that is not a golf cart needs a special exception. For 2026 that window has already closed, so skip the idea of entering anything other than a standard golf cart.

Nothing may be thrown from a moving cart. Candy and small gifts can only be handed over hand to hand, which matters because kids line the curb. Firearms, fireworks and noise makers are forbidden and lead to removal, and driving under the influence is prohibited under Florida Statute 316.193. Sheriff's Office personnel and park staff can disqualify any cart before or during the parade for safety reasons.

The costume contest has seven categories: infants to 2 years, 3 to 6 years, 7 to 9 years, 10 to 13 years, 14 to 17 years, 18 and up, and pets. Each age group is capped at the first 25 people who register, and sign-up closes at 6:45 pm on the day. That cap rose from 20 per group in 2025.

Because the parade leaves at 6 pm, families with a cart in the lineup and a child in the contest have a timing problem. The practical fix is to register the costume first, as soon as you arrive at 5 pm, then head to the soccer field before lineup closes at 5:50 pm. The pets category makes this a rare Miami-Dade contest where a dressed-up dog can compete next to the kids.

Trunk or treat is the town's answer to street trick-or-treating: kids collect candy from decorated car trunks in one place instead of crossing roads door to door, as the Caplin News report explained. It runs through the evening at the park, together with inflatables for smaller children, a live DJ and a row of food trucks, so dinner can happen on site.

One honest judgment: do not bother arriving at 8 pm expecting the parade. The carts leave at 6 pm and the 2021 coverage of ten lines of carts on the soccer field shows how quickly the park fills. Late arrivals still get trunk or treat and the inflatables, but anyone who comes mainly for the decorated carts should be at the park by 5:30 pm.

The closest reliable late option is Raising Cane's at 19705 South Dixie Highway, Cutler Bay, a short drive west of the park on US 1. Its official location page lists Saturday hours of 10 am to 4 am for both dining room and drive-thru. That makes it easy to grab chicken fingers after the park closes at 9 pm.

Skip driving to the Shoppes of Cutler Bay at 20971 Old Cutler Road looking for Flanigan's. The town approved the restaurant's site plan on April 15, 2026, but Flanigan's has said it aims to break ground in late 2026, so the building does not exist yet. For now, the food trucks inside Cutler Ridge Park remain the simplest dinner during the event.

If the weather or timing fails, Zoo Miami at 12400 SW 152 Street runs Zoo Boo on Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 10 am to 3 pm. It has trick-or-treating for children 12 and under, a costume contest with prizes, inflatables, magic shows and scheduled animal enrichment with Halloween treats, included with regular zoo admission.

Day admission is $30 for adults 13 and older and $26 for children 3 to 12, with children 2 and under free and parking free. It is a contest, not a parade, but it pairs well with the Spooktacular: a Saturday morning at the zoo, a rest at home, and Cutler Ridge Park by 5 pm for the carts.

Event: Halloween Spooktacular, Saturday, October 24, 2026, 5 to 9 pm. Where: Cutler Ridge Park, 10100 SW 200 Street, Cutler Bay, FL 33189. Parade: lineup 5 to 5:50 pm on the west soccer field, start at 6 pm, 4-mile loop, decorated golf carts only. Contest: seven categories, 25 per age group, sign-up until 6:45 pm.

Most visitors drive, so plan to arrive near 5 pm, when the park fills with both cart drivers and spectators. Pack a light rain layer, since late October in South Florida can still bring evening showers, and the town sends updates through its eNews list. Use the restrooms before cart lineup closes at 5:50 pm.