Between now and the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Forked River has about ten dated public events. Nearly all of them happen on Lacey Road or a short walk off it. October is aimed at kids, with costume parades, trick-or-treat bags and a trunk-or-treat in a restaurant parking lot. When Halloween is over, the same handful of addresses keep going. In November the listings turn to a pig roast at the pumpkin farm, a three-course restaurant week menu on the river and soup and chili at a church fair.
Argos Farm is open today, Monday, Oct. 12. The Fall Festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Jacks & Lights runs 6 to 9 p.m., according to Patch's October guide. The rest of the season is laid out below, weekend by weekend.
Five Addresses Carry the Season
Here is where everything happens, listed roughly from inland toward the water.
| Address | Venue | Fall 2026 dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1250 Lacey Road | Argos Farm | Fall Festival and Jacks & Lights through about Nov. 1; PBA Oktoberfest Nov. 7 |
| 1 Humane Way | AHS Popcorn Park | Boo at the Refuge, Oct. 17–18 |
| 124 S Main Street; 15 East Lacey Road on event listings | Charles A. Smith Community Center | Halloween Costume Parade Oct. 17; Common Grounds Coffee Nov. 13 |
| 203 Lacey Road | Lacey United Methodist Church | Harvest Fest, Nov. 21 |
| 361 E Lacey Road | The Waterfront | Costume party Oct. 24; Trunk or Treat Oct. 25; Restaurant Week Nov. 6–15 |
The township's facility page gives the community center's physical address as 124 S Main Street, while its event calendar lists the same building at 15 East Lacey Road. Popcorn Park is the only venue here with no Lacey Road address at all. So once you know which weekend you want, the planning mostly comes down to which end of the road you're headed for.
October 17 Is the Double-Booked Saturday
Two Halloween events land on the same Saturday this year, and both include a costume parade.
Lacey Township Recreation's Halloween Costume Parade is at the Charles A. Smith Community Center on Oct. 17. It's open to toddlers through children in fifth grade, and registration is capped at 150. Each registered child gets a trick-or-treat bag, tattoos, a pumpkin and a cupcake to decorate, plus a meal of two hot dogs or one pizza slice with a boxed drink. Adults and siblings who aren't taking part in the activities get in free. The Lacey Recreation listing doesn't give a start time or a parade route yet, so check back before you pick a time for Popcorn Park.
Popcorn Park's Boo at the Refuge runs both Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18, from noon to 4 p.m., with VIP entry at 11 a.m. The AHS event page lists trick-or-treating, animal encounters, crafts, games and a 21+ bar. Its own costume parade is at 2 p.m., and prizes are announced at 3. Tickets per day:
- VIP: $35
- General admission or trick-or-treater: $25
- Adult non-trick-or-treater: $20
- Parking pass: $20
The ticket page already shows Saturday's parking pass as sold out. If you have a child in the township parade that morning, Sunday at Popcorn Park is the simpler plan. You'd get the same program on a day with nothing else competing for it. AHS says sponsor support goes to the ongoing care of the rescued animals.
The Farm Runs Two Shifts, at Two Prices
Argos Farm at 1250 Lacey Road runs as two separate attractions on one property, with separate tickets.
The daytime Fall Festival has a corn maze, pumpkin picking, live music, wagon rides, farm animals and more than 30 attractions. Those include a jumbo jumping pillow, a cow train, a hay slide and a bee zip line. It's open Thursdays and Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m. through Oct. 30, and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 1. The farm's ticket page lists one exception: it's closed Thursday, Oct. 29. Pumpkins cost extra. If you only want to pick pumpkins, you don't need a general admission ticket.
Which day you go changes the price a lot. Weekday admission is $14.95 online and $17.95 at the gate. Weekend admission is $19.95 to $23.95 online and $23.95 to $27.95 at the gate. At the top of each range, a family of four pays about $52 more for a Saturday at the gate than for a Thursday afternoon booked online. Tickets are required from age 2.
After dark the farm turns into Jacks & Lights. Thousands of carved jack-o'-lanterns line a lighted trail, and there's a flashlight maze, a pumpkin patch, seasonal food and drinks, and a "Spook-Easy" on select dates. It runs 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays and 6 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with timed tickets sold online. General admission is $19.95 to $24.95 online or $24.95 to $29.95 at the gate. That covers the half-mile trail and the flashlight corn maze but not the daytime festival activities. The Spook-Easy dates haven't been posted.
The last day isn't settled. The Argos homepage lists Jacks & Lights from Sept. 18 to Nov. 1. The ticket terms say Sept. 19 to Nov. 1, but the same ticket page also says "Open through November 7th." If you're aiming for the last weekend, confirm the date with the farm first.
The Waterfront Takes the Following Weekend
The week after the double-booked Saturday, Halloween moves to the river end of Lacey Road. The Waterfront at 361 E Lacey Road is holding a free Halloween Costume Party on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m., with live music from Slap Happy. There are costume contests for Best Costume, Best Duo and Best Group. It's walk-in only, with no reservations.
The next day, Sunday, Oct. 25, is the restaurant's 7th annual Trunk or Treat. It's a free family event in the ballroom and the parking lot, and the restaurant is looking for volunteers to decorate tables and trunks and hand out candy. No start time is posted. Volunteer spots are reserved through the restaurant's online booking page.
Those two days mark the end of October's kid-focused events. Four of the five venues in the table above have more on the calendar in November.
November Keeps the Addresses and Changes the Menu
The township's Halloween listings centered on trick-or-treat bags, decorated cupcakes and hot dogs. In November the same stretch of road lists a pig roast, a prix fixe dinner and a soup-and-chili table. These are the dates already confirmed:
- Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 15: Jersey Shore Restaurant Week at The Waterfront. It's a three-course menu served in-house from noon to close, $42.26 per person before tax, gratuity and drinks.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Lacey PBA #238 Oktoberfest at Argos Farm, 2 to 6 p.m., with Nov. 8 as the rain date. Ocean County Tourism lists live music, pig roasts and beverages.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day. The township calendar lists it at Town Hall, 818 Lacey Road, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with no further description.
- Friday, Nov. 13: Common Grounds Coffee in Room C of the Charles A. Smith Community Center, 9:30 a.m. to noon, hosted by Lacey Recreation, the Municipal Alliance and the Rotary Club of Forked River. It's on the township's November calendar, and the next session is Dec. 11.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Harvest Fest at Lacey United Methodist Church, 203 Lacey Road, with crafts, vendors, baked goods, soups and chili.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Thanksgiving dinner at The Waterfront, with reservations from noon to 6 p.m. Thanksgiving catering orders are taken Nov. 1 through 23.
The Oktoberfest date shows how this works best. The farm's own season ends around Nov. 1, and six days later a local organization holds its fundraiser on the same grounds. Most of November happens at places people already went to in October.
What Hasn't Been Posted Yet
The township's Veterans Day entry doesn't say whether a ceremony is planned. I haven't found a confirmed 2026 date for a Lacey tree lighting or holiday parade in township, Patch or Ocean County Tourism listings. Lacey Township's Nightmare at Gille Haunted Trail ran Oct. 9 and 10 at Gille Park, so it's done for this year. The costume parade's start time and the Jacks & Lights Spook-Easy dates are still missing too. The Patch Lacey calendar and the township's own calendar are the places to watch as December gets closer.
If you'd like to talk about the Lacey Road stretch of Forked River, whether that's what living near Argos Farm is like through a busy fall or how being close to the river factors into a move here, Brenda Weld would be glad to help. Bree has spent more than two decades working across Ocean County and can walk you through this part of town street by street. Brenda Weld | Let's Connect.
