Prospect Park usually goes quiet after sunset in late October. This Thursday, October 22, it does not. Prospect Park Alliance has two free evening events on the calendar, a few minutes' walk apart, and the Lakeside Fall Festival keeps its Haunted Hotel running until 10 p.m.
Gates in the Trees, by the Audubon Center
From 6 to 8 p.m., the multidisciplinary artist Shawna X turns the water and woods around the Audubon Center into a projection surface. Gates in the Trees uses animated light to send shimmering forms across the water and up into the tree canopy. The Alliance describes the piece as inspired by the connections between the human body and the natural world.
It is presented with Field Meridians, a Brooklyn artist collective that works where art, ecology and community meet, and the evening has a live musical set by Kat Offline. It is free, but the Alliance asks for an RSVP through its event page.
The Audubon Center is in the Boathouse on the Lullwater, in the east side of the park. The closest entrance is at Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenue, near the B and Q at Prospect Park station.
Alfreda's Cinema at Lefferts Historic House
From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Alfreda's Cinema screens Jean-Pierre Bekolo's 2005 film The Bloodettes outdoors at Lefferts Historic House. The film is a satirical, futuristic sci-fi noir set in a dystopian Yaoundé, Cameroon. The screening is part of Alfreda's Cinema's 2026 Open-Air Film Sessions, a program devoted to Black stories shown under open skies. Bring a blanket. It is free, with an RSVP.
Lefferts Historic House is the 18th-century farmhouse on the east side of the park near the Carousel and the Zoo, a short walk from the Audubon Center.
Haunted Hotel at Lakeside
For anyone who wants a scare instead, the Fall Festival at Lakeside at the LeFrak Center runs through the month with pumpkins, a corn maze, carnival games, seasonal food and a Haunted Hotel. On Thursdays and Fridays the family festival runs from 3 to 6 p.m. and the Haunted Hotel from 6 to 10 p.m. Prices vary by activity.
And in the morning
Early risers can catch one of the last Fall Migration Walks of the year. The Brooklyn Bird Club and Prospect Park Alliance lead them on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through October, looking for the dozens of species that pass through the park in the fall. Thursday's walk runs from 7:30 a.m. to noon, it is free, the meeting spot varies, and you bring your own binoculars.
All four are listed on the Alliance's events calendar at prospectpark.org, which is also where the two evening events take RSVPs.

Loading comments…