Magna's flyer for this year's Annual Spooktacular lists a costume showcase for kids, for pets and for storefronts. On Main Street, the buildings get to dress up too.
That detail sums up how Magna's Halloween calendar works this fall. It starts with a gothic musical inside a 1916 theater. It heads west for one weekend at The Great Saltair. Then on Friday, October 30, it comes back home. The afternoon events are at the Senior Center, and in the evening the historic district on Main Street takes over.
A Set That Went Up Between 1904 and 1929
The street holding this season together has official recognition. On January 4, 2021, the Magna Commercial Downtown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places. KSL described the district as about 15.33 acres with roughly 38 eligible buildings built between 1850 and 1972. Citing the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District, KSL reported that most of those buildings went up between 1904 and 1929, a stretch known as the Copper Boom Town Era.
In that December 2021 story, KSL also noted that many buildings from every period had been damaged in the 5.7-magnitude earthquake from more than a year and a half earlier. Every storefront that dresses up on October 30 belongs to a district that has been through a lot.
The best-known building on the street is the Empress Theatre. Visit Utah describes it as a 1916 Main Street theater with neo-classical architecture, designated historic in 1985, and home to community theater for a long time. The photo caption in KSL's register story calls the same facade an example of the Beaux Arts style. Magna has a second theater story too. According to a Utah theater history archive, the Gem Theatre at 8945 W. 2700 South reopened on March 15, 1978, showing older movies and hosting matinees and groups. Long before anyone planned a trick-or-treat trail, this part of town was built for drawing a crowd on a weeknight.
Act One Is Indoors: Jekyll & Hyde at the Empress
The season opens inside, with a show that suits it. The Empress Theatre is running Jekyll & Hyde this month, with Annie next. The Jekyll & Hyde page on the theater's ticketing site, Arts People, lists the remaining performances.
| Date | Day | Curtain |
|---|---|---|
| October 15, 2026 | Thursday | 7:30 p.m. |
| October 16, 2026 | Friday | 7:30 p.m. |
| October 17, 2026 | Saturday | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. |
That leaves four performances across three days. The Saturday 2 p.m. show is the only daytime option. Buy tickets through the Empress's Arts People page. The captured listing didn't show prices, so you'll see the current cost when you choose seats.
The run closes on October 17, almost two weeks before the Spooktacular. On this year's calendar, the Empress opens the season and then steps aside.
Act Two Leaves Town: One Weekend at Saltair
Between the musical and the street party, the season moves west for its loudest weekend. The Great Saltair at 12408 W Saltair Drive is hosting the Get Freaky Festival from October 23 to 25, 2026.
- Friday, October 23: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Saturday, October 24: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Sunday, October 25: 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
This weekend runs on a very different clock from the rest of Magna's October. The Empress's latest curtain is 7:30 p.m. Saltair's Friday and Saturday nights run until 2 a.m. Get festival details, age rules and tickets from Saltair before you head out.
Act Three Is the Street Itself: Friday, October 30
The season ends where it began, back in the historic district, this time with no theater walls around it. Magna posted the details of its Annual Spooktacular on October 2, 2026, and the event runs from 2 to 8 p.m. on Friday, October 30. The city's event page lays out the schedule.
- 2 to 4 p.m.: Little Goblins Trunk-or-Treat at the Magna Senior Center
- 4 to 5 p.m.: Zombie Fun Run 5K, at the Magna Senior Center and Cemetery
- 6 to 8 p.m.: Car show and more treats on Magna Main Street
- 7 to 8 p.m.: Trick-or-Treat Trail on Magna Main Street
The flyer also lists food trucks, live music, an artisan and craft fair, and the costume showcase for kids, pets and storefronts.
The order matters. The afternoon is for the youngest kids, and it happens off Main Street at the Senior Center. The 5K uses the cemetery as its setting, and for a zombie run it's hard to think of a better one. Then the schedule shifts to Main Street. The car show starts at 6, and the trick-or-treat trail joins it at 7, so the last hour has both going on the same stretch at once.
There's also a gap from 5 to 6 p.m. with nothing on the official schedule. If you're doing both halves of the day, use that hour to eat, swap out a costume, or get from the Senior Center to Main Street.
Coffee Before, and a Street Still Being Fixed Up
Food is the one part of this season you can't fully plan ahead. Magna's flyer promises food trucks for the Spooktacular, but it doesn't name them.
On Main Street itself, Malu-Ixel Coffee House at 8585 W Magna Main Street, Unit 2, invited customers in on September 26, 2026, for coffee, chilaquiles, breakfast burritos, and sweet and savory crepes, and listed hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A separate hours table on the same listing shows Friday hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. If the later hours hold, the shop would still be open during the car show. The post didn't give a formal opening date, and the two sets of hours don't agree, so check the shop's own pages before you plan around it.
Farther down the street, Beardall's Bakery lists its address as 8963 West Magna Main Street on its own website. The site doesn't confirm current hours, so call before you count on a pastry stop.
The streets leading to Main Street may change too. In March 2026, a summary of a Magna council discussion described proposed pedestrian upgrades on 9100 West between Main Street and 2820 South and on Breeze Drive between 3100 and 3320 South. It also mentioned a flashing beacon at Cordero Drive and Cloud Peak, and a plan to double the streetlights along 3100 South and nearby local roads. The summary gave no start or finish dates. For now, these are plans, and this year's trick-or-treat trail will run on the streets as they are today.
The Curtain Goes Back Up in November
A week after the Spooktacular, the Empress takes the season back indoors. Annie opens November 6, and the Arts People listing shows these performances.
| Date | Curtain |
|---|---|
| Friday, November 6 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, November 7 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. |
| Monday, November 9 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thursday, November 12 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Friday, November 13 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, November 14 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. |
| Monday, November 16 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thursday, November 19 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, November 21 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. |
Annie has a longer run than Jekyll & Hyde: 12 performances over three weeks, including three Saturday matinees. Tickets are on the Empress's Annie page.
Old commercial buildings like the ones on Magna's Main Street make good places to host a street party, and they also bring questions about age, repairs and long-term value. If you own property in or near Magna's historic district, or you're thinking about buying an older building anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley, the team at Bybee + Co Realty can go through construction, condition and investment numbers with you building by building. Contact Us.
