What's New in Sioux Falls: Halloween Week and Metro Growth

Here is what is new in the Sioux Falls area this week: the last week of October is full of family Halloween events, an electrical distributor just opened a new branch in the city, and the surrounding communities of Harrisburg, Tea, Hartford, and Lennox all have news worth knowing. If you are buying, selling, or relocating here, these are the stories that show where the metro is headed. I'm Jennifer Krosch, a Realtor with eXp Realty, and I keep this local beat because what is opening, being built, and being planned tells you which neighborhoods are gaining momentum.

Halloween week: family events across the metro

With Halloween a week and a half out, the calendar for the last week of October is genuinely packed, and most of it is aimed at families. It kicks off Saturday, October 24 with Spooky Science at the Washington Pavilion on Main Avenue. It runs in the Kirby Science Discovery Center as Halloween fun without the fright: kids come in costume and work through hands-on science stations, and past favorites have included boo bubbles and slime. It is free for Pavilion members. That evening the Pavilion follows it with Disney's Hocus Pocus in the Sweetman Planetarium and Wells Fargo CineDome, and adults get their own night on Thursday, October 29 with Cosmos & Cocktails: Spooky Skies.

Tuesday, October 27 brings the free Halloween Bash at Great Shots on West Benson Road from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., a family-friendly trick-or-treat spooktacular that needs no reservation. That same week the Haunted Sioux Falls Tour, a guided bus tour of the city's famously haunted spots, runs on October 27 and October 29 if you prefer a little history with your spookiness. On Friday, October 30, Runnings Stores hosts Cars and Candy at 5:00 p.m., a family costume and trick-or-treat event built around cars.

Then comes the big one: the 20th annual Sioux Falls Zombie Walk on Saturday, October 31 at 12:00 p.m. at Boo Falls, hosted at Remedy Brewing Company. Billed as raising the dead for charity, it is a family-friendly daytime event, and it marks the return of the BOO Falls Halloween Parade with Thriller Dance Sioux Falls and the Sioux Falls Junior Roller Derby. For families who want a calmer option, the indoor Trunk or Treat at Arise Church on South Western Avenue runs Halloween morning from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The surrounding communities join in too. In Brandon, Terror 29 is a haunted house open Thursdays through Saturdays through October 31, and in Harrisburg, Air Madness on West Industrial Drive hosts its own Trick or Treat on Halloween morning at 10:00 a.m. Whether your family wants the big downtown scene or something small and close to home, there is an option within an easy drive.

In the city: Echo Electric, Scooter's, and more

On the business side, Echo Electric held a grand opening on Monday, October 19 for a new 50,000-square-foot Sioux Falls branch. It is the electrical distributor's third South Dakota location, and the facility serves contractors, industrial, and OEM customers. An operation that size is a practical signal too: when a supply house commits to a market, it usually means construction and maintenance activity is strong enough to justify the space.

A few other openings have landed recently. Scooter's Coffee celebrated its grand opening at The Empire Mall in early October with a buy-one-get-one drink offer, a convenient new stop right at the mall. APX Construction Group has a new location at 5019 S. Bur Oak Place on the south side, with a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber ribbon cutting scheduled for Wednesday, October 28. And the restaurant pipeline keeps moving: Over Easy, the brunch chain that opened its first Sioux Falls location at Dawley Farm Village this spring, is adding a second location that will take over the Rust & Co. space at The Bridges at 57th, with The Attic Restaurant Group as the local franchisee. Toppers Pizza at 817 S. Minnesota Ave also reopened in late September after a closure, now under corporate ownership.

One piece of closing news worth knowing: Shipley's Garment Spa on West Ninth Street, a downtown institution that has served Sioux Falls for 124 years, announced October 22 as its final day of production. When a business has been part of a street for well over a century, its closing marks the end of an era for downtown, even as new storefronts keep arriving around it.

Harrisburg: a new city hall and a big housing loan

Harrisburg, one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the metro, is investing in its civic backbone. Design work is underway for a new multi-million-dollar city hall in Central Park, with construction expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027. The current city hall has long been part of the conversation as the community has grown, and the new building signals that city services are keeping pace with rooftops.

On the housing side, the city won an $8.3 million state housing-infrastructure loan in August 2026 to help develop 1,057 single-family lots. That is a meaningful number for anyone watching the area: it means years of new-home construction in the pipeline, and for buyers it means continued choice in new construction while resale inventory stays tight.

Tea: a proposed golf-course community

South of Tea, a big proposed project is getting attention. The Hammerhead development would bring roughly 320 homes plus an 18-hole-style golf course with a clubhouse and restaurant to about 380 acres at 273rd Street and 468th Avenue, near I-29 exit 73. It is still in the proposal stage, so nothing is built yet, but a project of that scale would be a significant addition to the Tea area, pairing new housing with a recreation amenity in the kind of master-planned format buyers increasingly ask about.

Hartford and Lennox: community wins

Two smaller communities have bright news this month. In Hartford, the Hartford Area Chamber's Trunk-R-Treat drew big crowds this October and debuted a new "Dig in the Dirt" attraction sponsored by Nielson Construction and ATS. Community events like this are a big part of why families fall for the smaller towns in the metro, and the chamber keeps the calendar full, including a Lunch & Learn at the Deer Hollow Community Room on Thursday, October 22.

In Lennox, the high school is getting some well-earned attention. On October 8, Lennox High School was named a top-40 finalist in T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights competition, the only South Dakota school selected. The school won $25,000 and advances toward a possible $1 million stadium makeover. For a community the size of Lennox, that kind of national recognition is a point of pride, and a bright sports facility is exactly the kind of amenity that adds to a town's appeal for families.

What this means for buyers and sellers

Here is the realtor's take. Halloween week is a genuinely good window to experience the metro at its liveliest, and for relocating buyers it is a practical way to answer the question every newcomer asks: is this a place I could call home? The events on this list are spread across Sioux Falls, Brandon, Harrisburg, and the other close-in communities, and that is exactly the point: this is one big region with a different flavor in each corner.

The development news points the same direction. Harrisburg's city hall and housing loan, Tea's proposed golf-course community, Echo Electric's new branch, and Lennox's national recognition all speak to growth that is spread out rather than concentrated in one part of town. More jobs, more civic investment, and more new construction mean steady housing demand across the metro, including from families relocating here for the very jobs these projects bring. If you are thinking about buying or selling in any of these areas, this is a good moment to talk through what the momentum means for your plans. I would love to walk it through with you.

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