Five Things Worth Doing This Halloween Weekend in Gwinnett and DeKalb

This week's guide covers two counties: Gwinnett and DeKalb. Five things, Friday October 30 through Sunday November 1, with every date, time, address and price read off the organizer's own page rather than an aggregator. Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, which means the good stuff is stacked into about six hours on one afternoon and evening. Pick one and commit to it. Check the link before you drive anyway.

Dia de los Muertos Festival, Norcross. Friday October 30, 5 to 9 p.m., Thrasher Park, 93 Park Drive, Norcross. Free. The City of Norcross runs it, and the published description is a night of remembrance with live music, cultural performances, and Mexican food and drink; Southwest Gwinnett Magazine's write-up adds a lantern parade through the downtown streets and face painting. Thrasher Park sits inside the historic downtown grid, so you are parking on the street or in one of the small lots and walking a block or two. If you get there at 5 you will find a space; if you get there at 6:30 you will not. This is the only thing on the list that is not about being scared, and it is the one I would take someone to who does not enjoy haunted houses.

Norcross also does downtown trick-or-treating on Saturday October 31 from 3 to 6 p.m. along the same few blocks, with candy at the shops while supplies last. Worth knowing if Friday does not work, though the city's police notice has road closures running 6 to 9 p.m. that evening, so plan to be out of the center by then.

Monsters and Movie on Main, Lilburn. Saturday October 31, 4 to 8 p.m., Lilburn City Park and Main Street in Old Town Lilburn; the event's own listing gives 76 Main Street NW. Free, per Explore Gwinnett. Trick-or-treating at the Main Street shops starts at 4, there are carnival games with candy at each booth, food trucks, a costume contest with a costume strut at 6:30, and a family Halloween movie on an inflatable screen at 7. The city has not published the title. This is the most efficient version of Halloween with small kids that I know of in Gwinnett: park once, walk four blocks, collect candy, then sit down on the grass for the movie. The lawn is not big, so bring a blanket and get there before the strut if you want to see the screen.

Lawrenceville Ghost Tours. Friday October 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday October 31 at 7 and 9 p.m., meeting at the Pike Street entrance of the Lawrenceville Arts Center, 128 East Pike Street. Adults from $20, children from $15. Advance tickets are required and the arts center states plainly that it cannot process walk-up purchases, with each tour capped at 25 people. Roughly 90 minutes and about a mile of walking. Free covered parking at the city deck at 147 East Crogan Street, which makes this the easiest parking on the whole list. Halloween night is the slot that goes first, so if you want it, book it today rather than Saturday afternoon. If you have teenagers instead of small children, Aurora Theatre's separate Haunted Cemetery Tours run at 8 p.m. through Sunday November 1, from $25, minimum age 13, same 25-person cap.

Scream on the Square, Decatur. Friday October 30, 7 to 9 p.m. on Decatur Square, 101 East Court Square. Free, with popcorn at a dollar a bag. The movie is The Incredibles. The Champion, DeKalb's legal organ, lists the same Friday evening under the name Scream on the Green and adds trick-or-treating and face painting from 5 p.m., so plan on arriving earlier than the movie time if you have kids with you. Decatur Square is the most walkable block in either county and the hardest to park on a Friday night. The decks off Church Street and the MARTA station are the move, not circling the square. Bring low chairs.

Pumpkin Festival, Stone Mountain Park. Friday October 30 and Saturday October 31 from 2 to 10 p.m., Sunday November 1 from 2 to 9 p.m., at 1000 Robert E. Lee Boulevard. Sunday is the last day of the season. Entry requires an Attractions ticket or a Mountain Membership: $39.99 adult and $36.99 child, with children two and under free, and parking, taxes and fees on top. Tickets are date-specific, so buy for the day you actually intend to go. Park attractions open at 10 a.m. even though the festival itself starts at 2, and the night half of the festival is the part worth the money, with the glowing pumpkin tree, the parade with a fireworks finale, and the pumpkin drone and light show. Arriving at 7 for a 10 p.m. close is a lot of money for three hours. Go in by mid-afternoon or go another year.

One honest note on geography, because it is the thing that ruins weekends like this: Norcross at 5 on Friday and Decatur Square at 7 on Friday look compatible on a map and are not, on a Friday, on I-285. Pick one. If I had a single evening I would take the Norcross festival, because it is free, it runs four hours so you can arrive late, and a lantern parade is not something you can go see any other weekend. If you have small children and only Saturday, Lilburn at 4 is the cleanest four hours on this list. And if you are going to commit real money to Stone Mountain on its closing weekend, go Sunday, when it shuts an hour earlier and the crowd thins out, and get there by three.