Things to Do in Cedar Rapids This Week: October 28-November 1, 2026
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Who walks out with the $500?
Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, so the whole week gets to build toward it. It ends at The Ideal, where Crazy Delicious plays its last show of 2026 and one costume wins $500 cash at 10:30 PM. Tickets
Before that: ghost-hunting footage in a Hiawatha library, honest stories at The Olympic, a NewBo front lawn turned into a projection screen with EDM Night waiting after, and a Marion cemetery that tells its history through headphones.
Pick your costume early. Saturday has stakes.
Three Things We’d Actually Leave the House For
Paranormal Presentation by The Spectre Group
Wednesday, October 28 · 6–7:30 PM · Hiawatha Public Library, Glenn Schminke Room · Free; 18+, registration requested · Register
A local investigation team explains how a real investigation works, with clips from some of Iowa’s most storied haunts, the Villisca Ax Murder House and the Squirrel Cage Jail among them. A ghost-hunting talk in a library meeting room may be the most Midwestern way to open Halloween week, and it works for skeptics and believers alike.
THE THRESHOLD: A Storytelling Series
Thursday, October 29 · Doors 6:30 PM / stories 7 PM · The Olympic South Side Theater · $35 · Details
Host Dennis Mahoney runs a monthly night of honest, first-person stories, and it is pointedly not a TED Talk. This month’s theme is “Happiness Is the Baseline.” An hour of neighbors telling the truth in a small room is rarer than it sounds.
42nd Rockwell All-Employee Craft Fair
Thursday–Friday, October 29–30 · 9 AM–7 PM; Saturday, October 31 · 9 AM–3 PM · Radisson Hotel, 1200 Collins Rd. NE · Free · Details
Now in its 42nd year, this is one of the corridor’s quietest early-holiday traditions. Everything on the tables is handmade, admission is free and the public is welcome.
The Main Event
A Crazy Delicious Halloween
Saturday, October 31 · Doors 7 PM / show 8 PM · The Ideal Theater & Bar · 21+ · GA $35.32 all-in; reserved tables for four $40.54 · Tickets For about 20 years Crazy Delicious has been one of the area’s go-to party bands, moving a dance floor through pop, funk, rap, R&B and country hits. This Halloween is the band’s final appearance of 2026. The costume contest is the real stakes: sign up by 10 PM, be in the room at 10:30 PM, and one winner walks out with $500 cash. Dress like you mean it.
The Weeknight Move
Fall Front Lawn A/V Experiment, then EDM Night
Friday, October 30 · 7–10 PM · Tree of Liminality, 1301 Third St. SE · Free · Details
DJ Caterwaul spins records and runs multi-channel video across the Heart House front lawn. The suggested costume is a well-known artist or artwork, which makes this the rare Halloween party that asks for an idea instead of a store-bought mask. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket.
Afterward, wander over to The Ideal Theater & Bar, where the increasingly popular monthly EDM Night (from 9 PM) keeps going until last call with house, bass, riddim and techno on a sound system built to be felt. 21+; $10 with RSVP or $15 at the door.
Plus One Thing You Might Miss...But Shouldn't Overlook
Marion Spooktacular: Haunted History Tour
From Friday, October 30 · Daylight hours · Oak Shade Cemetery, Marion · Free; donations welcome · Tour map
Linn-Mar Venture Academics students researched real people buried in the cemetery’s historic section and turned their lives into ghostly vignettes, now a self-guided audio tour. Pick up a map at the Marion Heritage Center & Museum or the Marion Chamber, or find it online, and walk the old paths at your own pace.
Looking Ahead
Three more nights worth planning around
November 5, November 7 and December 19 · The Ideal Theater & Bar · The Olympic South Side Theater
Thursday, November 5: Jessica Mar celebrates her new EP with JWC at The Ideal. She folds American Sign Language into her performances, and the five-song EP opens with “Walla Walla.” Doors 6 PM, show 6:30 PM; all ages, $21.75 all-in. Tickets
Saturday, November 7: 15 comics compete for one Funniest Person in Iowa crown in a single sudden-death night at The Ideal. Doors 7 PM, show 8 PM; 18+, $20.70 all-in, VIP tables available. Tickets
Saturday, December 19: William Elliott Whitmore plays The Olympic with Sara Cram and David Lee Paul. The Lee County songwriter goes solo with banjo, guitar and kick drum, carrying songs from his latest record, Silently, The Mind Breaks. Doors 7 PM, show 8 PM. Details
Private Rentals & Weddings
Want the room for your own night?
The Ideal and The Olympic are both available for private rentals, weddings, receptions, celebrations, corporate gatherings, and the kinds of nights that deserve a room with a little presence.
If you’ve been waiting for the right excuse to gather people beautifully, this is it.
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