Guppyween at The Florida Aquarium Is Tampa’s Sweetest Halloween Tradition
Cassandra Currier
Friday, October 30, 2026
Halloween in Tampa Bay comes in every flavor. There are haunted houses, costume parties, bar crawls, and late night scares all over town. But if you have little ones at home, there is one event I keep coming back to year after year: Guppyween at The Florida Aquarium. It is festive without being frightening, it sits right on our downtown waterfront, and this year it comes with a perk every parent will love.
Guppyween runs October 24 through 31, 2026, and it is included with admission. Kids in costume get free admission with a paid adult, and the offer is redeemable at the ticket window. That means the costume you already bought for trick or treating does double duty, and your family gets a full day of fun for a lot less.
And the fun is real. There are character appearances, costumed divers, underwater pumpkin carving, and more. If your kids have never watched a diver carve a jack o’ lantern while fish swim by, trust me, it is the kind of thing they will talk about the whole ride home. It is one of those only in Florida moments that makes growing up here so special.
What I love most about Guppyween is that it takes a place locals already treasure and gives everyone a fresh reason to visit. The Florida Aquarium is one of Tampa’s true landmarks, sitting in the Channel District just steps from the Riverwalk. Plenty of us have been more than once, but seeing it filled with tiny pirates, princesses, and sharks in strollers is a whole different experience. It feels like the whole city showed up to celebrate together.
The location also makes it easy to turn the visit into a full afternoon. After exploring the exhibits, you can stroll over to Sparkman Wharf for a bite outside, then wander the Riverwalk as the sun starts to set over the water. That is a pretty perfect Halloween weekend in my book, and it all happens within a few blocks of each other.
If you want to go, timing matters. Saturday, October 31, is the final day, so this is your last chance for this year. Put the costume on before you leave the house, head straight to the ticket window to redeem the free kid admission, and check flaquarium.org for hours before you go.
Events like this are a big part of why I love helping families move to Tampa Bay. When people relocate here, they are not just choosing a house. They are choosing what their weekends look like, how close they live to the places they love, and what traditions their kids will grow up with. From South Tampa to Davis Islands to Downtown, so many of our neighborhoods put you minutes away from moments just like this one.
Guppyween runs October 24 through 31, 2026, and it is included with admission. Kids in costume get free admission with a paid adult, and the offer is redeemable at the ticket window. That means the costume you already bought for trick or treating does double duty, and your family gets a full day of fun for a lot less.
And the fun is real. There are character appearances, costumed divers, underwater pumpkin carving, and more. If your kids have never watched a diver carve a jack o’ lantern while fish swim by, trust me, it is the kind of thing they will talk about the whole ride home. It is one of those only in Florida moments that makes growing up here so special.
What I love most about Guppyween is that it takes a place locals already treasure and gives everyone a fresh reason to visit. The Florida Aquarium is one of Tampa’s true landmarks, sitting in the Channel District just steps from the Riverwalk. Plenty of us have been more than once, but seeing it filled with tiny pirates, princesses, and sharks in strollers is a whole different experience. It feels like the whole city showed up to celebrate together.
The location also makes it easy to turn the visit into a full afternoon. After exploring the exhibits, you can stroll over to Sparkman Wharf for a bite outside, then wander the Riverwalk as the sun starts to set over the water. That is a pretty perfect Halloween weekend in my book, and it all happens within a few blocks of each other.
If you want to go, timing matters. Saturday, October 31, is the final day, so this is your last chance for this year. Put the costume on before you leave the house, head straight to the ticket window to redeem the free kid admission, and check flaquarium.org for hours before you go.
Events like this are a big part of why I love helping families move to Tampa Bay. When people relocate here, they are not just choosing a house. They are choosing what their weekends look like, how close they live to the places they love, and what traditions their kids will grow up with. From South Tampa to Davis Islands to Downtown, so many of our neighborhoods put you minutes away from moments just like this one.
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