South Sublette's Halloween Comes Early, With Big Piney and Marbleton on the Same Thursday Evening

Last October, a UFO crash-landed on top of a group of skeletons in front of Marbleton Town Hall. Bonner Brown, a Marbleton maintenance worker, designed and built it, and the building behind it was decorated as "Area 23" for the town's annual Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree. The Jamboree was held on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, eight days before Halloween.

This year it is on a Thursday again, Oct. 29, two days before Halloween falls on Saturday. Big Piney Recreation scheduled its Halloween Carnival for the afternoon of that same Thursday. So the south end of the county celebrates on a weeknight in the week before the holiday. The two events are staged by Big Piney Recreation and the Town of Marbleton, and their hours run one after the other.

Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4 to 9 p.m.

The Pinedale Roundup's 2026 community calendar lists the evening in this order:

1. 4 to 5:30 p.m. Big Piney Recreation's Halloween Carnival, in the Auxiliary Gym at the Big Piney Rec Center.
2. 5:30 to 6 p.m. A half hour between the two.
3. 6 to 8 p.m. The Jack-O-Lantern Jamboree at Marbleton Town Hall. All events are free.
4. 6 to 9 p.m. The LaBarge Elementary PTO's Halloween Festival at LaBarge Elementary School, for families farther south.

The Big Piney carnival listing gives only the time, the place and the host. It doesn't mention age groups, a costume contest or ticket prices, so it's worth checking with Big Piney Recreation or the Town of Big Piney at 307-276-3554 before you plan around specific activities. The listed times are the solid part. The carnival ends at 5:30, and Marbleton opens at 6.

Because the hours don't overlap, a family can go to both in the same evening, starting at the gym after school and ending on the pumpkin walk in Marbleton.

What the Marbleton half of the evening involves

The Jamboree is the busier event, and it keeps the same format from year to year. According to both the Roundup calendar and the Pinedale Online events calendar, which was updated Oct. 14, the 2026 lineup includes:

• Pumpkin walk. Bring a jack-o-lantern you've already carved.
• Homemade chili contest
• Pumpkin pie contest
• Haunted hallway
• Cake walk
• Hot chocolate and apple cider

Pinedale Online describes the event as being held outside Marbleton Town Hall. It also has a garbled line about signing up for the chili and pie cook-off, so the Town of Marbleton at 307-276-3815 is the place to ask how and when to enter.

Last year's results show how many people took part. In its Oct. 30, 2025 edition, the Roundup reported 17 entries in the homemade chili contest, judged by Lolly Blackmon, Mack Rawhouser and Kenny Meeks. Mike Knoll took the blue ribbon with his crockpot of chili. Eleven pumpkin pies were entered, judged by Jack Hess, Terrie Springman and Ellen Meeks, and Sue Kinikin won first place. The pumpkin walk was judged in three age groups, Pee Wee, Junior and adult. The 2025 adult winner turned her pumpkin into a witch.

Seventeen chilis is a real contest for a town hall evening. If you're thinking about entering this year, those 2025 numbers are the field you'd be up against.

LaBarge runs at the same hour, with a cash prize

LaBarge's festival overlaps the Jamboree from 6 to 8 p.m. and runs an hour longer. It isn't free. Admission is $2 per person, and meal tickets for the chili cook-off are $2. Entering a chili costs $10, and the winner takes home half the entry money. All proceeds go to the LaBarge Elementary PTO.

That means two chili contests in south Sublette County on the same night, with different stakes. Marbleton awarded ribbons in 2025, and its 2026 listing says all events are free. LaBarge pays the winner from the pot. A household that cooks only one chili has to choose.

The rest of the week, around the county

Thursday is the main event in the south, but it isn't the only Halloween date in the county. The rest of the week is spread out this way:

• Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 to 4 p.m. Boulder Community Center Halloween Children's Carnival at 304 Adams St. in Boulder. It's aimed at elementary-age kids, with carnival games, a photo booth, food, a costume contest, a maze and prizes. Admission is free, and game tickets are 25 cents. Sand Draw LLC sponsors it, with thanks to the Boulder Bar.
• Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Halloween at the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale. Kids with an adult can do a candy scavenger hunt and take home a bag of candy. It's also the museum's last open day of the season, and it reopens in May 2027.
• Saturday, Oct. 31, 4 to 6 p.m. Trick or Treat Street at businesses on and near Pine Street in downtown Pinedale, sponsored by White Bear Boutique and 102.7 FM The Peak.

Pinedale celebrates on the day itself, through its downtown businesses. Big Piney and Marbleton celebrate two days early, through their rec center and town hall. Boulder goes the Saturday before. Over eight days the county holds six separate Halloween events, from Boulder's carnival on Oct. 24 to Trick or Treat Street on Oct. 31.

Other things on the Big Piney and Marbleton calendar that week

The same calendars list some ordinary appointments for the south end of the county in the days around Halloween:

• Thursday, Oct. 22, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. SCSD9's Student and Family Health and Wellness Fair at Big Piney Elementary School, during Parent/Teacher Conferences. It has more than 25 booths and vendors, vendor bingo and door prizes, and admission is free.
• Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. S'cool Kids Club paints watercolor ghosts in the Big Piney Library Community Room. Elementary-age kids are welcome, and no registration is needed.
• Friday, Oct. 23, 11 a.m. Storytime at the Big Piney Library Children's Room has a pumpkin theme, for ages 0 to 5.
• Tuesday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sublette County Public Health runs a flu vaccine clinic at the Southwest Pioneers Senior Center in Marbleton every Tuesday, so it falls on Oct. 27 that week.
• Late October, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Sublette County Treasurer's Office is listed at the Marbleton Sheriff's Office to help with vehicle registration renewals and property tax payments. The Roundup calendar puts the visit on Oct. 28 under a Tuesday heading, but Oct. 28 is a Wednesday, so call 307-367-4373 to confirm the day.
• Sunday, Nov. 1, 2 a.m. Daylight saving time ends, so clocks go back an hour the night after Halloween.

After that, the south-county calendar moves to the holidays. The South County Market at the Big Piney Library Community Room returns Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the Big Piney Christmas Bazaar is listed for Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Big Piney Rec Center. That's the same building where the Halloween carnival kicks things off on Oct. 29.

For Thursday itself, here's the plan. Go to the Rec Center Auxiliary Gym at 4, head to Marbleton Town Hall by 6 with a carved pumpkin, and if you're entering the chili or pie contest, call the town at 307-276-3815 ahead of time.

At RE/MAX Elite, we live and work in Sublette County, and we follow the south-county calendar for the same reason you do. If you're new to Big Piney or Marbleton and want to know which local dates are worth planning around, or how a town's routines fit with a move you're considering, get in touch with Julie, Amanda or Emily.