Boo in the Swamp

After receiving critical acclaim from the survivors participants of last year's Boo in the Swamp, it retuuurrrnns!!!

Boo in the Swamp 2026 is on Saturday, October 24th, from 6:30 to 8:40 PM.

Registration

To purchase tickets for this event, please visit our ticketing page here.

The Gist

Here's the basic points of the program, with more details below.

• Location - Along our 1.75 mile long boardwalk (we recommend comfortable shoes)
• Children will be allowed to attempt challenges to win tokens at stations along the boardwalk
• Tokens can be spent on cool prizes
• Candy will be available at the challenge stations
• Personal light sources are NOT allowed (guests will be given a special light to borrow)
• Children (and adults) are encouraged to wear costumes (but it is not mandatory) - Children who dress up may earn the favor of a large, definitely-not-child-eating swamp creature.

Description

Boo in the Swamp is a one night out of the year spooky event intended for families, involving a night time romp around our 1.75 mile long ADA accessible boardwalk at night, where children can take on wildlife-based challenges to earn tokens for rewards back at the center.

But there is a catch, you're not allowed to bring flashlights or use any other source of light other than the one given to you for the program. Indeed, navigating the dark swamp (this year the program coincides with a nearly complete full moon so it won't actually be pitch black) is part of the adventure, and challengers are given black lights that will help them navigate, find clues, and maybe even spot lifeforms otherwise unseen.

There are no jump scares during this program, since the swamp will do most of the work for us. We're trying to a create a spooky but also fun, wondrous, encouraging, and educational event. Having someone under the boardwalk with a rake, scratching fervently as someone walks by, or hiring a chorus of children to sing mournfully in the distance through the woods much to the wavering confidence of all willful participants, are either too lowbrow or out of our budget range.

But... in order to enhance the visitor experience we may have added a few... atmospheric additions and possibly a large, shambling, and definitely-not-child-eating swamp creature who, based on last year, proved to be more of a challenge for the adults and not the precocious little swamp gremlins they brought with them.

Oh, and of course there will be candy scattered throughout, and a few hidden surprises, such as a handful of free tickets for Firefly Nights 2027 that can only be found by someone with either sharp eyes or a little luck- But those only go to whoever finds them, first.

Scheduling

Like last year, we're dividing participants into groups of 24 (you stay with your family). These groups are set to start their adventure 10 minutes apart, so it's important that guests arrive early to use the restroom and get their bearing before they can begin. Afterall, who wants to be the last out in the woods when there might be an aforementioned large, shambling, and definitely-not-child-eating swamp creature about?

Due to time constraints, guests who arrive 10 or more minutes after than their scheduled time may not be allowed to go out (we may be creatures of the night but we still need time to take things down).

Challenges

Spread out along the boardwalk will be stations, each with their own animal theme and an associated challenge. These challenges will most often target the senses, such as sight, sound, touch, or smell (candy has taste covered), but some challenges also require physical navigating much like the creatures of the night do to survive.

These challenges are designed for children ages 6-16, but we welcome young adults up to age 19 to participate since families can have a range of children at different ages and we don't want to leave them out, after all, no one in the entire world understands them, especially their parents.

Since we do want some sense of risk vs reward, children who fail a challenge will not receive a token for that station. In the real world, if an animal messes up, they get eaten. Along the boardwalk, if a challenger messes up, they'll just have to try again next year. We don't want children getting eaten during our programs, the degree of paperwork is unsustainable.

Accessibility

This program will take place in a region that will have extremely limited visibility at times. Those with limited vision or night blindness at night will have difficulty navigating the boardwalk. While our boardwalk is ADA accessible, some of the challenges themselves are not. If one of the challengers you are bringing has a mobility issue, please let us know ahead of time and we will do our best to be accommodating so that they may also participate and prove themselves worthy of not being eaten by a definitely-not-child-eating swamp creature. 

Rewards

We've dredged up some pretty cool stuff our of the swamp for rewards, including swamp charms (made with real parts of cypress cones from our 1500 year old trees!), small toys (not for human consumption), handheld puzzles, small shiny things, and candy (for human consumption).

Each token earned counts as 1 point. Some rewards cost more than one point. Understanding the child economy is difficult but we try to be fair and reasonable with our point pricing.

There may be an additional reward for those who encounter and gain the approval of a large, swampy creature (and to clarify, that reward is definitely not getting eaten).

Rules

• No flashlights or other light sources (i.e. smart phones) allowed during the program. Use of such lights might attract a large swampy creature. Guests will be given a black light to use instead.
• Adults cannot participate in the challenges - Well okay they can but they cannot earn rewards. Only children or young adults (ages 6 up to 19) can earn tokens to spend back at the center. Adults may take one (1) piece of candy on occasion.
• Tokens cannot be traded or given to other children. Each station has its own unique token, and duplicate tokens will not be accepted at the rewards table.
• If the kids really like the tokens they may keep them instead of turning them in for prizes. Why? No idea. I mean we did design them to look pretty cool I guess. Kids are weird.
• Adults must be accompanied by kids at all times, and kids ages 6-16 must be accompanied by their parents or guardians at all times. This event is for families, so groups of just adults will not be permitted. Adults wandering by themselves might attract a large swampy creature.
• No littering, please be careful with candy wrappers. Littering might attract a large swampy creature.
• No alcohol, knives, or firearms (because come on). Toy props for costumes are fine. We care about the health and wellbeing of our large, swampy creatures.

Concerns

If you have any questions regarding this event please email us at Beidler@audubon.org

If you have arachnophobia, ophidiophobia, scotophobia, agoraphobia, autophobia, or teraphobia, this is the PERFECT program for you. Ṯ̱̬̭̦̲ͅr̰͍̲u̮̮̮͍̘̳͔ͅs̗t͖͓͕̼̻͇ ̰̻̙̳̬͖̳͓͕ṳ̹̬̠̹̩̭̟s͚̪̞̯̭̳̳͇.͍̰