Nightfall at Filoli 2026

Last year's Nightfall at Filoli was the reason I bought a Filoli membership. I was sure the place would surprise us again, with its haunted house, glowing pumpkins, and transformed trails. The membership gave me access to the ticket presale, so I could arrange our visit well ahead of time and relax. Nightfall was already looking like another event that would find a permanent place in our family calendar.

Apparently, I relaxed a little too much. Before we even arrived, this year's visit came with a small story about living with an AI agent.

I had given Pearl, my personal agent in OpenAI Dots, access to my Fantastical calendar so she could help me keep track of my schedule. On Friday, October 23, I asked her to check our reservation time for the following evening. Filoli sells tickets for specific entry times, and I wanted to make sure I remembered ours correctly. She confirmed Saturday at 5:30 pm, but also pointed out another Nightfall reservation for Sunday at 6 pm. I assumed I had put something into the calendar incorrectly. A little later, Pearl came back with a more embarrassing explanation: there were two separate ticket emails. I had actually bought tickets twice...

The first purchase was on July 17, during the member presale. By early September, I had forgotten about it and bought another set. My enthusiasm for returning was apparently more reliable than my memory. Thanks to Pearl catching the duplication, I was able to pass the Sunday tickets to a friend. That illustrates a very practical benefit of having an AI agent around: she followed a small inconsistency far enough to find something I had missed, and the extra tickets did not go to waste.

We arrived on Saturday, October 24, around 5:40 pm. The first surprise was how many people were already there. It felt considerably busier than last year. There was still some daylight, so we took a brief look around the outside of the house before going in. I had come expecting the familiar Halloween transformation, but I was curious to see how much they had changed.

Inside, the whole presentation felt more polished. There were things I remembered and new details mixed among them, enough to keep me looking even when I recognized the setting.

The actress was especially memorable. I mostly remembered her eerie smiles from last year; this time, she actively talked with the guests, somehow managing to be warm and unsettling at once. That little change made the house feel more alive. It is one thing to look at a room arranged to be spooky, and another to have someone draw you into its mood.

Outside, the evening had grown livelier too. There was live music, what seemed like more food trucks and concessions, and plenty of places where people could stop for activities. And everywhere, more people. The familiar atmosphere was still there, with returning displays and new variations, but the gathering around it felt larger. I had the impression that Nightfall was becoming one of those regional events people plan their autumn around. I was glad to see it finding that audience.

Beyond the meadow were pumpkin-headed figures and glowing slugs beneath purple-lit branches. I noticed how often I could hear children along the way. Their voices gave the place a cheerful energy, even among the spooky decorations. Last year's event had already been welcoming to families, but that side of it felt even more visible this time. Coming back regularly has its own pleasure: recognizing something from a previous visit, then noticing what has been added or changed.

We had brought our own contribution this year: our secret weapon, the jellyfish umbrellas. I wasn't particularly keen on bringing them at first, but my wife urged us to take them along. They turned out to be very popular. We kept hearing children call out, "Jellyfish, cool!" as we walked around. Those little reactions made us happy, and I was glad I had listened to her. We had come to enjoy what Filoli had prepared, and now our umbrellas were giving other visitors something to enjoy too.

An evening like this makes the season feel real to me. Walking around Filoli with my family reminded me that Halloween was almost here and the year was coming to an end. I think Nightfall is going to become another of our annual rituals. I would be happy to return next October and see what has changed. For now, there are still a couple of months left in this year. I hope to finish them well, with a little more time for evenings like this.