Every Sunday this month at 8:30 a.m., volunteers gather to build new floats and touch up old ones for the Anaheim Halloween Parade. They will keep doing it until the night of Saturday, Oct. 24, according to a September 24 note in the Orange County Register. No production company builds those floats. They are made by neighbors, and anyone who wants to help can email [email protected].
That detail explains how October works in Anaheim this year. The big investment is on Katella Avenue, where OCVIBE's concert hall and food hall are still months from opening. The fall calendar, meanwhile, runs through a short stretch of downtown: Center Street Promenade, Center Greens, and Farmers Park. Most of what happens there is put on by volunteers, market organizers, an alumni group, and the public library.
A Tradition That Started Before the Buildings Did
The fall festival dates to 1923, and the nighttime parade was added in 1924. When the Daily Pilot covered the tradition in October 2024, it reported that the parade had just turned 100. The organizers' own description is modest:
"The Anaheim Fall Festival culminates in our Halloween Parade, a beloved hometown tradition run by local volunteers. Each year, they come together with organizations throughout Anaheim to celebrate Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, and the Harvest Season."
Photos on the parade site show the Bisabuela, or Grandmother, float and the Anaheim High School band on the route. The route stays short and familiar. It starts at Anaheim Boulevard and Broadway, turns left onto Center Street Promenade, then follows Broadway to its end at West Street. Those blocks are home to the Thursday farmers market and the monthly maker markets, which is why the parade feels like the end of a month rather than a single night.
Four Saturdays, Two Thursdays, and a Sunday
Downtown's October happens in steps. Here is the sequence, dated from what organizers have published for 2026:
- Thursday, Oct. 1. The Anaheim Public Library's monthly Open Mic Night runs 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Central Library's multipurpose room. The next one is Nov. 5.
- Saturday, Oct. 10. Two markets on the same day. The Makers Hive Market sets up at Farmers Park, 412 S. Anaheim Blvd., from noon to 4 p.m. The Figure 8 Market runs on Center Street Promenade from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., listed by the Downtown Anaheim Association. The two are a short walk apart, so one afternoon covers both.
- Saturday, Oct. 17. The Anaheim High School Alumni Association's 2026 Colony Classic Car Show and All-Class Reunion is on campus from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's free. The Register says to expect entertainment, food, vendors, and plenty of alumni. Organizers are still looking for classic car owners, who can email [email protected].
- Saturday, Oct. 24. Festival and parade day, covered in detail below.
- Thursday, Oct. 29. Nightmare on Center Street, a Halloween edition of the weekly Downtown Anaheim Farmers Market at 201 W. Center St. Promenade, runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It adds trick-or-treating, a live DJ, Halloween crafts, and a costume contest. Market shoppers can get two hours of free parking validated at the Downtown Anaheim Association info booth.
- Sunday, Nov. 1. The Makers Hive Market comes back to Farmers Park from noon to 4 p.m. The organizer notes that hours can change.
The weekly market runs in between all of these. The Downtown Anaheim Certified Farmers Market sets up every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Center Street Promenade, in front of the Rinks. The Downtown Anaheim Association also lists Cars and Coffee Classics on the first Sunday of each month and the Shop Small Soirée on the last Sunday, both on the Promenade. Its page doesn't list specific fall dates, so check before you go.
Oct. 24, From Morning to Parade
The festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The free festival returns to Center Greens, the city park at 305 E. Broadway, and spills onto Center Street Promenade. It includes a classic car show. King Kukulele, the Bob Baker Marionettes, The Deadbeats, and My Safe Harbor Folklorico are on the performance list, along with a drawing session with Rene Pompa. The festival site lists these activities:
- Painting a wooden Fall Festival ornament with Jack Knight
- Piñata making with Piñata Design Studio
- The Anaheim Public Library STEAM Van and a MUZEO booth
- Halloween scratch art with the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim and monster-making with Altrusa International
- A visit from Wild Wing of the Anaheim Ducks
- Silent films with live music at Davey B. Gravey's Tiny Cinema
- Folding an origami butterfly to add to the Bisabuela parade float
The festival also has kids' and dogs' costume contests and a scavenger hunt. The organizers say more details will come in October.
The gap, 4 to 7 p.m.
The festival ends at 4 p.m. and the parade starts at 7 p.m. That leaves three hours, and parking decides how they go. Free parking is available at the Center Street Parking Garage, across from the Anaheim Downtown Community Center, and at Center City Parking CarPark 3. Anaheim Parking Center CarPark 4 charges a fee. The Anaheim City Hall lot is open, but road closures block all entry and exit from 3 to 9 p.m. If you park there for the festival, your car stays there through the parade. Many nearby residential streets require permits, and organizers ask visitors to respect them. If you plan to watch from Broadway, an overflow lot at Anaheim High School opens at 5 p.m. It's about a 10-minute walk south to the route.
The parade, 7 p.m.
Muzeo is holding a members-only viewing party in its Carnegie Plaza and Courtyard from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $45. Everyone else can watch from the curb along Broadway or the Promenade for free.
Dinner Between the Festival and the Parade
The Packing District sits a few blocks north of the route, and it has two newer places to eat. Marrakesh opened in January 2026 in the old Cook's Chapel space at the Anaheim Packing House, 440 S. Anaheim Blvd., #103, and serves Moroccan food. Ari's Thai Eatery, at 430 S. Anaheim Blvd. in Farmers Park, soft-opened on Sept. 26. Its menu includes pad Thai, curries, and a Crying Tiger ribeye. Ari's has penciled in a grand opening for Sunday, Oct. 25, the morning after the parade. That date is still tentative.
On Katella, the New Anaheim Is Still Under Construction
East on Katella, the city's other entertainment district is in the middle of a rebuild. Honda Center is staying open through a full renovation called Honda Center Encore, which runs through the end of 2027. The arena's October starts fast: the World's Collide Concert Tour on Oct. 1, Thomas Rhett on Oct. 2, Breaking Benjamin on Oct. 3, and the Ducks' home opener against Florida on Oct. 4.
As of the arena's Sept. 30 update, here is what's different this month:
- The West and South entrances are closed, so use the North or East entrance.
- River Garage premium parking goes on sale for events on or after Oct. 15. General parking at the Katella and Cerritos garages is still included with event tickets.
- The Splitero Club is expected in October. The Sweet Spot, the Coors Cold Zone, and Draft Picks featuring Pacifico are expected in December.
- The Ducks Team Store on the arena's southeast corner is temporarily closed. Its ARTIC location across Katella is open weekdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The new concession menu includes the Golden Dog, Pork & Roll, an Orange Lasagna, and buñuelos close to 16 inches across.
The larger OCVIBE project is a 2027 story. Its 5,000-capacity concert hall is scheduled for March 2027, and the Katella Commons food hall is expected around the same time. Katella Commons has announced Don Churros Gomez, MFK by Modern Filipino Kitchen, Mojo, Pull & Roll, Gelato Paradiso, Burritos La Palma, and Evil Cooks among its tenants, along with a khao soi-focused project from the owners of Manaao Thai Comfort Food. In late September, the chef behind Izakaya Osen added two planned 2027 openings, Osen Urban Table and Osen Handroll. None of these have opening dates yet.
That means none of OCVIBE's new restaurants or its new venue will be open for this year's Halloween season. Before Katella Commons opens in the spring, Anaheim's October will play out on the same downtown blocks the parade has used since 1924: Center Street on Thursdays, Farmers Park on market weekends, and Broadway from Anaheim Boulevard to West Street on the night of Oct. 24.
If you live near the parade route and are thinking about what downtown's calendar means for your street, your parking, or the value of your home, First Team agent Daniel Gray is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
