"Shop fall produce from Washington farms. Costumes welcome. Free pumpkin from Sidhu Farms (limit one per family). Trick or Treat on the Ave follows."
That last sentence comes from the calendar file the Queen Anne Farmers Market posted for this Saturday, and it describes the whole day. Halloween usually falls on a weekday, and the neighborhood's events end up scattered around school and work hours. In 2026 it falls on a Saturday. The market, the merchants on Queen Anne Avenue North and a touring dance troupe have lined their schedules up so that each one starts as the one before it ends. You can stay on the same few blocks from mid-morning to dinner.
This is the day in order, with the background on each part.
| Time, Saturday, Oct. 31 | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Halloween Harvest Market | Queen Anne Farmers Market, W Crockett St and Queen Anne Ave N |
| 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Día de Muertos Festival Seattle | Seattle Center, Armory Food & Event Hall |
| 3:30 to 6 p.m. | Trick or Treat on the Ave | Queen Anne Ave N business district |
| 4:45 p.m. | Seattle Thrillers, then costume contest | Queen Anne Towne Square, 1920 Queen Anne Ave N |
| 4 to 11 p.m. | Last night of Seattle Restaurant Week | How to Cook a Wolf, 2208 Queen Anne Ave N |
A Market That Closed for the Season Opens for One More Day
The Queen Anne Farmers Market calls itself Seattle's only independent farmers market. Its regular 2026 season ran on Thursdays from May 28 to October 8, 3 to 7 p.m., at West Crockett Street and Queen Anne Avenue North. So the weekly market has been closed for three weeks by the time Saturday arrives.
The market scheduled three extra Saturday dates this year, each from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The first was a Spring Preview Day on May 9. The second is the Halloween Harvest Market on October 31. The third is a Thanksgiving Harvest Market on November 21. Saturday's market is billed around fall produce from Washington farms, with costumes welcome. Sidhu Farms is giving away pumpkins, limit one per family.
The 3 p.m. close is part of the plan. The market ends half an hour before trick-or-treating starts a short walk up the Ave, and its own listing names Trick or Treat on the Ave as what comes next. A family can pick up produce and a free pumpkin late in the morning and still have the afternoon open for the main event.
The Merchants Take Over at 3:30
Trick or Treat on the Ave runs from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce invites everyone: "come one, come all + pets!" In past years the Chamber has placed it on Queen Anne Avenue between Galer and McGraw streets, with merchants dressing up, decorating their storefronts and handing out treats. Queen Anne Book Company also lists this year's event on its calendar with the same hours.
The event has been around for at least a decade. A Chamber column in Queen Anne & Magnolia News from May 2016 already had it on the October 31 calendar and said merchants handed out more than 3,000 pieces of candy that year. On a weekday, the 3:30 start runs into school pickup and work. On a Saturday, the whole two and a half hours are open.
A Dance Troupe With Somewhere Else to Be
At 4:45, the Seattle Thrillers Dance Group performs at Queen Anne Towne Square, 1920 Queen Anne Ave N, and the costume contest starts right after. The Thrillers are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses dance to bring together people of all abilities, religions, races, gender identities and economic backgrounds. They produce the annual Thrill The World Seattle event.
Their October calendar is the tightest one on the Ave. Here are the troupe's 2026 dates from late October on:
- October 23: Haunted Harbor, Port of Everett
- October 24: the 20th annual Thrill The World Seattle/Eastside, Woodin Creek Village in Woodinville
- October 25: Harvest Fest, West Seattle Junction
- October 30: Comet Lodge Haunt, Beacon Hill
- October 31: Trick or Treat on the Ave, Queen Anne
- October 31: Comet Lodge Haunt, Beacon Hill, "directly after Queen Anne"
- October 31: Science After Dark, Pacific Science Center, "directly after Beacon Hill"
Queen Anne gets the first of the troupe's three Halloween night stops. If you want to see the dancing, plan to be at the square by 4:45, because the group heads to Beacon Hill after the set.
Down the Hill, a Festival With Its Own History
While the market is open and trick-or-treating is underway, Seattle Center is hosting the free Día de Muertos Festival Seattle on October 31 and November 1. Seattle Center lists the festival in the Armory Food & Event Hall, with performances, altars, face-painting, sugar skull workshops and visual art. SDOT's September post on Halloween events gives the hours as 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and names Fisher Pavilion as a venue along with the Armory.
According to the organizers' history on the Seattle Center page, volunteers planned the first Day of the Dead celebration in South Park in 1998. It moved among venues there until 2003, when it came to Seattle Center. It belongs to Seattle Center's Festál series, which the center describes as 25 free cultural festivals a year produced with community organizations.
The festival's 11 a.m. start overlaps the market and its 6 p.m. close matches the end of trick-or-treating, so both fit into the same day. You could visit the festival around midday and get back up the hill well before 3:30. You could also make Sunday its own outing, since the festival continues November 1.
After 6 p.m., Dinner and the Side Streets
Seattle Restaurant Week runs October 18 through 31, so Saturday is its final night. How to Cook a Wolf, at 2208 Queen Anne Ave N, is taking part with a $65 dinner. Its Restaurant Week hours list Saturday service from 4 to 11 p.m., and the restaurant's website links to reservations. If you want a table after the costume contest on the final night of Restaurant Week, book ahead.
Some residential streets nearby may still be closed after dark. SDOT offered free Trick-or-Streets permits this year for Halloween and Día de Muertos block celebrations. Applications were due by October 20, and approved events can run from October 21 through November 2. A permitted closure can cover up to three consecutive blocks, with cross streets left open to through traffic, and can last until 10 p.m. Closures that run past dusk need reflective tape on barricades and signs and an adult monitor at each end of the block. If you're driving home through the neighborhood Saturday evening, expect a barricade or two.
The Same Blocks Keep Hosting Events Through December
Halloween starts a run of events on the same part of the Ave:
- Saturday, November 7, 4 to 7 p.m.: the Queen Anne Fall Wine Walk follows Queen Anne Ave N between McGraw and Galer, with check-in at Bethany Presbyterian Church, 1818 Queen Anne Ave N.
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: the farmers market returns for its Thanksgiving Harvest Market, the last of this year's extra Saturdays.
- Friday, December 4, 5 to 6 p.m.: the Chamber's Grand Tree Lighting takes place in the plaza between Wag N' Wash and Trader Joe's at 1920 Queen Anne Ave. That is the same address as Queen Anne Towne Square, where the Thrillers dance on Saturday.
Down in Uptown, the Uptown Alliance is running a Tidy Uptown volunteer cleanup on Sunday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers meet at Counterbalance Park at Roy Street and Queen Anne Avenue North.
Over the five weeks after Halloween, Queen Anne Avenue North hosts a wine walk, another market day and a tree lighting, and 1920 Queen Anne Ave hosts both the Thriller set and the tree lighting.
Like the Queen Anne Farmers Market and the merchants on the Ave, Brad Hinckley pays attention to how these blocks are actually used day to day. If you live on Queen Anne and are thinking about what your home is worth on a street like this, request an instant home valuation or schedule a market strategy consultation. Brad will walk you through the numbers in person.
