At noon on Saturday, October 24, the kebab line opens at 380 Concord Avenue. Two hours later, kids at the library at 336 Concord Avenue start cutting cardboard into costumes. At 9:30 the next morning, runners step onto the Belmont High School track at 291 Concord Avenue. Those are three addresses on one road, less than a hundred house numbers apart, all busy within about 21 hours.
That weekend falls between the Farmers' Market's second-to-last Thursday on October 22 and its final day a week later. Those eight days are packed with food, fire trucks, a Halloween race and a night hike. After that, the calendar moves indoors and into the woods through early November. Here is the run, in date order.
Thursday, October 22: the history table goes up at Claflin Street
The run starts where the summer did. The Belmont Farmers' Market has set aside Thursday, October 22 as Local History Day. Members of the Belmont Historical Society will be at the market to talk about the town's past. This is the market's 21st season, and the Historical Society banner has become a familiar sight among the farm stands.
One detail catches people who haven't been since September. October hours are shorter. The market now runs 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., not 6:30. It sets up in the Belmont Center municipal lot at 10 Claflin Street, where Cross Street meets Channing Road behind the Leonard Street storefronts. It's close to the commuter rail and the 74 and 75 bus stops, and there's bicycle parking. The market opens in rain or shine and closes only for violent storms. For anything in between, it posts updates on Instagram and Facebook first.
If you walk over from Concord Avenue, watch the sidewalks. The town's DPW says it will be grinding stumps around town for roughly two months. Sidewalks prepared for that work will have dig safe markings and empty sections, and the town asks people to use extreme caution around them.
Saturday, October 24, from noon to after dark
Saturday is the center of the run.
- 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The First Armenian Church Fall Fest Bazaar at 380 Concord Avenue serves kebab dinners with lamb, beef or chicken, plus pilaf, salad and pita. The pastry table has choreg, baklava and khadayif. You can eat in or order takeout.
- 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Belmont Public Library hosts Cardboard Costume-Making in the Community Classroom at 336 Concord Avenue. Registration is required.
- 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Belmont Fire Department Open House at 299 Trapelo Road offers pizza, fire trucks, a chance to spray a hose, the Fire Safety House and CPR training.
- 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mass Audubon's Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary leads a Family Night Hike called Moon Magic. Registration is required, and it costs $18 per adult or child for members and $22 for nonmembers.
The first two events overlap on Concord Avenue, so a family could make a costume at the library and then walk to the church hall for dinner while the bazaar is still serving. The bazaar runs until 7:00, so it's also still open after the open house on Trapelo Road ends at 6:00. That makes takeout from the church a realistic way to fit both into one afternoon. The night hike comes last, after sunset, and it's the only event of the day that needs advance payment.
The bazaar has a lot of work behind it. First Armenian Church runs FallFest cooking sessions ahead of the event and invites volunteers to help make the dishes in its kitchen.
There's one more Saturday stop for anyone running the next morning. The Foundation for Belmont Education runs an in-person bib and T-shirt pickup table at Chenery Upper Elementary on Saturday, October 24, and you can also register there.
Sunday, October 25: the track takes over the same avenue
The next morning, the action moves back down Concord Avenue. The FBE Halloween Apple Run 2026 starts at the Belmont High School track, 291 Concord Avenue. The 5K begins at 9:30 a.m. and the 2K at 10:45 a.m.
Registering early saves money. Online, the 5K costs $35, the 2K $20 and the combo $40, plus an online fee. In person, each one costs $5 more: $40, $25 and $45. Online registration stays open until race day, and same-day sign-ups happen at the track. FBE asked runners to register by September 30 to be sure of a T-shirt, so anyone signing up now should treat the shirt as uncertain.
That makes three of the weekend's biggest events, at 380, 336 and 291 Concord Avenue, all within a day. Concord Avenue is already where the library sits. For one weekend it also hosts the town's harvest dinner and its Halloween race.
The last week of October winds things down
After the weekend, the calendar gets smaller, and it shifts toward kids and the early evening.
Tuesday, October 27, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The library runs a Halloween drop-in craft, Make Your Own Monster Bookmark, in the Children's Program Room at 336 Concord Avenue. No registration is needed.
Thursday, October 29, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Farmers' Market holds its final day of the 2026 season. It's also a POP Club Activity Day. The market holds one on the last market day of every month, with activities that teach kids about the local food system. The Move It! Hour with Eight Animal Martial Arts lets kids earn an extra POP Buck by joining a short physical activity. The season began on Thursday, June 4.
The market's site frames the seasonal cycle with a line from its former print newsletter, Roots & Sprouts:
"The Market is also educational as it reminds us that many of the foods we buy in supermarkets in any season are not grown in our area in all seasons." Paul and Phyl Solomon, quoted on the Belmont Farmers' Market location page
Friday, October 30, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Habitat hosts Tea, Talk, and Trails: Halloween Edition. Registration is required, at $15 for members and $18 for nonmembers.
After the market closes, the calendar heads to Habitat
Once the Claflin Street lot is back to plain parking, Mass Audubon's sanctuary keeps the outdoor programs going. On Friday, November 6, Pond Discovery for Preschoolers runs from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. and costs $10 or $12 per adult or child. On Saturday, November 7, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, Habitat leads a Fall Foliage Walk and Leaf Science program. Registration is required, at $18 for members and $22 for nonmembers.
For colder afternoons, there's a new indoor spot on Brighton Street. The Woolly Brew, a café and yarn shop at 55 Brighton Street, is run by sisters Jo-Ann and Cheryl Spera. It serves coffee, tea and baked goods next to its knitting supplies. Boston Restaurant Talk reported it open on October 1, 2026. The Belmont Voice profiled the owners on October 9.
If you missed this summer's guide to the library's return to Concord Avenue, it's here. It's the other half of the story of how that stretch of road became the center of town life. More of the town's year is collected on the Belmont neighborhood page.
I love the weeks when Belmont's calendar fills up, and I'm always happy to compare notes on which events are worth planning a weekend around. If you're mapping out your own last weekend of October, or just want to talk about how the town changes from season to season, Corinne Schippert would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
