The City of Glendale has marked its Annual Fall Festival as cancelled for 2026. The city calendar still shows the planned slot, Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pacific Park & Community Center. The notice lists a phone number for questions and doesn't give a reason. The family afternoon isn't gone, though. It has spread across the rest of the month. Most of October's free programming now comes from Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and the weekend stage at Artsakh Paseo. The busiest free afternoon on the calendar falls on October 24, the day the festival would have run.
What Pacific Park Used to Hold
The festival had a steady format. In 2024 it ran on Saturday, October 26, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pacific Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave. The city listed carnival games, arts and crafts, a bounce house, a pumpkin patch, a photo station and the Glendale Rocks! climbing wall. The 2025 edition, held October 25, kept the pumpkin patch, games, bounce house and climbing wall. It added live music, a children's entrepreneur market and sensory-play activities.
So the festival was a three-hour, one-park event aimed at young families on the last full Saturday of October. Without it, the question for 2026 is where those same hours and families go. The city's calendar answers it date by date.
October 24 Now Belongs to the Library
On the festival's cancelled date, the city and Glendale Library, Arts & Culture are holding their annual Día de Los Muertos celebration at Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St., from 2 to 5 p.m. The city has held a Día de Los Muertos event every year since 2017. The lineup:
- Face painting starting at 1 p.m.
- Coaxochitl, an Aztec dance group
- Ballet Folklórico México Azteca
- The Miramonte Elementary Little Kids Rock Band
Parking is simpler than it is at most downtown events. Library visitors get three hours of free parking in the Marketplace parking structure across Harvard Street with validation at the service desk. Drivers with a displayed ADA placard can park free at any metered space, including Lot 10 behind BevMo, parallel to Brand Boulevard.
The free schedule keeps going after the library event ends. The Jewel City Concert Series has the band Rootful at Artsakh Paseo from 5 to 6 p.m. that same Saturday, with free admission. The 2025 festival lasted three hours and ended at 2 p.m. This year's October 24 lineup runs from 1 p.m. face painting until the concert ends at 6 p.m.
| October 24, 2026 | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 p.m. | Glendale Central Library | Face painting begins |
| 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. | Glendale Central Library | Día de Los Muertos dance and music |
| 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. | Artsakh Paseo, 125 N. Artsakh Ave. | Rootful, Jewel City Concert Series |
Artsakh Paseo Picked Up the Weekend Stage
The October 24 concert is one of a series. Artsakh Paseo has free programming on four straight weekends this month, beginning with the first Glendale Cultural Festival on Sunday, October 4, from 4 to 8 p.m. The city lists music, cultural performances, food, artisan vendors and face painting. After that, the Jewel City Concert Series fills the 5 to 6 p.m. hour on Saturdays:
- October 10: Voz Bohemia
- October 17: YOUNGTONES
- October 24: Rootful
All three are free. Families who used to plan around one late-October Saturday now have a recurring early-evening hour downtown, which works for an errand run or an early dinner.
Brand Library & Art Center covers the quieter side of the month. Art Talks at Brand with Nehemiah Cisneros is free and open to the public on Thursday, October 8, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall. The Brand Associates Docent Tour on Saturday, October 10, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., is free but limited to 25 people, so RSVP. ARTful Conversations, a poetry workshop that responds to the current exhibition, meets in the galleries on Tuesday, October 13, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The Montrose branch is running Halloween programming for teens ages 13 to 18. The Halloween Decorating Crew meets Wednesday, October 7, from 4 to 5 p.m., and registration is required. The Teens in Action "Spooktacular Paint Night" follows on Wednesday, October 28, at the same hour.
Pacific Park Still Has a Role, Just Not the Same One
The festival site still has events this month. On Friday, October 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., One Glendale's flag-football season wraps up there with consolation and championship games.
Its bigger October job comes on Halloween, when Pacific Community Center becomes the starting point for the city's foothill event. The Stone Barn Skele-bration runs Saturday, October 31, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Deukmejian Wilderness Park, 3429 Markridge Road in La Crescenta. The city lists trick-or-treat hikes at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., hands-on creature crafts, and a look at the park's "mysterious creatures" inside the nature center.
The city's own Halloween wording puts the logistics this way:
"Free Shuttle Service: Leave the broomstick at home! The shuttle runs hourly from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM between Pacific Community Center (501 S. Pacific Ave.) and the park (30-min ride). Funding provided by Metro, a partner in our community."
Families who used to walk to the Pacific Park pumpkin patch can now board a Metro-funded shuttle at the same address for the city's Halloween day in the foothills. When we last checked, the event page still said the RSVP link would be posted in late September, so check the live page before you go.
For something smaller before Halloween, Deukmejian has a Creatures of the Night Hike tonight, October 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. RSVP is required. On Saturday, October 17, Maple Park and Community Center at 820 E. Maple Ave. hosts Maple Inclusive Play Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with play and crafts for children of all abilities.
Montrose Brackets the Month
Honolulu Avenue has events at both ends of October. Montrose Oktoberfest is today, Saturday, October 3, from noon to 10 p.m. on the 2200 to 2400 blocks. Admission and parking are free. Food, drinks, rides and games use paid tickets. The same three blocks host the Montrose Shopping Park Halloween Spooktacular on October 31 from 5 to 7 p.m. That lines up with the Skele-bration shuttle's last run. A family could do the foothill hikes in the afternoon and trick-or-treat on Honolulu at dusk without leaving Glendale.
The first Sunday of November extends the Día de los Muertos thread. Forest Lawn Glendale is holding a free celebration on November 1 from noon to 3 p.m., with folklórico, mariachi, crafts, face painting and food. Between the library on October 24 and Forest Lawn on November 1, Glendale has two free Día de los Muertos celebrations eight days apart.
The Ticketed and Weekday Layer
For weekday mornings with toddlers, The Americana at Brand runs Kids Club on Tuesdays from October 6 through 27, with sessions at 10 and 11 a.m. The lineup is LoveBug & Me, Jammin' with Jared, The BeatBuds and Mini Bop, in that order.
The Alex Theatre at 216 N. Brand Blvd. has paid shows on a separate schedule:
- Georgian National Ballet "Sukhishvili" on October 10
- Mocedades on October 15
- 10,000 Maniacs on October 16
- Little Shop of Horrors, 40th Anniversary, on October 17
- Tony Succar's Viaje Tropical on October 25
What Changed on the Streets Between Events
The downtown blocks around these events have also changed since summer. On September 9, Bhindi Jewelers, a third-generation family jeweler, held a ribbon-cutting for its new store at 519 Americana Way. The store replaces its longtime Glendale Galleria location and is about 9,500 square feet, more than double the old store's 4,300. A short walk east, Urbane Cafe opened its first Glendale location on September 28 at 249 N. Glendale Ave., Suite B, serving scratch-made focaccia, sandwiches and bowls.
Two more are on the way. The RealReal announced a resale store at 230 S. Brand Blvd. with an October 1 opening date. Sandough plans a location at 126 S. Brand Blvd., in the former Mediterranean Delight space, with an estimated opening in late November or early December.
For a sit-down dinner after a Saturday concert, Adana reopened at 6918 San Fernando Road this summer after about 18 months closed. The Los Angeles Times reported an expanded kitchen, a redesigned dining room, new menu items and a full bar.
The next city date on the calendar is the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 3, 2026, followed by Holiday at the Stone Barn on December 12.
At Speranta Group, we keep track of how Glendale's calendar, storefronts and shared spaces change from season to season, because that is a big part of what a home here is worth. If you're curious what your place would be valued at in today's market, request a free home valuation and we'll show you how we arrive at the number.
