Last October the Glendale Kiwanis Club stepped off at 6:30 on a Friday evening. Costumed marchers walked from 70th Street and Myrtle Avenue to the Stop & Shop parking lot at 65th Street, according to QNS. This year Halloween lands on a Saturday. The club's calendar lists the parade for October 31 from 1 to 4 p.m. It starts at that same Stop & Shop, 64-66 Myrtle Ave., and ends at St. Pancras Church.
So the finish line is now the starting line, and the walk happens in daylight. Moving the parade to the afternoon also changes everything around it. Glendale's Halloween this year spans two Saturdays of daytime events and two Sundays of free music in Forest Park, all inside nine days.
The start line is last year's finish line
QNS says the parade dates back to 1966 and calls it New York City's oldest Halloween parade. For years it ended in the Stop & Shop lot near 65th Street. The 2026 listing turns it around. Marchers gather at Stop & Shop, 64-66 Myrtle Ave., and head toward St. Pancras Roman Catholic Church at 72-22 68th Street.
The club's October newsletter shows the same route. Its calendar of events lists "Oct 31 Halloween Parade @ Myrtle Ave to St Pancras." The newsletter gives no time, so the 1 p.m. start comes from the club's website calendar alone. If you're planning around it, check the club's site the week of the parade.
The parts families care about should look familiar. Last year, QNS reported, kids could enter a costume contest for prizes, every child got a Halloween goodie bag, and Kiwanis members marched in costume with Halloween music playing over speakers.
A 1 p.m. start lines up with Saturday at Atlas Park
A Friday 6:30 start meant a dash home from work, dinner squeezed in somewhere, and little ones out after dark. A Saturday 1 p.m. start fits into the day instead, and Glendale's busiest Saturday spot is already open by then.
The Atlas Park Farmers Market runs on Center Green at The Shops at Atlas Park every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine. The mall lists the season through November 16. On October 31, that leaves a morning for the market at 8000 Cooper Ave. before you head up to Myrtle Avenue for a 1 p.m. step-off. The market's last hour overlaps the parade's first, so come early if you want to catch both.
The weekend before follows the same daytime pattern. On Saturday, October 24, The Shops at Atlas Park hosts a Trick or Treat and Fall Vendor Event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It features pumpkin decorating, live music and games. It runs during the farmers market's hours, so a single trip to Cooper Avenue covers both.
That gives Glendale two back-to-back Halloween Saturdays that both wrap up by mid-afternoon. One is at the mall on Cooper Avenue. The other is on Myrtle Avenue, run by the same club that has organized the parade for decades.
The nine days at a glance
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Trick or Treat and Fall Vendor Event | The Shops at Atlas Park, 8000 Cooper Ave. | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Atlas Park Farmers Market | Center Green, The Shops at Atlas Park | 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Wayne Tucker and the Bad Mothas, Tribute to Marshal and Ernie Royal | Oak Ridge, Forest Park | 3 to 4 p.m. |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | intenSati outdoor fitness class | Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South, Forest Park | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Restoration Fridays at Forest Park | Buddy Monument, Forest Park | 10 a.m. to noon |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Atlas Park Farmers Market | Center Green, The Shops at Atlas Park | 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Glendale Kiwanis Halloween Parade | Stop & Shop, 64-66 Myrtle Ave., to St. Pancras Church | 1 to 4 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Day of the Dead Celebration featuring Mariachi Real de Mexico | Oak Ridge, Forest Park | 3 to 4 p.m. |
The club behind it runs Myrtle Avenue's calendar at both ends of the year
The parade has the club's name on it because the Kiwanis Club of Glendale does a lot of the organizing on this stretch of Myrtle. In July, QNS reported that the club sponsored Glendale's annual Myrtle Avenue Street Festival on Sunday, July 19. The festival ran between Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue with more than 40 vendors and free admission. The Halloween parade closes the other end of that calendar on the same avenue.
The club also meets along the parade route. Its newsletter says members meet every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Züm Stammtisch, 69-46 Myrtle Ave. The October board meeting is listed for Tuesday, October 27, at Yerman's Irish Pub, 70-26 88th St., four days before the parade.
Since the club runs the parade, the club's calendar is where any change will show up first. The 2026 time and route above come from its website and newsletter, so check the Glendale Kiwanis site for updates in the days before October 31.
Forest Park picks up the Sundays
The Saturdays belong to Cooper and Myrtle avenues. The Sundays on either side of the parade are at Forest Park, where NYC Parks has scheduled two free concerts at Oak Ridge.
On Sunday, October 25, Wayne Tucker and the Bad Mothas play a tribute to Marshal and Ernie Royal from 3 to 4 p.m. One week later, on Sunday, November 1, the Day of the Dead Celebration featuring Mariachi Real de Mexico takes the same spot at the same hour. Since the concert is the day after the parade, it makes an easy last stop for the weekend.
The weekdays in between have smaller options. The free intenSati class meets at Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South on Wednesday, October 28, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. On Friday, October 30, Restoration Fridays brings volunteers to the Buddy Monument from 10 a.m. to noon for nature and gardening work. The full list is on the NYC Parks Forest Park events page.
Put together, the weekend days run like this:
- Saturday, October 24: market and trick-or-treating at Atlas Park, all finished by 2 p.m.
- Sunday, October 25: jazz at Oak Ridge at 3 p.m.
- Saturday, October 31: market in the morning, then the parade from Stop & Shop to St. Pancras starting at 1 p.m.
- Sunday, November 1: Mariachi Real de Mexico at Oak Ridge at 3 p.m.
Everything on those four weekend days wraps up by late afternoon, and the parade, which QNS says started in 1966, is now one of them.
Jennifer Scala has called Queens home since childhood. She keeps track of the neighborhood calendar the same way she tracks the market, and she's happy to talk through what's coming up on your block. If you're thinking about your next step in Glendale or nearby, reach out to Jennifer Scala to schedule a free consultation.
