The City of San Dimas Halloween Spooktacular is on Saturday, October 24, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. The city's announcement highlights a "NEW LOCATION: Downtown San Dimas." The event page puts the address at 121 N. San Dimas Ave. That address is the Walker House, built in 1887 as the San Dimas Hotel. On December 5, the same building becomes the North Pole for the Holiday Extravaganza. Starting this year, both of the season's big community nights happen at the same historic corner.
Where Halloween used to happen
For the past few years, the Spooktacular was held at the civic end of Bonita Avenue.
| Year | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | A Saturday in late October | San Dimas City Hall, with the trunk-or-treat line at East and Second streets |
| 2024 | October 19 | Civic Center, 245 E. Bonita Ave. |
| 2025 | October 18 | San Dimas Civic Center Plaza, 245 E. Bonita Ave. |
| 2026 | October 24 | 121 N. San Dimas Ave. |
La Verne's Campus Times covered the 2023 event at City Hall. The 2024 and 2025 listings both used the Civic Center address, which is also where the Wednesday night farmers market sets up all summer. The city's 2026 announcement doesn't say why the event moved. It just names the new location.
If your family has gone to the Spooktacular before, the location you've been heading to every October is now the wrong one.
What sits at 121 N. San Dimas Ave.
According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Walker House was built in 1887 as the San Dimas Hotel during a short-lived land boom along the Santa Fe Railway. When the boom went bust, the hotel never opened. James W. Walker bought the building in 1889, and it was home to six generations of his family through the 1970s. It's listed on both the National Register and the California Register of historic places. So a building designed to welcome crowds that never arrived now draws crowds for two city events a year.
The building is also a working restaurant. The city lists Vincenzo's Terrazza at 121 N. San Dimas Ave. The restaurant's own site keeps a current events calendar for that address. So this year, the Spooktacular takes place around a historic building with a dining room open inside it. The Civic Center plaza can't offer that.
The Saturday itself
The event is free. These are the main pieces the city has announced:
- Candy on Elm Street, a trunk-or-treat trail lined with decorated vehicles. The city treats the name as a theme and hasn't published a street route, so follow the event signs when you arrive.
- A costume contest with categories for different age groups and prizes for the winners.
- Food for purchase from local vendors and the Downtown Farmers Market.
- Games, Halloween photo spots and what the city calls "many more spooky surprises."
- An award for the most creative trunk, presented during the event.
The farmers market mention needs some context. The San Dimas Farmers Market runs Wednesdays from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m., April through mid-September, in the City Hall parking lot at 245 E. Bonita Ave. Its site says the 2026 season has ended and it will return in Spring 2027. The city's wording means market vendors will be selling food at the Spooktacular. It doesn't mean the weekly market is open that night or at its usual lot.
The week that builds up to it
The Spooktacular is the end of a longer Halloween stretch run by the city, and part of it happens in residents' front yards. The Halloween House Decorating Contest is taking registrations now. Judges will visit homes October 19 through 21, between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. The city will announce the winner October 23. The winning home gets a commemorative yard sign and is recognized at the Spooktacular the next evening.
That gives a decorated house in San Dimas a clear timeline. The lights and props need to be up by the evening of the 19th, the judges come by for three nights, and the winner is named on the 23rd and celebrated downtown on the 24th.
Families planning trunks for Candy on Elm Street can find the application and registration on the same city page.
Before the costumes, and after them
Two downtown businesses have plans on the calendar around the Spooktacular.
Bonita Coffee Co. at 143 E. Bonita Ave. is one of downtown's newest independent shops. In September, the Campus Times reported on its menu of coffee, lattes, matcha, cold brew and teas, along with croissants, cheese danishes, blueberry bars and banana nut bread. Drinks ran $3 to $7.50 and pastries $3 to $7. Owner Kayleen Akimoto worked as a barista for years before opening it. She told the Campus Times, "I wanted to make one that felt like it was a part of the community." The shop is on the Civic Center block of Bonita, so the walk from coffee to the Spooktacular takes you through the same downtown the event moved into.
Vincenzo's Terrazza, inside the Walker House, has its own Halloween event six days after the city's. Night of the Owl is a masquerade on Friday, October 30. Dinner service runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and includes a silent auction and a costume contest. Dinner service is $100 per person, not including tax and gratuity. Outdoor patio tickets are $65 per person, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. The restaurant says every ticket sold goes directly to a local wildlife shelter. Earlier in the month, the same page lists National Dessert Day on Wednesday, October 14, from 11:00 a.m. until just before midnight.
That means two costume contests at one address in one week. The free city contest on the 24th is for families. The ticketed masquerade on the 30th raises money for wildlife care.
December comes back to the same corner
The Walker House stays in use after Halloween. The city's 16th Annual Holiday Extravaganza is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. downtown. This year the event is laid out as four themed "lands" along Bonita Avenue, and the Walker House is one of them. The city's 2026 sponsorship packet also names the Walker House as the site of the North Pole activities.
| Land | Location | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| North Pole | Walker House | Crafts with Mrs. Claus from 3:00 p.m., free selfies with Santa, dueling snow slides, treats and games |
| Elf Village | San Dimas Ave. and Bonita Ave. | Free holiday crafts and games, activities hosted by local nonprofits |
| Winter Wonderland | Monte Vista Ave. and Bonita Ave. | Holiday Vendor Market and the Main Stage with local bands and dance groups |
| Grinch-Ville | Rhoads Park and Bonita Ave. | Grinch photo area, Grinch storytime at 7:15 p.m., a three-lane slide and a beer garden featuring local breweries |
The "Let It Snow" parade starts at 4:00 p.m. The tree lighting is at 6:00 p.m. on the Main Stage.
Elf Village takes the San Dimas Avenue intersection, and the North Pole sits at the Walker House. That puts the start of the December event on the same block where Halloween happens six weeks earlier. A family going to both in 2026 will spend the two biggest downtown nights of the fall within sight of the same 1887 building.
The house-decorating contest returns in December too. Holiday judging runs December 15 through 17, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., and the city announces winners on Friday, December 18.
The calendar, in order
- Wednesday, October 14: National Dessert Day at Vincenzo's Terrazza.
- Monday, October 19 through Wednesday, October 21: Halloween house judging, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Friday, October 23: Halloween house contest winner announced.
- Saturday, October 24: Halloween Spooktacular at 121 N. San Dimas Ave., 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
- Friday, October 30: Night of the Owl masquerade at Vincenzo's Terrazza, dinner 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Saturday, December 5: Holiday Extravaganza downtown, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., with the North Pole at the Walker House.
- Tuesday, December 15 through Thursday, December 17: Holiday house judging, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Friday, December 18: Holiday house contest winners announced.
At The Martindale Group, we follow San Dimas's downtown calendar closely because it shapes what the city feels like from week to week. We also believe in giving back to the places our clients call home, which is why a wildlife fundraiser at a historic building stands out to us. If you'd like to talk about how downtown San Dimas is changing and what that means for your street, schedule a free consultation and we'll share what we're seeing.
