Kennewick's Halloween Week Runs From Kennewick Avenue to the River

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. In Kennewick, though, public trick-or-treating doesn't all happen on that one night. Three community events land on three different days over eight days, in three different parts of town. Each one gives kids a different kind of trick-or-treat. One is a storefront crawl downtown, one is a trunk-or-treat by the river, and one is a costumed run through a park.

If you've been trying to plan the week around a single October 31 neighborhood walk, the calendar offers more choices than that. The event that has changed the most since last fall is the riverfront one. This summer a brewery and an art studio opened at Columbia Gardens, and the Port started work on a family garden, so the Friday trunk-or-treat can now be the start of a whole evening instead of a quick stop.

Here's how the week lines up.

Saturday, Oct. 24, downtown: plan around the contest schedule

The Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership's Boo Bash & Trick or Treat Safe Street runs all day on Saturday, October 24. The street festival goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the trick-or-treating part only runs from 3 to 5 p.m. During those two hours, businesses along Kennewick Avenue and participating street vendors hand out treats. That keeps the candy stop on a single, walkable stretch of storefronts.

The costume contest is what shapes the day. According to the partnership's Halloween page, there are categories for pets, kids, adults, and groups or families. Judging happens at 1 p.m. and winners are announced at 4 p.m. So a family entering the contest has three hours between judging and results. Trick-or-treating opens right in the middle of that gap. Arrive before 1, look around the booths from local artists, small businesses, food vendors and community partners, and listen to the DJ. Then start down Kennewick Avenue at 3, and you'll still be on the street when the winners are read out.

If you're only there for candy, aim for the 3 to 5 window. If someone in your house has been working on a costume since September, you'll want to be there by 1.

The event page doesn't list street closures in its text, so check the map on the partnership's site before you pick a parking spot.

Friday at Columbia Gardens has grown into a full evening

Six days later, the action moves to the river. The Port of Kennewick's 3rd Annual Trunk-or-Treat at Columbia Gardens Artisan Village runs Friday, October 30, from 4 to 8 p.m. The Port gives the event address as 325 E. Columbia Gardens Way. It's the only event this week that goes past dark.

On June 17, the Port held a grand opening for two new Columbia Gardens tenants. They join a lineup that had been mostly wineries and food trucks.

Wheat Head on the Water is at 313 E. Columbia Gardens Way #120. Its posted hours are Wednesday through Friday, 2 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. On October 30, those Friday hours start two hours before the trunk-or-treat and end an hour after it. Wheat Head serves its own beer and seltzer, guest local cider and wine, and nonalcoholic options. It also lets guests bring in food from the plaza nearby. The taproom is adults only, so it works for the grown-ups' half of the evening and not for the kids.

Brandi Dayton Art is next door at #110. It offers private oil painting, watercolor and mixed-media classes, plus a gallery and gift shop.

Then there's the food plaza, which turns trick-or-treating into dinner. The Port's vendor directory lists Botanas Culichi, Cuba Libre, Frida's Mexican Grill and La Bahia Mexican Food at 325 E. Columbia Gardens Way, with Swampy's BBQ at 215 E. Columbia Gardens Way. Truck schedules and menus change, and the Port tells visitors to check with each vendor directly. Look at their pages before you count on a particular truck that Friday.

The two wineries that started the village are still listed. Bartholomew Winery and Monarcha Winery opened tasting rooms at Columbia Gardens in 2018 and sit at 421 E. Columbia Drive, in Buildings B and A. Monarcha's posted Friday hours run noon to 6 p.m. So its tasting room overlaps with the first two hours of the trunk-or-treat.

The outdoor space that wasn't there last October

In late June, the Tri-City Herald reported that the Port was putting in a small outdoor gathering spot for families next to Wheat Head. Wheat Head had asked for it so guests with children, who can't go inside the 21-and-over taproom, would have somewhere to sit. The Herald said the garden would have trees, a picnic table, hop vines, a shade structure and twinkle lights, and would be open to all Columbia Gardens guests. Before you plan on it for Friday, check with the Port that it's set up.

The Port also maintains a 0.4-mile waterfront nature trail that connects to the 23-mile Sacagawea Heritage Trail. It includes a path beside the pond that works for walking, biking and strollers.

Put together, here's one way the Friday could go:

1. Get there close to 4 p.m. for the trunks, while it's still light.
2. Walk the pond path before sunset if the kids still have energy.
3. Pick up dinner from the plaza trucks.
4. Eat at the family garden with the kids, if it's ready, or at Wheat Head on an adults-only night out.
5. Head home before 8, or, without kids, stay until Wheat Head closes at 9.

None of the other public events this week can stretch into an evening like that. Downtown wraps up at 5 and the Zombie Dash is over by noon.

Saturday morning, the Zombie Dash ends the week at Highlands Grange Park

On Halloween itself, Kennewick Parks & Recreation puts on a free Zombie Dash from 10 a.m. to noon at Highlands Grange Park, 1600 S. Union St. According to the city, the course has themed areas, there are prizes, and family costumes are encouraged. Turner & Townsend Heery presents the event in partnership with The Big Bro Joe Foundation. Vivid Imaginations will do face painting, and A Beverage Co. and Deez Donuts are listed as vendors.

Watch the deadline on this one. Pre-registration is required and closes Monday, October 26. That's two days after Boo Bash and four days before the trunk-or-treat. If your plan is to decide after downtown, you'll have the rest of the weekend to sign up.

Because it ends at noon, the Zombie Dash still leaves Halloween afternoon and evening open for trick-or-treating in your own neighborhood. Kids who want to do every format can work the storefronts on the 24th, the trunks on the 30th, and a costumed course plus their own street on the 31st.

What the week adds up to

Lay the three events side by side and each part of Kennewick plays a different role. Downtown has the daytime crowd and the contest. Highlands Grange Park has the morning run. The river has the evening. Since the June openings, the river is also the one place where you can trick-or-treat and have dinner in the same spot after dark.

That fits a pattern we wrote about this summer in Kennewick's late-August map, when the city's center of gravity was already drifting toward the waterfront. October is following the same path. The Port is calling this the third annual trunk-or-treat, but it's the first one held with Wheat Head pouring and Brandi Dayton's studio open next door.

Once the costumes are put away, the next big date on the Kennewick calendar is November 14. That's when the 45th annual Tri-Cities Wine Festival runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Three Rivers Convention Center. If the painting tables at Columbia Gardens caught your attention, Brandi Dayton Art's class catalog already has November sessions on it. For more on the city between events, our Kennewick neighborhood page keeps it all in one place.

I'll be out in Kennewick this week too, so if you see me, tell me which night your crew picked. And if a fall afternoon at Columbia Gardens has you wondering what a home near the river trail costs these days, Camren Jones can walk you through it whenever you're ready. Let's Connect.