On Sunday, Oct. 25, Halloween on Central takes cars off Central Avenue for nearly two miles. The festival runs from Dr. MLK Jr. Street, also called 9th Street, to 31st Street. The two streets that matter most that afternoon sit one block on either side of it. The free SunRunner runs on 1st Avenue South and 1st Avenue North, and those same avenues hold the newest places to open in the Grand Central District.
The festival is in its sixth year and covers 22 blocks of Central Avenue. For anyone who lives nearby, the blocks just north and south of it decide how you get in, where you eat, and how you get home without a car.
Twelve hours without cars for a five-hour festival
The festival itself runs noon to 5 p.m. The Grand Central District lists a much longer traffic closure on Central Avenue from 16th Street to 31st Street, running 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that Sunday. So the street is closed to cars for twelve hours to hold a five-hour party. Two hours of that sit after the last costume contest, while vendors pack up and crews clear the street.
That longer window is what matters if you live in Grand Central or drive through it on Sunday mornings. A brunch reservation on Central at 10 a.m., or a plan to cut across the district at 6 p.m., runs into closed blocks either way.
Visit St. Pete-Clearwater describes the full event footprint as two business districts from Dr. MLK Jr. Street to 31st Street. That's the stretch where people walk the festival, even though the posted closure starts at 16th. The district's event page includes a 2026 parking map. Check it before you head out instead of counting on your usual side-street spot.
The bus line on both sides of the closure
The SunRunner is PSTA's bus rapid transit line between downtown and St. Pete Beach. Through Grand Central, it heads east along 1st Avenue South and west along 1st Avenue North. When Central closes, the bus keeps running on the two avenues just off the festival.
On Oct. 25, all of PSTA's fixed-route bus service is fare-free during the event, according to the Halloween on Central event page. The page names PSTA the festival's official transportation provider. The same page says the SunRunner runs every 15 minutes at peak times in its own designated lane, and that service continues until midnight. The festival wraps at 5 p.m., so the bus keeps running about seven hours after the last trick-or-treat stop.
Because the line runs in opposite directions on opposite avenues, you can ride in on one avenue and home on the other. If you're coming from downtown, the westbound SunRunner on 1st Avenue North drops you on the north side of the festival. You can walk south across Central and catch the eastbound bus on 1st Avenue South for the ride back. Coming from the beach side, it's the same trip in reverse. Stop locations are on PSTA's SunRunner page.
What's new one block off the route
The two avenues the bus uses are also where Grand Central's newest addresses are opening. That makes them worth a stop on a day when Central itself is packed.
| Address | What's there | Where it sits on Oct. 25 |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 1st Ave. S. | Pete's Bagels, new flagship | On the eastbound SunRunner avenue, one block south of Central |
| 1847 1st Ave. N. | Lakeview Farm Store, second location | On the westbound SunRunner avenue, one block north of Central |
| 1650 Central Ave. | The Sterling, event space beside Noble Tavern | On Central, just east of the 16th Street closure line |
Pete's Bagels moved its main store from 2361 1st Avenue South into the former Good Intentions space at 1900 1st Avenue South, four blocks east. I Love the Burg reported that the new flagship opened Oct. 6 and that the team finished the move in under two days. That puts one of the district's busiest morning stops on the avenue the free bus runs along. If you want food before the noon start, check Sunday hours first.
Across Central, Lakeview Farm Store's second location at 1847 1st Avenue North is a 3,540-square-foot space. It's planned with a bakery, a juice kitchen and organic coffee. The Gabber's August business roundup said it was expected to open in mid-October. Check that the doors are open before you build your morning around it.
St. Pete Rising reported on Oct. 7 that The Sterling, an event space next to Noble Tavern at 1650 Central Avenue, has opened. It sits on Central just east of where the posted car closure begins at 16th Street.
All three addresses are in the same few blocks around 16th to 19th streets, a short walk from both SunRunner avenues. Most of the newest businesses in this part of Grand Central sit on the side avenues and the cross streets near the bus line. They aren't strung along the middle of the Central Avenue festival route.
The family zone has new blocks
BOO-levard of Play, the festival's family zone, is back for a second year and doubled to two full blocks. I Love the Burg reported that it has a new spot on the 2600 and 2700 blocks of Central Avenue, with more shade, games, hands-on activities and trick-or-treating. It opens at 11 a.m., an hour before the main festival, and runs until 5 p.m.
Sunshine City with Kids and the Grand Central District present the zone, and St. Petersburg Pediatrics sponsors it. The sponsor is bringing an interactive scavenger hunt tunnel and its mascot, Dr. C Manatee. Other organizations taking part include Great Explorations Children's Museum, NOMADstudio's Art Bus Project, Soccer HQ, Emerson & Friends, Kids Market, Wonder Studio and The James Museum. More activities are still being announced.
The location matters for getting there. The 2600 and 2700 blocks sit near the 31st Street end of the closure, about ten blocks from the 16th Street line. With small children, getting off the SunRunner on the western end of the route keeps the walk short. The 11 a.m. start also gives families an hour in the zone before the full festival crowd arrives at noon.
What fills the rest of the route
Between the family zone and the eastern blocks, Visit St. Pete-Clearwater lists these festival features:
- The Voodoo Vendor Village, with more than 100 vendors
- Food truck hubs
- Strolling performers, DJs and music
- Trick-or-treating and candy stops
- Costume contests and dance contests
- Wiener dog races and dog costume contests at the Dog Bar
The event is free, and dogs in costume are welcome, according to the same listing.
The afternoon, in order
Put together, the closure times, the bus schedule and the family zone's new spot give the day a simple order:
- Before 7 a.m. Move any car parked on Central between 16th and 31st streets. The posted closure runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Morning. Get breakfast on a side avenue. Pete's Bagels is at 1900 1st Avenue South, and Lakeview Farm Store is planned for 1847 1st Avenue North.
- 11 a.m. BOO-levard of Play opens on the 2600 and 2700 blocks for families who want to arrive early.
- Noon to 5 p.m. The full festival runs from Dr. MLK Jr. Street to 31st Street.
- After 5 p.m. Ride home free on the SunRunner. It runs until midnight, every 15 minutes at peak, along 1st Avenue North heading west and 1st Avenue South heading east.
- 7 p.m. Central Avenue reopens to cars.
After Sunday
Grand Central's fall calendar doesn't end with Halloween. Indie Flea holds its next free market on Nov. 8 at Campbell Park, 601 14th St. S. The SHINE Mural Festival returns in November, with murals across downtown and the surrounding arts districts. The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance's own listings give two different date ranges for SHINE, so confirm the dates with the organizers before you plan a mural walk.
If you're out on 1st Avenue on Oct. 25 and wondering what living near it is like every other week of the year, that's the kind of street-by-street question I like to answer. Reach out to Drift Home Realty and schedule a free consultation. We can walk the blocks around Grand Central together, festival or not.
