First Street Trick or Treat in Snohomish 2026: Plan Your Route

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026. Historic Downtown Snohomish Association's First Street Trick or Treat runs from 3 to 5 p.m. that afternoon, and it is set up as a planned loop. Families walk west on the north side of First Street and east on the south side, in the same direction as the traffic beside them. Police will be at key intersections, and some crosswalks will be closed for the afternoon. Last year the event fell on a Friday. This year it is a weekend afternoon, and the two-hour window stays the same.

Once you know how the loop works, the rest of the afternoon is easier to plan: where you start, where you cross, and where to meet anyone who gets separated.

How the Loop Works

HDSA says the City of Snohomish is planning this year's event with the Snohomish Police Department, Fire District 4, and the Snohomish Lions Club. Here is what the 2026 event page lists:

1. Hours: Saturday, October 31, 3 to 5 p.m., downtown Snohomish.
2. North side of First Street: walk westbound.
3. South side of First Street: walk eastbound.
4. Intersections: police stationed at key crossings to manage traffic.
5. Crosswalks: some closed temporarily to improve flow and visibility.
6. Volunteers: Snohomish Lions Club members stationed throughout downtown to help keep people moving.

The page sums up the reason in one line:

To help with crowd movement, families will be encouraged to walk westbound on the north side of First Street and eastbound on the south side, following the direction of traffic.

Because some crosswalks are closed, you can't zigzag across First Street to reach a favorite shop the way you might on a normal Saturday. If you park on one side of downtown and that shop is on the opposite side, heading the opposite direction, you'll walk most of the loop to get there. Families with small children who tire out after a block or two should pick their starting side before they leave home.

The 2026 page doesn't give parking advice or list street closures beyond the crosswalk notice. If a traffic notice comes out closer to the date, it will have the final word on closures.

What Last Year's City Plan Shows About the Route

The City of Snohomish posts special event applications. The 2025 First Street Trick or Treat filing gives a closer look at how the afternoon was run, as long as you treat it as last year's plan and not a promise for this year.

In 2025 the event ran on First Street from Avenue D to Cedar Avenue, with a marked path and specific crosswalks to control traffic. Businesses that aren't directly on First Street were invited to set up tents on the Carnegie green, and Bloodworks Northwest parked a van on the Carnegie patio for a community blood drive. City staff put down arrow decals showing the walking direction on the Wednesday before Halloween.

Here is where people were posted that afternoon:

The city's traffic control plan also closed Cedar Avenue between First Street and Pearl Street from 2 to 5:30 p.m., starting an hour before trick-or-treating began. The application estimated 2,000 participants, with 15 staff and volunteers working the event. That number was a forecast written before the event, not a count taken at it. Still, it shows the scale the city plans for: thousands of people on a few blocks of sidewalk, with about 15 people helping them move.

None of these 2025 positions or closures have been confirmed for 2026. The 2025 plan does show how the afternoon has been built. The route runs between Cedar Avenue and Avenue D, the Cedar end at the Carnegie works as a staging area, and the busiest crossings get a police officer. If the 2026 setup follows the same pattern, the Carnegie green on Cedar is the easiest place in downtown to pick as a meeting spot.

The Same Corner Carries the Rest of the Week

The Carnegie corner matters before Saturday too. The Snohomish Farmers Market sets up at Cedar and Pearl, and its navigation address is 105 Cedar Avenue. Its 2026 season ends Thursday, October 29, two days before trick-or-treating. Regular hours are 3 to 7 p.m., rain or shine, and the market notes that October hours may be shortened or adjusted. The market is marking its 36th year in 2026.

So the last Thursday of the market and the Saturday trick-or-treat use the same block within three days. If you're picking up apples and squash for the weekend, Thursday is the last market day this year. The next time that corner fills up, the street will be full of costumes.

Other events earlier in October lead up to it:

• Saturday, October 10, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The NOAH Center's Wag-O-Ween at Haywire Brewing in Snohomish, with a dog costume contest, a trick-or-treat walk, a photo booth, and event merchandise. The same event runs at Legion Park in Arlington at the same time. The Snohomish County Tribune lists registration at $25 for one person and one dog, including a T-shirt, map, dog bandana, and goodie bag.
• Thursday, October 22, 5 to 8 p.m.: Snoho Art Walk, when participating shops, venues, studios, and galleries stay open late at locations around town. The city's listing notes the map may not be complete until the week or day of the event.
• Friday, October 23, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: "Celebrate Fall: Make a Leaf Luminary," a school-age craft program at Snohomish Library. Registration opens October 9.

Wag-O-Ween is the only one of these built around costumes, and it's for dogs. That gives a family pet a costume outing three weeks before First Street, when the sidewalks will be much more crowded than a brewery patio on a Saturday morning.

The Sunday After Is a Last Chance Too

November 1 is the Sunday after trick-or-treating, and it's the last open day of the season at the Blackman House Museum, 118 Avenue B. The Snohomish Historical Society opens the museum on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m., March through November 1, with a $5 suggested donation. In late September the society invited volunteers and interested members to decorate the Blackman House for Halloween. The society hasn't advertised a special Halloween program, so plan on a regular Sunday visit. It's also the last regular Sunday visit until next March.

Avenue B is also one of the cross streets where police were stationed during last year's trick-or-treat. If your children noticed the house on Saturday afternoon, you can bring them back the next day, when the street is quiet.

After that, downtown moves straight into the holidays. HDSA's Holiday Open House runs Friday, November 6, from 4 to 8 p.m., with extended shopping hours, treats and drinks, and live music. It continues Saturday, November 7, from noon to 8 p.m. HDSA says participating shops and performers will be announced. The free tree lighting returns to the Carnegie Building at 105 Cedar Avenue on Saturday, November 28. Santa arrives at 3 p.m., a musical countdown begins at 4:45, and the tree is lit at 5.

That puts the Carnegie corner at the center of downtown's calendar three times in about a month: the last farmers market on October 29, trick-or-treat staging on October 31, and the tree lighting on November 28. HDSA notes that event details can change, so check the event pages the week of each date.

If you live near downtown and these busy weeks have you thinking about what your own front porch says to everyone walking by, Wendy Bremer is happy to walk through it with you. Her free home valuation and staging consultation is a calm, no-pressure way to see what your home is worth and how it could present, whenever you're ready to ask.