Anoka's Parade Already Happened. Saturday Night Belongs to the Lions Tent and the Porches.

Anoka's Grande Day Parade ran on Saturday, Oct. 24. It covered its usual 1.5 miles, starting at State Street and West Main Street, running down Main Street and 5th Avenue, and finishing at South Street and Military Road. In most years when Halloween lands on a Saturday, that parade would still be ahead of us. This year Halloween is Saturday, Oct. 31, and the parade is already over.

So Oct. 31, 2026 looks different from 2015 and 2020, the last two years Halloween fell on a Saturday. In both of those years Anoka Halloween held the parade on the holiday itself. In 2020 it ran as a drive-thru because of the pandemic. This Saturday there is no parade route. The night is held up by two things: a service club's tent near City Hall and the homes entered in the House Decorating Contest.

How the parade ended up a week early

The change was settled back in spring. ABC Newspapers reported that the Anoka City Council approved Anoka Halloween's request at its March 16 meeting. The organization had asked to move the 2026 Grande Day Parade to Saturday, Oct. 24, because Halloween falls on a Saturday this year.

The move drew pushback from inside City Hall. According to the same report, Police Chief Andy Youngquist urged the council to keep the parade on Oct. 31. He argued that holding it on Halloween would keep the city's biggest event demands inside the two weekends staff are used to managing. He also said the 2015 parade on Halloween had worked well.

Anoka Halloween's case was about people. Board member Michelle Austin-Dehn told the council that the organization's 2025 experience showed Halloween itself increases crowd density and puts more demand on emergency personnel. She said volunteer capacity was the group's biggest concern. Ambassador Coronation follows the parade, so volunteers could be at Anoka High School until 10 p.m. on a night when families are out trick-or-treating. She also said the organization's concerns about the social district on Halloween remained.

Council members who supported the move pointed to how hard it already is to recruit volunteers. Mayor Erik Skogquist noted that Halloween will not fall on a Saturday again for another 11 years. City Manager Greg Lee said staff would begin working on proposals to make Oct. 31 the best event possible.

Moving the parade moved the coronation along with it. The Anoka Halloween Ambassador Coronation took place the night of Oct. 24 at Anoka High School, 3939 7th Ave. The volunteer conflict Austin-Dehn described is off the holiday entirely this year.

The tent near City Hall has carried every night since

Once the parade crowd went home, the most consistent public gathering place downtown was the Anoka Lions Halloween tent. Anoka Halloween's calendar places it next to City Hall at 2015 1st Ave. The Lions list the venue as 2nd Avenue and Jackson Street.

The week after the parade shows what the tent has turned into:

• Sunday, Oct. 25: Chris Olson's Memories of Elvis Tribute Show for $10, plus free karaoke
• Monday, Oct. 26: A free movie night with a Rumriver Art Center art project
• Tuesday, Oct. 27: Game show night from 7 to 10 p.m., listed by the Lions as a Social District event
• Wednesday, Oct. 28: The Boos and Bags Tournament, $50, with doors at 4:30 p.m., bags at 5 p.m. and bracket play starting by 9 p.m.

Rumriver Art Center ran its own event that Monday too. Its "Three Pumpkins" paint night, a collaboration with Anoka Halloween Inc., took place from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2665 4th Ave. It was for ages 16 and up and cost $45.

None of those nights needed a street closure or a parade permit. Since Oct. 24, that is how Anoka's Halloween has worked: one tent, a different lineup every night, all within a block or two of City Hall.

Thursday through Saturday, in order

From Thursday, Oct. 29, through Halloween, here is everything currently listed, in order:

1. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Lions tent. "Not your typical BINGO!" Free.
2. Friday, Oct. 30, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The second round of public viewing for the House Decorating Contest.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31, 9:30 a.m., at the Lions tent. KILLER WORKOUTS!, a free aerobic session led by Kelsey.
4. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Anoka Halloween gift shop is open.
5. Saturday, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The last night of House Decorating Contest viewing.
6. Saturday, 7 p.m. to midnight, at the Lions tent. Neil Turner plays 7 to 9 p.m., then Good For Gary from 9 p.m. to midnight, its third straight year at the tent. A costume contest follows at midnight with a $750 first prize. Admission is listed at $20.

The tent opens Saturday with a workout and closes after midnight with a costume contest. It is the only listed event that runs from morning to night on the holiday.

The porches are the other half of the night

Most of Saturday evening's Halloween takes place on porches and lawns, not downtown. The House Decorating Contest was open to addresses within a 5-mile radius of Anoka City Hall, so the displays are spread across the area rather than gathered in one spot. Fifth Avenue Dental and First Student Anoka Bus Company sponsor the contest.

The two viewing windows line up with the two big weekends. The first, Oct. 23 and 24, matched the Pumpkin Bowl and the parade. The second, Oct. 30 and 31, matches the holiday. Both run 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

That 9:30 p.m. end time matters on a Saturday Halloween. Saturday viewing overlaps with trick-or-treat hours, so the same sidewalks will carry both kids collecting candy and people driving or walking between contest homes.

The contest gives each display a scare-zone rating, which helps when planning a route with kids along:

Anoka Halloween posts the participating homes and their ratings on its House Decorating Contest page. For anything the city adds for Saturday night, check the City of Anoka's Halloween Events page.

Where the pumpkins go afterward

The season's brochure lists one more event after Saturday, hosted by the City of Anoka, and it starts on the holiday. The DIY Pumpkin Smash runs Oct. 31 through Nov. 8 at Rick Sorenson Park, 2015 State Ave. Pumpkins can be dropped off during daylight hours for composting, with decorations and candles removed first.

The season opened Oct. 4 with the Great Pumpkin Expo and its giant pumpkin weigh-off. It ends with pumpkins going to compost at a city park the week after Halloween.

Halloween won't fall on a Saturday in Anoka again for 11 years, so this split between parade weekend and the holiday itself is a one-time setup. The tent near City Hall has its last Lions night on Saturday, and the porches are lit until 9:30 p.m.

If Saturday's walk between contest homes has you thinking about your own house, Epic Realty Inc works out of downtown Anoka, a few blocks from all of this. Get your free home valuation whenever you want a local read on what your place is worth.