On Saturday, October 24, the Delray Beach GreenMarket opens its 31st winter season on the Old School Square campus at 51 N. Swinton Ave. The same campus is also where the 15th Annual Witches of Delray ride finishes, where the Halloween Parade ends, where Kidsfest runs all afternoon, and where the Delray Beach Orchid Society holds its 36th annual sale inside the Vintage Gym.
Atlantic Avenue carries most of the traffic that day, but on foot, by bike and in costume. Nearly everything on the program ends at the same block of Swinton Avenue. Your timing decides what you can easily do, and where you park decides how long the walk is once you're done.
Seven Hours, One Campus
The Downtown Delray Beach Halloween program, the Delray Beach CRA's GreenMarket announcement and the Old School Square events calendar give these times for Saturday, October 24, 2026:
- 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Witches of Delray ride starts at City Hall and ends at Old School Square. It benefits the Achievement Centers for Children & Families.
- 9 a.m. The GreenMarket opens. More than 70 growers, makers and food vendors set up, and SNAP benefits are accepted.
- 10 a.m. Orchids on the Square opens in the Vintage Gym, with blooms, orchid supplies and raffles. It runs through 4 p.m. Sunday.
- 11 a.m. Trick-or-Treating on the Avenue starts along Atlantic Avenue from Swinton to Federal and runs until 1 p.m. Kidsfest opens on the campus at the same time.
- 1 p.m. The Halloween Parade lines up at Atlantic Avenue and NE 5th Avenue and walks west to Old School Square. Per the downtown listing, "You ARE the parade."
- 2 p.m. The GreenMarket closes.
- 3 p.m. Kidsfest ends. The City of Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department runs it, with food, vendors, arts and crafts, and entertainment.
The order matters. Each event finishes at the campus, and they stack up one after another. Witches arrive while the market is filling. Trick-or-treaters work their way west on Atlantic while Kidsfest runs on the grounds. Then the parade brings everyone on the avenue back to Swinton, an hour before the market closes.
The Market's First Two Hours Belong to the Market
From 9 to 11 a.m., the schedule has only the GreenMarket, the tail end of the bike ride, and, from 10, the orchid sale in the Vintage Gym. Atlantic Avenue doesn't host trick-or-treating until 11. That two-hour stretch is the cleanest look at opening day.
Opening day is worth seeing. The CRA started the GreenMarket in 1996, and it runs as two seasons a year. The winter season that opens Saturday continues every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through May 22, 2027. According to the CRA's season announcement, the lineup includes locally grown produce, grass-fed beef, fresh-caught seafood, just-picked citrus, tropical fruit and juice, farm-fresh eggs, artisan cheese and jams, and baked goods. There are gluten-free, vegan and organic options, plus cut flowers and plants. Live music plays through the morning. A food area has vendors cooking on site and seating for people who stay. Space is also set aside for nonprofit vendors and rotating small-business vendors.
If you're buying orchids, you can reach the Vintage Gym when it opens at 10. That leaves time to carry your plants to the car before Atlantic fills with trick-or-treaters. The sale also runs Sunday from 10 to 4, which suits anyone who wants the campus with fewer costumes on it.
The witches are the morning's spectacle. The downtown listing describes hundreds of costumed riders arriving at Old School Square. Registration on the Achievement Centers' 2026 page is $100 per rider. Riders must be at least 16 and sign a waiver.
After 11, Atlantic Is the Walk
From 11 a.m. until the parade reaches the campus, Atlantic Avenue works as a walkway. The Boca Raton Tribune reports that Atlantic Avenue will be closed to traffic during trick-or-treating, which the downtown listing places between Swinton and Federal. That stretch is the main downtown blocks.
The parade also starts on Atlantic, at NE 5th Avenue, east of the campus. Families who trick-or-treat their way east can join the line-up at 1 p.m. and walk back west to Kidsfest. Kidsfest stays open until 3, so after the parade arrives there's still time for crafts and food on the grounds.
The afternoon is organized around the parade. If you come at noon, plan on Atlantic Avenue being the way in and the campus being where you end up, the same as everyone else.
Where the Car Goes
On a day when everything ends on Swinton, location and price matter more than usual. The Downtown Delray Beach parking guide lists one rate structure, with the cheapest options furthest from Atlantic.
| Option | Address | Listed rate |
|---|---|---|
| On-street, Atlantic Avenue | Atlantic Avenue | $4 per hour |
| On-street, nearby side streets | Off Atlantic | $3 per hour |
| Old School Square Garage | 95 NE 1st Ave. | $1.50 per hour |
| Robert Federspiel Garage | 22 SE 1st Ave. | $1.50 per hour |
| 4th & 5th Delray Garage, city-managed spaces | 90 spaces on P2 and part of P3 | $1.50 per hour |
| 4th & 5th Delray Garage, private portion | Same structure | $5 flat day rate plus tax and fees |
| Village Parking Lot | 50 SE 6th Ave. | $2 per hour, four-hour limit |
| Side streets and lots more than a block from Atlantic | Varies | Free |
The Old School Square Garage is on the north side of Atlantic, the same side as the campus. It costs the same per hour as the Federspiel Garage. Federspiel is south of the avenue, so walking to the market from there means crossing Atlantic. After 11, that crossing is through the trick-or-treat route. The Village Parking Lot has a four-hour limit, which works for a morning market trip and doesn't work for a full day from the Witches Ride through Kidsfest.
Free parking more than a block from Atlantic has a new rule attached this fall. The City of Delray Beach began enforcing its sidewalk-parking rule on October 1, 2026, after a warning period from August 31 through September 30. A vehicle blocking a sidewalk can be fined $250. Police Chief Darrell Hunter described the policy as a safety and independent-access measure. The city's notice is the authority on how the rule applies. This post is general information, not legal advice.
Freebee Arrives at 11
The city's on-demand Freebee service could save you from parking at all, but only for the second half of the day. According to the City of Delray Beach downtown shuttle page, Freebee runs Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. You can book a ride by app or phone, or hail one. Its service area runs from I-95 to A1A and from Gulfstream Boulevard to SW 10th Street.
Freebee doesn't start until the Witches Ride window is over, two hours after the GreenMarket opens. If you want the market at 9 or the witches arriving, you'll need your own way in. A ride home after the parade or after Kidsfest closes is easier to arrange.
The Campus Keeps Sharing Its Saturdays
October 24 is the busiest example, but Old School Square will host more than one thing on several days this season. The GreenMarket is back the next Saturday, October 31, which is Halloween, from 9 to 2. The Historical Society's 12th Annual Fall Fest is on the downtown calendar for Friday, October 30. On Sunday, November 1, Coco Market fills the Delray Beach Amphitheatre at Old School Square from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with free yoga, meditation, a drum circle, a sound bath and wellness vendors.
The next double-booked weekend is November 7 and 8. That Saturday's GreenMarket runs alongside Art on the Square, a juried outdoor fine art show presented by the Cornell Art Museum. About 100 artists will set up on the museum's front lawn and along Swinton Avenue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The market, the art show and their visitors will all be on the same block of Swinton.
Plans like these can change. The CRA says that when a citywide event closes the market, the change will be posted on its GreenMarket webpage and social media. Downtown parking rates and Freebee hours are also posted on live city and Downtown Delray Beach pages, so check them before the weekend you plan around.
Downtown also has one fewer familiar dining room heading into the season. Park Tavern at 32 SE Second Ave. served its last meal on Sunday, October 18, after 15 years. The Palm Beach Post reported that the restaurant thanked "the guests, team members and community who made Park Tavern what it is."
At Mastery of RE, we follow downtown Delray Beach week by week, from what opens on Swinton Avenue to which blocks are busiest on a Saturday morning. If you want an address where the GreenMarket is a walk away rather than a parking decision, we'd be glad to help you find the right block. Work With Us.
