Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the next two Sundays belong to Sleepy Hollow itself. On November 1 the village marks the 250th anniversary with Tarrytown, holds a free Día de los Muertos celebration at the top of Beekman Avenue and closes the Rivertown Pumpkin Trail. On November 8 the Sleepy Hollow Street Fair finally happens after two rainouts and closes Beekman to cars for the day.
Everyone is welcome at all of them, and most come from inside the village and its neighbor: a local sustainability group, a village arts committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and quilts made by residents. The things to know are the order of the day, where each event sits, and what is new on Beekman since spring.
November 1 starts at the water
The joint Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown 250th Commemoration is free and runs from noon to 4 p.m. It marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. The organizer listing names Sustainable Sleepy Hollow, and the Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council's event page lays out the day.
- Noon, Sleepy Hollow waterfront. The day opens with a reenacted British landing in Sleepy Hollow. A reconciliation ceremony follows, about how Westchester came together after the war to heal its divisions and rebuild.
- The procession. A parade heads south along RiverWalk into Tarrytown.
- Afternoon, Pierson Park. Tarrytown's Pierson Park on West Main Street hosts historical interpreters, performances, music and food trucks.
The program also includes the dedication of two quilts made by residents, one for each village hall. Tarrytown's municipal newsletter calls it a joint-village event and gives [email protected] as the contact for questions.
The Village of Sleepy Hollow's own calendar lists the commemoration as an all-day event at Patriots Park. The organizer's listing gives the noon to 4 p.m. window and the RiverWalk-to-Pierson-Park route. If you plan to join the procession partway, go by the organizer's schedule and confirm at the email above.
The geography is what makes the day useful for a resident. The commemoration starts in Sleepy Hollow and ends in Tarrytown, and the afternoon event that comes next is back on Beekman.
The afternoon moves up to Beekman Avenue
The village's free Día de los Muertos celebration runs from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Municipal Parking Lot at 21 Beekman Avenue. The Village calendar listing includes mariachi and traditional dancers, a DJ and live music, a magician, free face painting, children's activities, and local food and craft vendors.
The two events overlap by two hours. The commemoration ends in Pierson Park at 4, and Día keeps going until 6. You can follow the procession south in the early afternoon and still reach the Beekman lot for the music and the vendors before it ends. Families with younger children may prefer the reverse: start at Día around 2 and skip the long walk.
Last day for the pumpkins
November 1 is also the last day of the Rivertown Pumpkin Trail, which has run since October 1. It is a regional public-art display of pumpkins decorated by artists. In Sleepy Hollow it is presented by the Village's Art & Placemaking Committee and Friends of Sleepy Hollow. According to Tarrytown's October 9 newsletter, Sleepy Hollow has 10 pumpkins placed around the village, each with a plaque and a QR code about the artist and their inspiration.
If you passed the pumpkins all month without stopping, the afternoon of the 1st is your last chance. A walk between the waterfront and Beekman passes through the part of the village where the display is set up.
November 8 closes the street for the season finale
The Sleepy Hollow Street Fair had a rough fall. River Journal reported that two weekend rainouts in a row pushed it to Sunday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. River Journal says the fair draws about 20,000 people to the village each year. Beekman Avenue will be closed to cars so visitors can walk among arts and crafts stalls, food trucks and local shops with their doors propped open.
The Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce organizes the fair. Its Street Fair page lists more than 145 vendors selling arts and crafts, food and drinks, along with local businesses, family entertainment and a schedule of performers.
The Chamber has redefined the event for its new date. In the River Journal story, Chamber Executive Director Lucia Ballas-Traynor described it this way:
"We're embracing the date change and turning this into a grand finale for autumn: keeping the fun of Spooky Season alive while kicking off early holiday shopping and festivities."
So the fair is now the start of holiday shopping as much as the end of fall. River Journal and the Chamber both place it on Beekman Avenue. The Village's November calendar still lists Kingsland Point Park as the location. Given the season it has had, check the Chamber's Instagram the morning of. Ballas-Traynor pointed visitors there for updates.
The two Sundays use the same stretch of Beekman in different ways. On the 1st the activity stays in the Municipal Lot at number 21. On the 8th the whole avenue becomes the venue. That makes the businesses that opened on Beekman this year part of both weekends.
What's new on Beekman since spring
Two openings this year changed what a Beekman Avenue afternoon looks like. Both are easy to fold into either Sunday.
North River Oyster Bar. The Hudson Independent reported that the seafood restaurant opened to the public May 19 in the former Hudson Anchor space. It is a narrow building with two floors plus a rooftop. It is the newest restaurant from Floria and Gino Uli, who also own Divino Cucina Italiana in Hastings and Hudson Prime Steakhouse in Irvington. Twenty thousand people are expected on the street for the fair, so a table on the 8th will likely be easier to get early in the day than at 4 p.m.
The Village Confectionery, 95 Beekman Avenue. The candy shop was announced in May with a planned June 13 opening, according to the Hudson Independent. By mid-September it was open and stocked. A Lohud photo gallery dated September 19 shows owner Kate Bolger and the shop getting ready for Halloween. If the Chamber is billing November 8 as the start of holiday shopping, a candy shop in the middle of a car-free Beekman is well placed for it.
The Strand will be dark for both Sundays
One Beekman project that seemed headed for this season won't be ready. Sleepy Hollow Cinema, a nonprofit, had planned a theater on the ground floor of the Strand building at Beekman Avenue and Pocantico Street. As the Hudson Independent described in April, the plan included a single screen with 100 to 120 seats, a café or wine bar up front, and flexible space that could serve as a visitors center. The programming was to mix family films, classics, Spanish-language films, independent films and horror.
The community met the fundraising target early. The cinema announced in June that it had raised more than $200,000 from over 100 donors, ahead of its August 1 deadline. Then lease talks stalled. In its September 14 update, the cinema said it heard on September 1 that the building's developer would not keep negotiating and would not have the cinema anchor the Strand project.
The organization says it is still working toward a permanent home. According to the same update, it is pursuing alternative locations it is not ready to name, its capital campaign donation page stays open, and every dollar raised goes toward buying and building a permanent cinema in Sleepy Hollow. It also plans to keep holding paid and free pop-up screenings in 10591. For now, the cinema's events are on its pop-up calendar, and the Strand remains a building to watch on the same block that will be full of people on November 8.
Both Sundays at a glance
Sunday, November 1
- Noon to 4 p.m.: 250th Commemoration, from the Sleepy Hollow waterfront along RiverWalk to Pierson Park in Tarrytown
- 2 to 6 p.m.: Día de los Muertos, Municipal Parking Lot, 21 Beekman Avenue
- All day: last day of the Rivertown Pumpkin Trail, 10 pumpkins around the village
Sunday, November 8
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Sleepy Hollow Street Fair, Beekman Avenue closed to cars, more than 145 vendors
- Updates: the Chamber's Instagram
Things are changing on Beekman Avenue this year, from new openings to the Strand. If you're weighing what that means for a home nearby, or for selling one in the village, Bobbie Procida is glad to talk it through, on a Sunday walk or over coffee. Schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.