Center Greens sits beside Anaheim City Hall, Center Street Promenade runs off it, and Anaheim Boulevard heads south from there to the Packing District. Most of this year's restaurant headlines point toward Katella Avenue and the OCVIBE project around Honda Center. But from Saturday, Oct. 24 through Thursday, Oct. 29, the calendar that's actually confirmed sits on that one short downtown corridor. Four events and the newest restaurant in Farmers Park all fit inside that walk.
The chefs heading to OCVIBE will get here eventually. Their opening dates fall in 2027, though, and this week's dates are already set.
Saturday Carries the Most Weight
The Anaheim Fall Festival, Classic Car Show and Halloween Parade fill Saturday, Oct. 24. The festival and car show run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Center Greens, the city park next to Anaheim City Hall and the Downtown Anaheim Community Center. The cars line up on Center Street. The organizers' list includes costume contests, local artists, live entertainment, kids' crafts and a scavenger hunt.
The Halloween Parade starts at 7 p.m. Volunteers run it, and it follows Anaheim Boulevard, Center Street Promenade and Broadway. The festival's own site lists the date as "Saturday, October 24th" without a year. That weekday matches 2026, but it's worth a quick check before you set up chairs.
Saturday's evening also stretches the corridor south. The Packing House calendar has Jetpack and Rancho Del Rey playing live from 7 to 9 p.m. at 440 S. Anaheim Blvd. That is the same hour the parade steps off a few blocks up the boulevard. You'll have to pick one or the other, but both are on the same street.
| Date | Time | Where | What | Who's behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Center Greens and Center Street | Fall Festival and Classic Car Show | Anaheim Fall Festival organizers |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | 7 p.m. | Anaheim Blvd., Center Street Promenade, Broadway | Halloween Parade | Volunteer-run |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | 7 to 9 p.m. | Packing House, 440 S. Anaheim Blvd. | Jetpack and Rancho Del Rey, live | Packing District |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Tentative | Farmers Park, 430 S. Anaheim Blvd. | Ari's Thai Eatery grand opening | Calvin Vuong and Ari Sastaravaha |
| Mon., Oct. 26 | 7 to 8:40 p.m. | Farmers Park | "Hocus Pocus" free movie night | Lumen Experiences |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Center Street Promenade | Nightmare on Center Street | Downtown Anaheim Association |
The Newest Stop on the Route Opened Two Weeks Ago
Ari's Thai Eatery soft-opened Saturday, Sept. 26, at 430 S. Anaheim Blvd. in Farmers Park. It's the third restaurant for co-founders Calvin Vuong and Arissara "Ari" Sastaravaha, according to the Packing District's announcement. The same post calls a grand-opening celebration on Sunday, Oct. 25 tentative. If that date holds, it falls the morning after the parade, a short walk from the route.
The district's merchant directory still lists Ari's Thai as "Coming Soon." The soft-opening post is newer, so the directory looks out of date.
Ari's address puts it right in the middle of this week's events. It's next door to the Packing House music on Saturday and steps from the Farmers Park lawn that hosts Monday's movie. It's also along the stretch of Anaheim Boulevard the parade follows.
Monday and Thursday Keep the Week Going
The weekend isn't the end of it. On Monday, Oct. 26, Farmers Park shows "Hocus Pocus" for free from 7 to 8:40 p.m., presented by Lumen Experiences. According to the Packing District's listing, moviegoers can buy food and drinks from businesses in the Packing House, Farmers Park and the Packard Building. That makes the movie a dinner plan built around the same three buildings that anchor Saturday night.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, the weekly farmers market on Center Street Promenade becomes Nightmare on Center Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Downtown Anaheim Association bills it as "a spooky Halloween twist on the Farmers Market!" with spooky vendors, trick-or-treating and costume contests. It runs during the day, which works for anyone whose evenings are already full or whose kids want a second chance to wear the costume.
All told, one corridor hosts four public events over six days, and the only one still unconfirmed is a single restaurant's grand-opening party.
Meanwhile, on Katella
Most of the food news this summer and fall has been about OCVIBE, the development rising around Honda Center. The lineup is real and so are the names. None of it is open yet.
OCVIBE's August announcement slated these operators for Katella Commons, its food hall:
- Don Churros Gomez, from brothers Jaime and Ricky Nuñez Gomez
- MFK | Modern Filipino Kitchen, from Henry and Amanda "Panda" Pineda
- Mojo and Pull & Roll, from chef Guoming "Sam" Xin
- Gelato Paradiso, from gelato artisan Pedro Quevedo
The Orange County Register's coverage of that second wave also named Amiga Amore from chefs Danielle Duran Zecca and Alessandro Zecca, Burritos La Palma's Alberto Bañuelos, and Evil Cooks' Alex Garcia and Elvia Huerta. Its list adds Manaao Thai Comfort Food's Kanate Ungkasrithongkul and Anita Lin, plus pizza and fried chicken concepts from Zach Scherer. OCVIBE's Katella Commons page names those two as OC Pizza Cult and Wanderfowl.
Here's the timeline as announced:
- March 2027. OCVIBE's 5,000-capacity concert hall is scheduled to open, the Register reported in July.
- Early 2027. Katella Commons is due to open, per the August announcement. A September OCVIBE release puts guests on site in March, with Katella Commons following "shortly thereafter." Treat the food hall's exact date as unsettled.
- "Next year." In that Sept. 24 announcement, Osen Hospitality Group, led by chef Damon Cho, named two concepts: Osen Handroll for Katella Commons and the full-service Osen Urban Table for OCVIBE's Urban Park.
- Fall 2027. Chef Roy Choi's Best Friend is planned as a standalone OCVIBE restaurant, according to OCVIBE.
That's a strong list, and it's worth watching. For now, though, it's a 2027 calendar. Next spring may bring a second dining district on the other side of the city. This October, the Thai restaurant that opened, the movie night and the parade are all on Anaheim Boulevard.
The Hills Tried a Different Format
Anaheim Hills has tried a format of its own. Organizers bill Anaheim Hills Restaurant Week as the first annual event and list its dates as Sept. 12 to 19. It was presented by Councilmember Natalie Meeks with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim Hills Neighbors and Supervisor Don Wagner. The participating restaurants included Baci Di Firenze Trattoria, Brass Tap Anaheim Hills, Café Bianni, Campitelli Cookies, The Gallery Food & Libations, Keno's, Rosine's and Story Bar + Kitchen.
Downtown pulls everything onto a single corridor. Restaurant Week did the reverse and promoted restaurants spread across the hills under one banner for a week. Both ideas began in neighborhoods with businesses already open, which is the step OCVIBE hasn't reached yet.
One more Hills update for anyone who missed the summer closures. The Orange County Register's midyear roundup reported that Reunion Kitchen + Drink closed its Laguna Beach location at the end of June. The Anaheim Hills location stayed open.
After Halloween, the Next Downtown Date Is Dec. 6
The corridor's next big date is Ring in the Holidays in Downtown Anaheim and the Nutcracker Holiday Tree Lighting on Sunday, Dec. 6. An Orange County holiday events guide lists Tuba Christmas at 1 p.m., photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus from 3 to 5 p.m., and the tree lighting at 6 p.m. Events are spread across Center Street Promenade and the steps of Anaheim City Hall. That schedule comes from a third-party guide, so check it against the City of Anaheim's Nutcracker Holiday Village page as December gets closer.
That puts it on the same promenade and the same City Hall block where the Fall Festival sets up in October. The research turned up no confirmed November program for downtown Anaheim. The Packing District calendar we reviewed showed no late-November or December events, so Oct. 24 through 29 is the busiest stretch on the corridor before the tree lighting.
For a lot of people, living near this part of Anaheim Boulevard means the parade passes close to home and the Packing House is nearby. If you own a home near downtown and want to know what it's worth this fall, Wasilik Klimenko can put together a free home valuation. Our team handles the pricing, the loan and the escrow under one roof, so you can see the whole picture before you make any decisions.
