Downtown Erie's Thursday Nights Come Back in December

The Erie Farmers Market had its last Thursday of the season on Sept. 17, after a summer of 5 to 8 p.m. evenings downtown. The Thursday slot returns on Dec. 3. That evening, and again on Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, the We Love Erie Business Collective runs free holiday carriage rides from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., boarding at Piripi, 615 Briggs St. That's almost the same window the market used.

The eight weeks in between are full too. From late October through mid-December, downtown Erie has a dated event on most weekends, and nearly every one uses the same short stretch of town: Briggs Street and Coal Creek Park, which sits one block over at 575 Kattell St. If you live within walking distance of that pair, the season comes to you.

One street, one park, every event

The pattern holds across the calendar, whichever group is hosting:

• Boo! on Briggs Street takes over Briggs itself.
• Eerie Erie starts at Coal Creek Park and runs through historic downtown.
• Shop Small Erie fills downtown, and its carriage rides board at the Coal Creek Park parking lot.
• The Parade of Lights heads north on Briggs, and parade walkers peel off at Cheesman St. toward Coal Creek Park.

Three organizations put these events on: the Town of Erie, the Erie Chamber of Commerce and We Love Erie. All three use the same two anchors. Here's the full run, starting this weekend.

Halloween takes up two Saturdays and a lunch hour

Halloween comes first, and it's spread over a week. Boo! on Briggs Street runs this Saturday, Oct. 24, from 3 to 6 p.m. It's the Town's free downtown trick-or-treat, with a family costume contest, music and face painting. Erie Uplink is running a food drive at the event to support its Tiger Packs program, so bring a donation along with the costume.

The following Friday, Oct. 30, Town Forester Tom Read and members of the Erie Tree Board lead the Tree Diversity Walk from noon to 1 p.m. The group meets at the flagpole at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 520 Colliers Blvd. The Town calls it the final tree walk of the year, timed for fall color, and costumes are encouraged. It runs over a lunch hour, so you can fit it into a workday.

Halloween morning belongs to Eerie Erie, the 5K and 10K that starts at Coal Creek Park and runs from 9 to 11 a.m. The Town's event listing describes the 10K course this way:

"The 10k passes by scenic Pleasant Hill Cemetery with panoramic views and where friendly spirits can't wait to visit this year's runners."

The race uses the trail system along the Coal Creek open space as well as the downtown streets. If you're not running, the downtown stretch of the course is the easiest place to watch.

Shop Small fills the Saturday after Thanksgiving

After Halloween the calendar goes quiet for most of November, then picks up on Saturday, Nov. 28. Shop Small Erie runs downtown from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a Holiday Winter Market and DJ Orion Giant. The event's own page lists a few more stops for the same window:

• Savannah the Reindeer, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Santa downtown, noon to 2 p.m.
• Free carriage rides, noon to 2 p.m.

That day's carriage rides board at the Coal Creek Park parking lot, 575 Kattell St. In December the rides board on Briggs instead. With families arriving for Santa and the reindeer at the same hour, the reindeer at 11 a.m. is the quieter start. The rides and Santa both begin at noon.

The Shop Small page links to a vendor list that We Love Erie updates as the market fills. Check it the week of Thanksgiving to see who's coming.

Parade of Lights night closes Briggs from 4 p.m.

The biggest night of the stretch is Friday, Dec. 4. The Erie Chamber's Parade of Lights page says activities begin at 4 p.m. and the parade steps off at 6:30. The Chamber's special events page lists the evening as 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., so check the event page again that week before you go.

Before the parade, the evening spreads out along Briggs:

1. School choirs, 4 to 6 p.m., indoors at Orchard Community Church, 470 Briggs St., which also has free hot chocolate, snacks and restrooms.
2. Free carriage rides and Santa and Mrs. Claus, 4 to 6 p.m.
3. Food for sale from JLK Kettle Corn, Deborah Ann Does Donuts, Kogler's Bakery and a Belgian waffle vendor.
4. A second hot chocolate stop at the Calvary Bible Church tent on Briggs.
5. Lost children and first aid tents next to the DJ by Fox Dog Coffee on Briggs.

The route runs north on Briggs St. from Maxwell Ave. to Cheesman St. Walkers exit at Cheesman and head to Coal Creek Park. Floats continue north to Evans St.

The street details matter most if you live or park downtown. Parking is banned from 2 to 10 p.m. on Briggs from Maxwell to Evans and on Kattell from Moffat to Cheesman. At 4 p.m., Briggs closes to traffic from Anderson St. to Evans St., and Kattell closes from Moffat to Cheesman. At 5:45 p.m., Briggs closes completely from Perry St. to Evans St., along with every street that crosses it in that stretch. After the parade starts at 6:30, vehicles can't get in or out east of Briggs. If you live on that side and plan to drive anywhere that evening, leave before then.

For parking, the Chamber points to residential streets, the Erie Methodist Church lot on Holbrook Street just west of Town Hall, and the Town Hall lot at Holbrook and Cheesman. Alleys are kept clear for first responders. A few accessible spaces sit behind Orchard Community Church at Moffat Street and in the lot south of Coal Creek Park on Kattell. Drivers need to be in those spaces by 5:45 p.m. and can't leave until the parade ends. The post office can be reached until 6 p.m. by going north on Kattell, west on Moffat, then through the alley into the lot.

Three Thursdays to close out the year

The Thursday rides bracket the parade. Free holiday carriage rides run Dec. 3, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, each from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., boarding at Piripi, 615 Briggs St. ALLO Fiber is the presenting sponsor.

Set those times against the summer market. The market ran 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. The rides start and end half an hour earlier. It's the same night of the week, almost the same three hours and the same street. The Dec. 3 ride also lands the evening before the Parade of Lights, when the crowds are smaller.

On the same blocks: openings still to come

Several businesses are being built on the same blocks these events use. In its Sept. 14 business newsletter, the Town of Erie listed Johnny Bechamel's, at 656 Kattell St., and Little Grove, at 512 Briggs St., as under construction. The newsletter also said planning continues for new restaurant, retail and commercial space at 130 Wells Street and 150 Briggs Street.

• Johnny Bechamel's says on its Erie page that it plans to open "this fall." Its address is on Kattell, the same street as Coal Creek Park.
• Little Grove, a kids' play center and coffee bar, has a Fall 2026 opening target and mentions a November grand opening. It's signing up founding members ahead of that date.
• Cor Arts is headed for 365 Briggs St. Its site describes a working art studio with workshops, community events and a retail shop, and lists its opening as winter 2026/27.

All three addresses are on Briggs or Kattell, the two streets the parade closes. All three give targets rather than firm dates, so check each business's own page before planning around it.

If you're thinking about what that location adds to your home's value, The Sledge Team can walk you through it. Get a free, no-pressure home valuation, and we'll keep the focus on your street and the blocks around it.