The silver maples along Mapleton Avenue have mostly turned. This year Halloween falls on a Saturday with a CU home game, and that changes how the hours fall. Kickoff at Folsom Field is at noon. Trick-or-treating on Pearl Street runs from 3 to 6. A costume parade at the Main Library starts before either of them. By the time the porch lights come on along Spruce, Pine and Mapleton, most of the day's crowds have already come and gone in other parts of town.
The front steps on Mapleton Hill have been busy all fall. This is their third public event since late summer, and the calendar has given them the evening slot.
The Porches Already Did This Twice This Fall
In September the Daily Camera described a neighborhood that had just "emptied their attics for the annual neighborhood rummage sale" and was getting its front steps ready for something louder. On Sunday, Sept. 20, Mapleton Hill PorchFest set a record with 53 performers on 34 host properties under the silver maple canopy. People followed the music along flagstone walks from one block to the next through the historic district.
A seven-person volunteer committee plans that afternoon. Longtime committee member Kathy Spear told the Camera that the limit is the number of porches, not the number of musicians:
"We could have taken a few more bands if we had a few more porches."
According to the same Daily Camera piece, more than 100 bands were competing for those 34 host properties, and organizers went past their informal 45-act cap. A porch that can hold a jazz quintet can easily hold a bowl of candy and a carved pumpkin. October 31 runs on the same setup PorchFest uses. The difference is that this year, most of the city's attention will be elsewhere until late afternoon.
Saturday, Hour by Hour
These are the Saturday times organizers have posted that matter most to someone walking down from the hill:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to noon | Family Saturdays Halloween Dance Party and Costume Parade | Canyon Theater, Main Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd. |
| Noon | CU vs. Kansas State kickoff, on TNT | Folsom Field |
| 1 to 3:45 p.m. | Halloween Pick-a-Flick, sensory-friendly screening | Canyon Theater |
| 3 to 6 p.m. | Munchkin Masquerade, ages 12 and under | Pearl Street Mall |
| 5 to 9:30 p.m. | Halloween Undead Double Feature | Canyon Theater |
| Dusk | Porch lights on | Mapleton Hill |
Boulder Reporting Lab's 2026 Halloween guide lists 66 events across the county, from Longmont to Nederland. Three of the Saturday events in the table are at a single address on Canyon Boulevard, a short walk downhill from Mapleton Hill.
The Morning Belongs to Canyon Theater
On Saturdays the Main Library usually runs Family Saturdays at 11 a.m. in the Canyon Theater. This week's edition is a costume parade and dance lesson, and the library's event listing promises the Monster Mash and Michael Jackson's Thriller. Costumes of every kind are welcome on the dance floor. It ends at noon, the same time the game kicks off across town. For families who want to wear the costume twice, the morning parade works as a dress rehearsal for the afternoon.
At 1 p.m. the theater shows Halloween Pick-a-Flick. It is a sensory-friendly screening hosted by Rise & Shine Community Supports, where moviegoers are free to move around, talk or step out during the film. After dark the room changes completely. The Halloween Undead Double Feature pairs Night of the Living Dead with Dawn of the Dead and runs from 5 to 9:30 p.m. If the trick-or-treaters are home and in bed early, the second film is still playing a few blocks away.
Noon Pulls the Game Crowd Toward Folsom
The CU Buffaloes game center lists Kansas State at Folsom Field on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 12 p.m. TNT has the broadcast, and the radio call is on KOA 850 AM and 94.1 FM. CU notes on its Folsom Field A to Z page that game dates and times can change. Check that kickoff again Saturday morning.
With a noon kickoff, game-day traffic is concentrated in the middle of the day and on the east side of downtown. CU's football parking guidance lists main-campus public parking at $35, first come, first served. East Campus parking is $20, with a free shuttle that starts three hours before kickoff and runs until an hour after the game. The university asks drivers to stay away from campus for 60 minutes after the game while outbound traffic clears. It also points out new lane markings on Colorado Avenue between 28th and Folsom Streets. For anyone on Mapleton Hill, the simplest approach is to stay west of Broadway until the game lets out.
Friday night follows a similar pattern. The Downtown Boulder Partnership's Halloween weekend guide puts the Pearl Street Stampede on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. It starts on the 1300 block with members of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, the Spirit Squad, Chip the Buffalo and CU athletes, then moves east with a performance on each block of the Mall. The pep rally starts several blocks east of Mapleton Hill and keeps moving east from there.
Three to Six on the Bricks
Munchkin Masquerade runs from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Children 12 and under trick-or-treat at downtown businesses that sign up as Treat Stops and hand out treats free of charge. The Partnership is still adding stops to the list ahead of the day.
If you come down the hill on Pearl from the west, you reach these listed stops first:
- Trident Booksellers and Cafe, 940 Pearl St.
- Centro Mexican Kitchen, 950 Pearl St.
- Cotopaxi, 1102 Pearl St.
- Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl St.
- Capital One Café, 1247 Pearl St., and Art Source International, 1237 Pearl St.
- The Downtown Visitor Information Center, 1303 Pearl St.
The Hotel Boulderado at 2115 13th St. is on the list too. It is a block north of the Mall, if anyone in your group wants a detour through the lobby. Farther east are Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, Art Mart Gifts at 1326 Pearl and Boulder Olive Oil Company at 1647 Pearl. The Downtown guide also names Foolish Craig's, T/ACO, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Savannah Bee Company as participants.
The kickoff is at noon, so Munchkin Masquerade will be in full swing while the game is still on. The same Downtown guide says to expect a lively day downtown. If you drive, city-owned garages charge $3 from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., and details are on BoulderParking.com. If you still need a last-minute costume, the guide recommends the vintage racks at Apocalypse, 1813 Pearl, and Heady Bauer, and says The Ritz has a big costume selection.
Dusk Returns to the Hill
Munchkin Masquerade wraps up at 6. The Canyon Theater double feature has been running for an hour by then. The game kicked off six hours earlier. That leaves the evening for the blocks above Pearl.
The neighborhood already has practice turning private porches into a shared route. In September it put 53 acts on 34 properties in three timed sets, with organizers paying attention to spacing so one band wouldn't drown out the porch next door. Saturday night needs much less planning, just a porch light, a bowl of candy and a step to sit on.
If you're laying out the route for your own block, or curious about the history behind the neighborhood's porches, the Mapleton Hill neighborhood page is a good place to start. For more on the businesses handing out treats on Pearl, see this past year's openings downtown.
Happy Halloween from all of us at Anne Wells. If a Saturday on your porch has you thinking about how the hill's traditions fit your plans for next year, we would be glad to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect.
