Where does a Westfield October afternoon go when the festival calendar and the restaurant calendar both changed this year? AddamsFest 2026 has two and a half weeks left. Over the same stretch, the downtown blocks it uses have been filling the storefronts that emptied over the summer. A map of the festival is also a map of what's new to eat, and Quimby Street, closed to cars on Sunday, Oct. 18, is where those two maps overlap most.
What's still ahead as of Saturday, Oct. 10
The Town of Westfield announced the full lineup on a Wednesday in September, which fits a festival built around Charles Addams, the Addams Family creator who grew up here. Here is everything left from today on, taken from the official AddamsFest schedule and TAPinto Westfield's lineup report.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 10, 17, 24 | Charles Addams Heritage Trail Tour, tickets in advance | Meet at the Rialto, 250 E. Broad St. | 11 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 10; Sun., Oct. 11; Sat., Oct. 17 | Lantern Burial Ground Tours, $5 per person or $20 per family suggested donation | 140 Mountain Ave. | 4:30 to 6 p.m. |
| Weekends through Oct. 25 | AddamsFest Americana art exhibit | Rialto Center for Creativity | Fri. 5 to 8, Sat. 1 to 6, Sun. 10 to 3 |
| Oct. 11 through Oct. 30 | Haunt Your House voting | Online map, homes townwide | Ongoing |
| Wed., Oct. 14 | Wednesday Addams' Creepy Garden Kids Storytime | Westfield Memorial Library | See library listing |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Charlie's Ale Garden, tickets in advance | Westfield Armory, 500 Rahway Ave. | 6 to 11 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Addams Family Fun Day | Quimby Street, closed to cars | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | "Charles Addams: Family and Friends" talk, registration required | Westfield Memorial Library, 550 E. Broad St. | 2 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | "The Addams Family" outdoor screening, free reservations; rain date Oct. 24 | Foundation Park | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Jack O'Lantern Trail | Brightwood Park | See partner listing |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Halloween Family Fun & Parade | Townwide | See partner listing |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | The Wednesday Night Crawlers bar crawl | Participating downtown spots | 6 to 10 p.m. |
A few installations stay up all month without a time slot: the floating Addams Family house on Mindowaskin Pond, the Be Witched Selfie Stop on the Central Avenue side of the Rialto, and the Wicked Windows of Westfield, storefronts painted by community members. The Addams-inspired murals in the Central Avenue underpass, unveiled in 2021 by the Westfield Public Arts Commission, are there year-round.
Quimby Street lost its shops in summer and gets its party in October
The festival's biggest family event lands on a block that changed a lot over the last three months. On Sunday, Oct. 18, Quimby Street closes to cars from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Addams Family Fun Day, with character visits, pumpkin decorating, music from the DJ Spinners and activities run by local merchants.
In August, TAPinto Westfield reported that Learning Express would close its 104 Quimby St. location at the end of July, that N&C Jewelers next door had closed for the owner's retirement, and that Superfly across the street had closed too. In September, a French restaurant moved onto the same stretch. Le Bistrot Westfield celebrated its opening at 103 Quimby St., and TAPinto reported it was serving dinner nightly with lunch on a limited number of days.
More is announced. An Oct. 6 roundup listed Vina, a Vietnamese street-food restaurant, as coming soon to 114 Quimby St. and The Scoop N Scootery as coming soon to 109 Quimby St. Neither has a confirmed opening date. Even so, this year's Fun Day crowd will walk a block where most of the summer's empty storefronts have food coming.
East Broad, from the Rialto to the rug shop
The Rialto Center for Creativity at 250 E. Broad St. is the festival's indoor anchor through Oct. 25. The AddamsFest Americana exhibit ties the festival to America250 and shows original Charles Addams works on loan from the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation alongside new work by 13 local artists, including Julia Burna, Scott Miller and Toby Tobin. The building is still being prepared for its next phase. The Rialto's events page says it is hosting events before construction begins, to share its new vision and raise money for the Rialto Reimagined campaign. The next listing after the exhibit is "Making Movie Magic," a talk by producer Michael A. Jackman on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The Broad Street storefronts along the Wicked Windows route have turned over too. Cookies N' Cream, with cookies, ice cream and coffee, celebrated its opening at 109 E. Broad St. on July 10. Modern & Classic Rugs held a Sept. 28 ribbon cutting at 11 E. Broad St., bringing back a shop that had moved to Summit more than a decade ago. Gamify U has opened at 219 E. Broad St. and Framebridge, a custom-framing shop, at 220 E. Broad St., almost directly across from the Rialto.
Two more are on the way. Perch & Parlor, a coffee, brunch and dinner spot, is coming to 102 E. Broad St., and its owner told TAPinto she hopes to open in November. A medical spa and wellness center called 4Ever Young was announced for 231 E. Broad St. Elm Street, around the corner, picked up two beauty businesses. Glowbar, which offers customizable 30-minute facials, opened at 118 Elm St. in August. Bonded Lash Bar held its ribbon cutting at 57 Elm St. on Oct. 5, about two weeks after it opened. Straight Up Indian is listed as coming soon to 9 Elm St.
South Avenue covers both ends of a tour day
The festival's history events run on a fixed schedule, and two of the newest food counters, one on South Avenue and one on North Avenue, happen to fit it. The Heritage Trail Tour leaves from the Rialto at 11 a.m. on Oct. 10, 17 and 24 and follows Addams' route through Westfield around 1920, from his home to school, downtown and the cemetery. PopUp Bagels chose Westfield for its first New Jersey shop and held its grand opening July 10 at 220 South Ave. West, the former Westfield Seafood space. On the north side, Bagel Cafe NJ held its ribbon cutting on Sept. 14 at 272 North Ave. East. That means Westfield gained two bagel shops in one summer, on opposite sides of the downtown.
At the other end of the day, the Lantern Burial Ground Tours run every 10 minutes from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at 140 Mountain Ave. They're hosted by The Presbyterian Church in Westfield in the town's oldest cemetery, where a young Charles Addams spent his afternoons. No registration is needed. The last tour slot ends at dinnertime, and Kome Omakase at 407 South Ave. West has been serving chef-selected Japanese seafood meals since its Sept. 30 grand opening. Of all this year's openings, Kome is the one that changes Westfield's dinner options most.
Wednesdays are the joke, and also the shopping plan
Wednesday Addams gives the festival its running gag, and this year the town used it to bring people downtown. New for 2026, Wednesday's Finds has participating businesses offering themed specials, treats, giveaways and exclusive products every Wednesday in October. Two Wednesdays are left before the finale, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21. The Oct. 14 Wednesday also has the Creepy Garden Kids Storytime at the Westfield Memorial Library.
The last scheduled downtown event is on Wednesday, Oct. 28: the Wednesday Night Crawlers, a casual bar crawl from 6 to 10 p.m. at participating downtown spots. It has seasonal cocktails and Addams-style surprises, and no ticket is needed.
A midweek program fits this moment because downtown is still changing. Rush Bowls closed its Broad Street shop in September. Francis Henri, the baby boutique that opened in 2022, closed in the week before Oct. 6 and said it would look for a new space in town. The Wednesdays give the businesses still opening and still adjusting some extra foot traffic in the middle of the week.
One Sunday, two blocks: Oct. 18
The festival's busiest Sunday can be done on foot, with Quimby Street and East Broad doing most of the work.
- 10 a.m. Addams Family Fun Day on car-free Quimby Street, past 103 Quimby, where Le Bistrot Westfield opened in September, and the storefronts at 109 and 114 that are set to become The Scoop N Scootery and Vina.
- Late morning. The Rialto exhibit opens at 10 a.m. on Sundays. It's a short walk to 250 E. Broad St., with the Be Witched Selfie Stop on the Central Avenue side.
- Midday. Cookies N' Cream at 109 E. Broad St., then the Wicked Windows along Broad Street.
- 2 p.m. "Charles Addams: Family and Friends" at the Westfield Memorial Library, 550 E. Broad St. H. Kevin Miserocchi, trustee of the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation, will speak, and registration is required through the library's event page.
- Late afternoon. The floating Addams Family house on Mindowaskin Pond. It's a nod to the replica of the Presbyterian Church that signals the holiday season in Westfield each December.
The Ale Garden the night before is the exception to the downtown loop. It's at the Westfield Armory, 500 Rahway Ave., from 6 to 11 p.m. on Oct. 17, with headliner Fresh Kids of Bel-Air, beer and wine poured by Harvest Restaurant Group, and food trucks. The town calls it the most in-demand event of the season, and tickets had to be bought in advance.
After Oct. 30, when Haunt Your House voting closes, the October programming is over and the blocks it used are the ones that changed this year. If Perch & Parlor opens in November as its owner hopes, 102 E. Broad St. will be the next new address on that walk.
If this month's turnover on Quimby and East Broad has you wondering what Westfield's changing downtown means for your own street, The Bigos Group tracks these blocks year-round and is glad to talk it through. Request Your Local Market Snapshot, and we'll put your home in the context of a downtown that keeps adding new places.
