Where does Halloween happen in Jamaica Plain once the lanterns are packed away?
The 43rd Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade was set for one evening this year, Saturday, October 17, with October 18 held as a rain date. Jamaica Plain News noted that past parades ran over two nights. Spontaneous Celebrations has organized the walk around the pond since 1984, and it was the one big event of JP's season that took place after dark. Every event that has been announced for the next three weeks happens in the daytime. JP Centre/South Main Streets and the Arnold Arboretum have both posted their schedules through early November, and nothing on either list runs past 7 p.m. Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the main events that day are packed into a few early afternoon hours between Centre Street and the Hunnewell Lawn.
The Afternoon That Matters Most
The two Halloween events share the same early afternoon. The 22nd JP Canine Costume Parade lands on Halloween itself this year, and the Arboretum's family program runs at the same time a short distance away. Here's how Saturday, October 31 lays out:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 p.m. | Canine Costume Parade registration opens | Lawn of First Baptist Church, 633 Centre St. |
| 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Wicked Plants: A Botanical Halloween | Hunnewell Lawn, Arnold Arboretum |
| 1:00 p.m. | Parade steps off down Centre Street | From First Baptist Church |
| 1:00 p.m. | Kids' storytime at Wicked Plants | Hunnewell Lawn |
| 1:30 p.m. | Red carpet and costume judging | Loring Greenough House, 12 South St. |
The schedule has one real conflict. The parade and the Arboretum storytime both start at 1:00 p.m., so a family with a costumed dog and a small child will have to pick one. The rest of the afternoon fits together better. Dogs walk the red carpet at Loring Greenough House once the whole parade has arrived, and Wicked Plants keeps going until 3:00, which leaves time for both events.
Centre Street, noon to 1:30
JP Centre/South Main Streets runs the parade. To enter the costume contest, you have to register your dog in person on the church lawn and pay $10. All of the money goes to Shultz's Guest House Dog Rescue in Dedham. Prizes go to first, second and third place. Brad Brown of the Blue Frog Bakery emcees the red carpet. The judges include City Councilor Ben Weber and Dr. Jonathan Levine of the JP Animal Clinic, with more to be announced. The sponsors are TCB – The Cooperative Bank, The Mindful Mutt Doggy Day Care and Boarding, First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, and Happy Tails Market. Spectators are welcome and don't need to register, so you can just stand on the sidewalk and watch.
The Hunnewell Lawn, noon to 3
The Arboretum is treating Halloween as a lesson in plant defenses. Wicked Plants covers species with spiky thorns, sticky latex and chemical weapons, along with plants that poison their neighbors, shoot out their seeds, or glow under black light. You don't need to register. Just stop by any time between noon and 3:00. The program is listed as suitable for all ages, and the lawn is flat and right off the paved road, so it works for strollers and anyone who needs an easy approach.
Both Rain Plans Point to Sunday
Both events have the same backup plan. If the weather is bad on Saturday, the Canine Costume Parade moves to Sunday, November 1. Wicked Plants also has a November 1 rain date, but at different hours, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The Arboretum says to check the event page for updates.
Sunday already has one Arboretum event on it. The Iris Percussion Quartet, based at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, is playing in the Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden that day. The program uses small percussion instruments and found objects, focuses on fallen leaves, and includes new pieces written for this concert. Tickets are required, and the calendar showed 45 left when it was last updated. If it rains Saturday, November 1 could end up holding the dog parade, the plant program and the concert, all during the day.
The Weekends on Either Side
The same daytime pattern holds before and after Halloween. Here are the dates in order:
- Thursday, October 22, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The South Street Courts mural painting party. It takes place at 52 South St. JP Centre/South Main Streets is installing a mural at the tennis courts to finish a community effort on how to share the courts among pickleball, basketball and tennis players. Ruby Rose of Bullseye Mural Co. designed the mural with the South Street Youth Center, and anyone can help paint it. The organizers promise music and treats.
- Saturday, October 24, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Living Connections: The Arnold Arboretum and Korea opens. The new exhibit fills the Hunnewell Visitor Center and lecture hall at 125 Arborway. It uses rare archival images, living collections and current partnerships to trace more than a century of plant and scientific exchange between the Arboretum and Korea. Lisa Pearson, Head of the Library and Archives, will be there all day to talk about how she built the exhibit from historic photographs and archives. Opening day goes ahead rain or shine, and you don't need to register.
- Saturday, October 24, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Autumn in the Arboretum. Docent Vicki Amalfitano leads this tour, which starts in front of the Hunnewell Building, right where the exhibit opens that same day. It is free, but it is listed as sold out.
- Saturday, October 31, noon to 3:00 p.m. Halloween afternoon, as laid out in the table above.
- Saturday, November 7, noon to 2:00 p.m. Botanical ink printing. This walk-up program on the Hunnewell Lawn turns fallen leaves into ink prints, and you don't need to register. Donna Sullivan's two-hour birding walk is also on the calendar that morning and is ticketed. Both sessions of the autumn tour are full right now. The October 24 listing shows it sold out, with a sign-up to hear when tickets open, and the November 7 session is taking a waitlist.
The latest end time on that list belongs to the October 22 mural party, at 7:00. Every other event is over by 4:00.
The Exhibit Outlasts the Season
The Halloween events are over in an afternoon. Living Connections stays open daily, except holidays, through June 13, 2027. That gives the Hunnewell Visitor Center a new indoor reason to visit through the whole winter, long after the fall color is gone and the costumes are put away. On opening day you can hear Lisa Pearson explain how the exhibit came together. On any day after that, you can walk in out of the cold and see more than a hundred years of plant exchange between the Arboretum and Korea.
The full Halloween plan fits on a single page. Register your dog at First Baptist Church at noon, walk Centre Street at 1:00, watch the red carpet at Loring Greenough House at 1:30, and reach the Hunnewell Lawn before Wicked Plants wraps up at 3:00. Check the forecast Friday night, because both events move to Sunday if the weather turns.
A costume parade on Centre Street, a plant program on the Hunnewell Lawn and a new exhibit open all winter are part of everyday life in JP. If you're curious how life near the Arboretum and Centre Street shows up in what your home could sell for, Georgia Balafas is glad to put together a clear, data-driven picture of your property's value. Request Your Home Valuation, and enjoy the parade.
