On the evening of October 31, for one hour starting at 5 p.m., the Venice Canals Association fills Linnie Canal Park with costumes, pizza and music for Canalloween. The association says the event focuses on kids and families but is open to everyone, and it lists a single neighborhood chair as the person running it.
Most of Venice's calendar from now through mid-December looks like that. The events that bring neighbors out this season take place on small, mostly residential ground east of Ocean Front Walk: a canal pocket park, a city rec center in Oakwood, an arts nonprofit's headquarters on Venice Boulevard, a poetry center, a city parking lot on a Friday morning. Nearly all of it is put on by groups made up of the people who live around it. The one beach-adjacent public space change in discussion right now, a pedestrian plaza on Windward Avenue, is still unsettled.
Two evenings in Oakwood and the canals
Halloween weekend in 2026 falls on a Friday and Saturday, and Venice uses both days.
On Friday, October 30, the free Creepy & Kooky Carnival runs 4 to 8 p.m. at Oakwood Recreation Center. In its October 9 roundup of family Halloween events, Venice Rising says registration goes through L.A. Parks. Because it's a city parks event, sign-up happens ahead of time.
On Saturday, October 31, Canalloween takes over Linnie Canal Park from 5 to 6 p.m. The association's listing gives the date without a year, and October 31 lands on a Saturday in 2026. The association describes it as a good way to meet other families or catch up with friends.
The two events take place less than a mile apart, a day apart, and both are run by organizations based in the blocks they serve.
SPARC's month-long build to November 1
The Social and Public Art Resource Center has held Día de los Muertos at its headquarters at 685 Venice Blvd. for 24 years. On SPARC's event page, this year's free celebration runs Sunday, November 1, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with traditional altars, art, performances and Oaxacan treats.
The evening opens with what SPARC calls "a traditional invocation ritual at sunset, conducted in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English." SPARC also builds a community altar from photos visitors bring of the people they want to honor, and the photos can go home with their owners at the end of the night.
The November 1 date is the last step in a series that has run since early October. SPARC listed a talk on the history and traditions of Día de los Muertos on October 10, followed by two hands-on workshops where people learn to make traditional and new decorations:
- Saturday, October 17: Workshop I
- Saturday, October 24: Workshop II
The talk has already happened. Both workshops are still ahead. SPARC credits support for this year's event to the Office of Councilwoman Traci Park and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture.
Friday is the day that ties the season together
The Venice Farmers' Market runs every Friday, year-round, from 7 to 11 a.m. at 500 Venice Blvd. in L.A. City Parking Lot #701, at Venice Boulevard and Venice Way. That's from California's certified-market list, which is current as of October 1, 2026. Several of the season's evening events also fall on Fridays:
| Friday | Morning | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| October 30 | Farmers' market, 7 to 11 a.m. | Creepy & Kooky Carnival, Oakwood Recreation Center, 4 to 8 p.m. |
| November 6 | Farmers' market, 7 to 11 a.m. | First Friday Food Truck Fest, Abbot Kinney, 5 to 9:30 p.m. |
| December 4 | Farmers' market, 7 to 11 a.m. | Jen Siraganian reading, Beyond Baroque, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. |
| December 11 | Farmers' market, 7 to 11 a.m. | "La Di DADA," Beyond Baroque, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. |
The Abbot Kinney Boulevard Association lists the next First Friday Food Truck Fest for November 6, 5 to 9:30 p.m. The listing doesn't print a year, but the 2026 calendar puts November 6 on a Friday, and the association hasn't posted a date past that one yet.
Beyond Baroque's calendar fills the first half of December. "Skulls & Stairs" is listed for Thursday, December 3, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, December 5 has two events, a Charlotte Ward reading from 2 to 4 p.m. and a What Books Press event from 6 to 8 p.m. The venue's events feed labels "Skulls & Stairs" a Friday while the calendar prints Thursday, so it's worth checking with Beyond Baroque before planning around that one.
Where to eat between events
Two openings from this summer sit right along this calendar's route.
Eater LA reported that The Tasting Kitchen reopened July 16 at 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd. after a 2023 fire and a long rebuild, with chef Casey Lane's restaurant refreshed. On First Friday, it's on the same boulevard as the food trucks.
A few days earlier, Bodega and Palms opened on July 8 in the former Mitchell's Market at 1915 Penmar Ave. Eater LA describes it as a neighborhood market and café with locally sourced prepared food and convenience goods. For anyone east of Lincoln, it's a corner-store stop on the way to an evening at SPARC or Oakwood.
December on the canals, and which dates to confirm
The season ends on the water. The Venice Canals Association lists its Holiday Boat Parade for December 13, from 4 p.m. on, and invites anyone to decorate a boat and join in. That's a Sunday this year.
The association's page doesn't print a year next to the date, so the route and viewing spots below come from last year. Yo! Venice's December 2025 coverage of the 44th annual parade gave this route:
- Start at Grand and Carroll
- North on Carroll
- East on Linnie
- North on Howland
- East on Sherman
- Back to Grand
That same report named Eastern and Carroll as a popular viewing spot and said watching was free. If the 2026 parade sticks to past years, those spots should still work. The association's boat parade page is the place to confirm.
The association also lists a Holiday Toy Drive at Linnie Canal Park on December 6, 2 to 5 p.m., with Santa from 4 to 5 p.m. The same entry describes "our 2026 Holiday Toy Drive" in the past tense, as a success that collected more than 500 toys for the Fire Department's Spark of Love campaign. Until the association posts an update, treat that date as unconfirmed.
The Venice Holiday Sign lighting at Windward and Pacific is in a similar spot. The Santa Monica Daily Press covered last year's 14th annual lighting, held Saturday, December 6, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m. The Venice Chamber of Commerce's sign page hasn't posted a 2026 date. If the pattern holds, it should land in early December.
The plaza question at Windward
Near the beach, the most visible public space idea in Venice right now is still a proposal. On September 1, the Venice Neighborhood Council took up motion 104-26, a conceptual pedestrian plaza on Windward Avenue between Speedway and Windward Circle. An amendment to narrow it to the westward block failed 4-12-2-1, and the board then voted 9-8-1-2 to send the proposal back to committee for a town hall. No town hall date had been posted on the council's October calendar.
Other beach-area projects are on similar timelines. In August, Yo! Venice reported that the council's Ocean Front Walk Committee unanimously passed a motion calling for better public restroom upkeep, and that the report separately described a recommended capital plan for restorations and more restrooms before the 2028 Summer Games. Neither amounts to funded construction. The same report said resurfacing of the Venice Beach paddle tennis courts was scheduled to finish by spring 2027, weather permitting. No approved change to Windward Avenue is on record for this fall and holiday season, and the committee town hall, once it's scheduled, is the next public step.
Living a short walk from Linnie Canal Park, Oakwood Recreation Center or the Venice Boulevard arts corridor is part of what a Venice address is worth, even though no listing spec sheet captures it. If you own near the canals or Abbot Kinney and want to know how that shows up in today's numbers, Jasan Sherman and the Collective can walk you through it. Get your instant Westside home valuation.
