The Emmaus Halloween Parade steps off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and the borough has set a rain date of Sunday, October 18. The 7 p.m. start gets the attention. Your evening depends more on two earlier times. Roads around the formation area close at 5 p.m., and every other road closes at 6 p.m. If you are driving in, parking on a side street, or leaving your own driveway that evening, plan around those two hours. By 7, most of your choices are already made.
The parade has run long enough to have its own paperwork. The first mention in borough records is dated October 20, 1919. Burgess Knauss told Council that he had not yet moved to organize a Halloween parade, but would appoint a committee if Council wanted one. In 1921 an American Legion committee was helping with the planning, and an official committee formed in 1929. Today the Emmaus Parade Committee runs the evening and recruits its parade-night volunteers.
How the Afternoon Leads Up to 7 p.m.
Everything listed for October 17 falls inside a three-hour window. In order:
- 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. The pre-parade movie at Emmaus Theatre, 19 S. Fourth Street, is "Hotel Transylvania." It's free, Edward Jones sponsors it, and you reserve a spot through the parade website.
- 4:45 to 6:10 p.m. Same-day 5K number and shirt pickup at the Emmaus High School Annex Lot, at Macungie Avenue, North Street and Harrison Street.
- 5:00 p.m. Roads around the parade formation area close.
- 6:00 p.m. All other roads close.
- 6:30 p.m. The Halloween in Emmaus 5K starts.
- 7:00 p.m. The parade steps off at Keystone and Ridge Streets.
The movie lets out at 5:30. By then the formation-area roads have been closed for half an hour, and the rest of the closures start 30 minutes later. A family that goes straight from the theater to a spot on the route has about the right amount of time. A family that goes home first and plans to drive back will find the streets closing as they return.
The Route Is a Loop Through Town
The route isn't a straight line down Main Street. The parade starts at Keystone and Ridge Streets and heads west on Ridge to Sixth Street. It turns onto Walnut Street and follows it west to Ninth Street. Then it goes south on Ninth to Chestnut Street, east on Chestnut to Main Street, and back onto Keystone Avenue.
Since the route loops back toward where it started, it crosses a lot of the borough's grid. That's why the closures matter so much. Ridge, Walnut, Ninth, Chestnut, Main and Keystone are all part of the evening. If your usual way in or out uses any of them, Saturday the 17th is a night to leave early or park somewhere off the loop before 6.
The parade committee suggests one stretch for families: Walnut Street between Macungie Avenue and Ninth Street. Last year's coverage also pointed to Walnut. A September 2025 preview gave the same Macungie Avenue to Ninth Street stretch.
The 5K Starts on the Parade's Own Streets
The 5K is easy to miss if you only follow the parade, but it shapes the half hour before the parade starts. The race begins at Ninth and Green Streets and finishes at Triangle Park. Ninth Street is also where the parade turns south toward Chestnut, so the race and the parade share at least that street on the same evening. The race page lists the event from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Some details for anyone thinking about signing up:
- Proceeds benefit the Emmaus parks system and the Emmaus Halloween Parade.
- Costumes are encouraged. Prizes go to the fastest times and to the best costumes, and the race's Facebook page posts the current list of costume contests.
- The entry fee on the registration page is $35.50. It goes up after 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 12, 2026.
- Your shirt size is guaranteed only if you register before October 2.
- Early pickup is at the Keystone Running Store, 1042 Mill Creek Road, Suite 32, in Allentown. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
There's also a separate deadline that's easy to confuse with these. The borough's notice says all participants must register by October 6. If you're entering a float, a group or a band in the parade itself, go by that date and use the registration form on emmausparade.com.
Restrooms, Food Trucks and Refreshments
Once the roads close, getting around takes longer, so it helps to know where things are before you choose a spot. The parade committee lists these:
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Restroom | Corner of Keystone and Ridge Streets |
| Restroom | North Street between Buss Paints and Kappe, Inc., the old Wells Fargo building |
| Restroom | St. Margaret's Church, Keystone and Elm Streets, during formation |
| Restroom | West End Playground on Ninth Street |
| Food Truck Court | Emmaus Borough parking lot on Main Street between Third and Fourth, 313 Main St. |
| Refreshments | St. Margaret's Church, Keystone and Elm Streets |
St. Margaret's refreshment sales benefit the Groceries Plus Food Bank at Bethel Bible Church. The Food Truck Court, on Main between Third and Fourth, is close to Emmaus Theatre on S. Fourth Street. That makes it easy to go from the matinee to dinner and then to the route.
The committee hasn't posted 2026 numbers for entries or food trucks. For a rough sense of scale, Borough Council heard in October 2025 that the parade would have 50 parties and seven bands, and coverage at the time listed six food trucks. Those figures describe last year only.
The Rain Date Has Two Different Times
If the weather pushes the parade to Sunday, the times shift, and the sources don't fully agree. The borough's September 25 notice and the parade's homepage both list the rain date as Sunday, October 18, at 6:30 p.m. The 5K registration page says the race follows the parade's schedule. It gives a Sunday race time of 5:30 p.m. and says the parade would start at 6:00 p.m. on the rain date.
That's a 30-minute difference on the parade start. The borough and the parade committee both give 6:30 p.m., so that's the safer time to plan around. If Saturday's forecast looks uncertain, check emmausparade.com and the race's Facebook page that weekend. The race page itself points people to Facebook for the latest information.
The Rest of the October Calendar
The parade is the biggest night in Emmaus this October, but not the only one. These are the other dates nearby:
- Saturday, October 3. Emmaus National Night Out runs noon to 5 p.m. at Emmaus Community Park. It has live music starting at 12:30 p.m., a medevac helicopter landing at 2 p.m., a petting zoo and a car cruise. The same day, Shangy's Biergarten at 40 E. Main Street has its grand opening at noon, with live music, food trucks, cornhole and a 1 p.m. steinholding contest.
- Saturday, October 24. The fourth annual Knauss Homestead Harvest Festival runs noon to 4 p.m. at 152 East Main Street, rear. It's free, but you need to register.
- Friday, October 30. Borough trick-or-treat is 6 to 8 p.m.
- Every Sunday through November 29. The Emmaus Farmers' Market runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Triangle Park, rain or shine. That includes the morning after the parade.
Trick-or-treat is on Friday the 30th, almost two weeks after the parade. If you have children, that's two separate costume nights to plan for this month.
If you live along Ridge, Walnut, Ninth or Chestnut, or you're thinking about listing a home near the parade route, I'm happy to talk through how parade night and the borough's fall calendar fit into your plans. Lori Bartkus is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
