Admiral's Trick-or-Treat Moved to the Night Before Halloween. Here's How the Evening Fits Together Now.

Last year, trick-or-treating in the Admiral business district was on a Friday a full week before Halloween. It ran from 3:30 to 6 pm, and it rained. This year the Admiral Neighborhood Association moved it to Friday, October 30, the day before Halloween, and it now runs 3:30 to 6:30 pm. The new date and the later end time change how the evening works. The route now continues past sunset, and the final stretch overlaps a free carnival at Hiawatha Community Center, which sits right on California Avenue SW in the middle of the route.

Treat it as one evening with two parts. Do the storefronts while it's light, then head indoors to Hiawatha when it gets dark.

The evening by the clock

Here are the October 30 times, pulled from the organizers' listings and the 2026 sunset tables:

According to timeanddate.com's Seattle sun table, you get about two hours and 24 minutes of daylight after the 3:30 start. The last 36 minutes of the business route happen after sunset, and civil twilight ends just four minutes before the route closes. That means the businesses at the end of your loop will be handing out candy in the dark.

The times above follow West Seattle Blog's October 9 roundup. The ANA homepage lists the same Friday event as 3:00 to 6:00 pm, so check with the association before you head out. With either schedule, the walk overlaps the start of the Hiawatha carnival and runs close to sunset.

What the one-week shift changed

In 2025, West Seattle Blog covered the Admiral event on October 24. It started at 3:30, and umbrellas were "joining treat bags as accessories." The blog said it ran until 6 pm. Its 6:12 pm photo update showed a crowd "bracing against the rain" and a Seattle Yarn staffer guarding the candy bowl in a shark costume and a sweater.

The 2026 date also changes where Admiral falls in West Seattle's Halloween lineup. West Seattle Blog's October 9 roundup lists three business-district events:

• Alki Beach Trick-or-Treat: Saturday, October 24, noon to 2 pm, with more than two dozen businesses from Blue Moon Burgers to Cactus. The roundup also suggests a detour to the Log House Museum at 61st and Stevens.
• West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival: Sunday, October 25, 11 am to 2 pm. Trick-or-treating, a costume parade, a pie-eating contest and a chili cookoff that benefits the West Seattle Food Bank.
• Admiral Trick-or-Treating: Friday, October 30, 3:30 to 6:30 pm.

Alki and the Junction are both this weekend, in midday daylight. Admiral comes last, and it's the only one of the three on a weekday afternoon running into evening. If your family is doing all three, Admiral is the one to plan around school pickup and dinner.

Walking California Avenue north to south

The 2026 participant table lists 56 businesses. According to West Seattle Blog, the route runs from Mioposto in the north to Shug's in the south. Mioposto's Admiral location is at 2139 California Ave SW. The blog's 2025 coverage put the far end at Shug's and Welcome Road Winery at California and Charlestown. It also said Avamere and Mioposto marked the North Admiral end.

Starting at the north end in daylight puts the landmarks in this order:

1. Mioposto, 2139 California Ave SW, and Park West Care Center, both on this year's list, at the North Admiral end.
2. Zelda Zonk, 2210 California SW. In 2025 it took part without being on the official map. It's on the 2026 list.
3. The Admiral Theater, 2343 California Ave SW, another 2026 participant.
4. Hiawatha Community Center, 2700 California Ave SW, which Seattle Parks places on California Ave SW in the Admiral District.
5. Shug's Soda Fountain and Welcome Road Winery at California and Charlestown, the southern end.

Not every participant is right on California Avenue. Alki Mail and Dispatch, at 47th and Admiral according to West Seattle Blog's 2025 report, is on the list again this year.

The ANA list has two notes worth planning around. The Nook opens at 4 pm, so it's a better stop on the way back than at the start. Seattle Dive Tours is giving extra candy for marine-life costumes, and that offer covers all ages. The Seattle Yarn shark from last year would qualify.

The rest of the list is very local, from Meeples Games, Thunder Road Guitars and The Bass Shop, and West Seattle Runner to BAKED, Circa, Pizzeria 22, West Wings, Larry's, The Admiral Pub, Prost, PCC, Current Coffee, Mud Bay and Otter on the Rocks. St. John the Baptist Church and the Lafayette Elementary PTA are participating too. The ANA calls these the businesses "currently participating," so check the live list the day before. Last year more businesses joined than the map showed.

The handoff at Hiawatha

The new schedule matters most at Hiawatha. Seattle Parks lists the Hiawatha Halloween Carnival for Friday, October 30, from 5 to 7 pm in the community center gym. It's an all-ages family event with costumes, carnival games and "spooktacular activities." The listing says it's free with unlimited openings and shows an enroll button. Registration opened August 11. Check that page before you go so the door isn't a surprise.

If the street route runs to 6:30, the two events overlap for 90 minutes. On the ANA homepage's 3:00 to 6:00 schedule, the overlap is an hour. In both cases, the carnival opens about an hour before sunset and stays open after the last storefront closes. With 2700 California in the middle of the route, families coming from the north can reach Hiawatha just as it gets dark. Families starting from the south can do it the other way: candy from Charlestown north while it's light, then the gym.

Last year it rained, so that's possible again, and the gym is the indoor part of the night. The route itself is outdoors along a business street, and on the 6:30 schedule it ends 36 minutes after sunset. Reflective trim on costumes and a flashlight in the treat bag make sense for this year's timing in a way they didn't when the event ended at 6 pm a week earlier.

A detour for the decorations

On October 10, West Seattle Blog ran a reader's photo of a display called the Belvidere Home for Wayward Ghouls. The reader said it's on Belvidere, south of Admiral. The blog didn't give an address, so it's something to look for if your walk home goes down Belvidere, not something to put in a map app. The blog is also still taking photos of local decorations through its Halloween archive.

What the ANA has on the calendar next

The Admiral Neighborhood Association runs the October 30 event, and its next dates are already posted. The general meeting and annual board elections are on November 18 at 7 pm in the parish hall at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, which is also on this year's trick-or-treat list. Winter Wonderland follows on December 12, from 11 am to 2 pm. Each of these events depends on the same volunteers and businesses, and the Halloween page has a sign-up form for anyone who wants to help.

If walking the Admiral business district gets you thinking about which blocks put your front door closest to evenings like this, talk it through with Mara Haveson. Schedule a Consultation whenever it suits you.