In 2025, Halloween in Hillcrest was one night. Nightmare on Normal Street ran from 5 to 11 p.m. on October 31, with DJs, runway-style costume competitions offering more than $2,000 in prizes, food and artisan vendors, an outdoor dance floor and a cocktail bar.
In 2026 there is no block party. The Hillcrest Business Association's event page says Nightmare on Normal Street is pausing this year "due to locational changes" and will return to Normal Street in 2027. The official Hillcrest calendar now shows Halloween events on five different dates between October 24 and October 31. Each one is hosted by a single business, and most of them sit on University Avenue. Hillcrest has been running its public life this way since construction took Normal Street, and this October is probably the last time the neighborhood will do Halloween in this format.
The party left Normal Street a year before it paused
The name has been out of date for a while. The 2025 Nightmare on Normal Street wasn't held on Normal Street. The association's press release placed it on University Avenue between Herbert and Centre.
Other events moved the same way. The Hillcrest Farmers Market has run on University Avenue between Herbert Street and Park Boulevard every Sunday since January 26, 2025, while construction continues on its old site. In July, FOX 5 reported that the 2026 Spirit of Stonewall Rally was moving from Normal Street to Fifth Avenue beside the Brass Rail. The Pride Block Party is also listed as "Returning 2027." The association says it will come back on the new Pride Promenade.
The association has tied the Pride Block Party's pause to the Promenade directly. For Nightmare on Normal Street, its page only says "locational changes." Both events show the same return year on the annual events list, and both are expected back where the construction is now.
The full Halloween calendar, October 24 to 31
These are all the Halloween listings on the Hillcrest events calendar as of mid-October, in date order.
| Date | Host | Address | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Urban Mo's | 308 University Ave. | 7 to 9 p.m. | Boolesque, a burlesque night |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Urban Mo's | 308 University Ave. | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Boo Brunch, a drag brunch |
| Sun., Oct. 25 and Mon., Oct. 26 | Rich's | 1051 University Ave. | 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. | STUNT Halloween dance party |
| Tue., Oct. 27 | Urban Mo's | 308 University Ave. | 6 to 8 p.m. | Spooketti and Show Tunes |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | ArtReach | 1065 University Ave. | 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | Free family pumpkin painting |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Casa Vintage + More | 1735 University Ave. | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Halloween Day, listed through Nov. 1 |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | A's Cobbler | 441 University Ave. | Noon until candy runs out | Trick-or-treating |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Rocko's Modern Taphouse | 3940 Fourth Ave. | 6 to 11:30 p.m. | Halloween party and costume contest |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Rich's | 1051 University Ave. | 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. | Halloween Massive |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Cigar Cave | 3858 Fifth Ave. | 9 to 11 p.m. | Halloween horror movie night |
Last year's single six-hour window has turned into ten listings across five dates. Seven of the ten are on University Avenue, from the 300 block to the 1700 block. The other three are just around the corner on Fourth and Fifth avenues.
Halloween falls on a Saturday, and the day runs from morning to 4 a.m.
October 31 is a Saturday this year. On the calendar, the day runs almost nonstop, and the hosts change as it goes.
The morning is for families. ArtReach at 1065 University Avenue is hosting a free pumpkin-painting workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It is part of a series of family art workshops supported by the TahDah Foundation and a City of San Diego grant through Council District 3. ArtReach releases tickets for each workshop two weeks ahead, which puts the release for this one around October 17.
At noon, A's Cobbler at 441 University Avenue starts handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. The listing says it will keep going "until candy runs out." Casa Vintage + More at 1735 University Avenue is open for its Halloween Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In the evening, Rocko's Modern Taphouse at 3940 Fourth Avenue is hosting a Halloween party from 6 to 11:30 p.m. The listing calls it the bar's first. It runs contests for dogs and for people, with the costume contest at 7 p.m., plus a special drink menu. On Fifth Avenue, Cigar Cave is running a horror movie night from 9 to 11 p.m. and asks guests to wear pajamas. The listing describes the venue as "Hillcrest's hidden gem located in Mural Alley." Rich's at 1051 University Avenue has the latest listing of the night, Halloween Massive, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
With the 2025 block party, the whole evening happened on one closed-off stretch of street. This year the same night is spread across separate venues on three streets, each with its own hours.
October 25 puts three events on the same avenue
The Sunday before Halloween brings the farmers market and two Halloween events to University Avenue on the same day. The market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with 1601 University Avenue as its listed address. Urban Mo's Boo Brunch at 308 University Avenue overlaps it from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The listing bills it as a drag brunch "to kick off Halloween week." After dark, Rich's opens STUNT Halloween at 8 p.m. The listing has a queer pop and vogue room with DJ K-Swift and a hip-hop room with DJ PurFlo. It shows no cover, plus $3 vodka drinks from 9 to 10 p.m.
For almost two years, Sundays on University Avenue have worked like this. The market sets up on the street, and the businesses along it plan their own events around it. On October 25 those businesses are running Halloween events.
What Normal Street is being built to hold
University Avenue is only filling in while the Pride Promenade on Normal Street is under construction. The design is meant to bring events like Halloween back to one place.
According to Times of San Diego's July construction tour, the design includes a rainbow bike lane, light-and-shade structures and custom poles with banner mounts, flower baskets, string-light hooks and speakers. It also has bollard outlets meant to power market vendors. The Hillcrest Business Association's Promenade page describes Pride Plaza at the base of the Pride Flag, with supporters' names etched into the paving. It also describes Streetcar Eatery, a restored streetcar planned as a concession stand, and a shaded playground with café-style seating. The same page lists Nightmare on Normal Street, outdoor movie nights and bike nights as events under consideration for the space. None of them is a confirmed booking yet.
The timing isn't settled. KPBS reported on July 22 that the Promenade was targeted for completion by the end of 2026, and that officials acknowledged it was behind its original schedule. A Times of San Diego correction in June separated the Promenade from the full bikeway and stormwater project. It said the full project's official completion date is 2027 and that the Promenade portion might open in fall 2026. As of mid-October, no ribbon-cutting date has been announced. The City of San Diego's listing for the December 20 market still places it on University Avenue between Herbert Street and Park Boulevard.
University Avenue keeps adding tenants anyway
The businesses that will host Halloween are also part of a fall where University Avenue and the streets around it kept changing. Pali Wine Co. took over the former Cellar Hand space at 1440 University Avenue, with a soft opening on August 12 and a grand opening on August 22, as San Diego Magazine reported. San Diego Magazine also reported in September that Hako Hako, a shop built around Japanese konbini culture, is coming to 819 University Avenue in early 2027. It will sit in front of the Uptown Inn, next to Ramen Ryoma.
A block off the avenue, Josie's is coming to 1270 Cleveland Avenue as an all-day diner from the team behind Madison on Park in University Heights. That restaurant announced it would close September 6. FOX 5 reported in August that Josie's would open "sometime this year." No firm opening date has been published since then.
The next neighborhood-wide event on the calendar is Taste 'N' Tinis on Thursday, December 10, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. It's a holiday sip-and-shop that moves between participating businesses, with check-in points at 1601 University Avenue and 3702 Fifth Avenue. Like Halloween, it moves from business to business and doesn't need Normal Street.
When the Promenade opens, a stretch of Hillcrest that has gone without regular foot traffic for two years will get a plaza, a streetcar concession and a returning event calendar. That will likely change how the blocks around it are valued. If you own a home or condo near Normal Street or along University Avenue and want to know how that could affect your property's value, John Rubino can walk you through a free home valuation and consultation built around what is actually opening on your block.
