Last October, the Halloween Monster Bash took place at Peoria Sports Complex, 16101 N. 83rd Ave. On Saturday, Oct. 24, it moves downtown to the City Hall Campus and Centennial Plaza at 8401 W. Monroe St. Two other things are set for the same few blocks. The city's restored 1906 Schoolhouse is scheduled to finish construction in late October, and the Jefferson House food hall is aiming to open across the street in November. Put together, this fall Downtown Peoria becomes the default place where the city holds its events. Until now it was one stop among several.
The shift has been building for years. Since 2022 the city has budgeted nearly $15 million for Historic Downtown, bought land in key spots, and in late 2023 cleared the former NAPA building to make room for Jefferson House. On April 2, 2024, the City Council unanimously approved two restaurant, retail and event developments on city-owned downtown land. This season is the first time most of that work shows up on the calendar.
Why the Monster Bash moved
The city gave four reasons for the new location: more room for themed zones and attractions, easier parking and flow, a walkable setting for fall evenings, and a more central community experience. The last reason explains the whole season. A big Saturday-night family event now sits where people can walk from the trick-or-treat trails to a restaurant on Washington Street.
The event runs 5 to 9 p.m. It includes trick-or-treat trails, costumed-character entertainment, costume contests, food trucks and local vendors. Families with kids who need a break from the noise can use a sensory trailer and quiet area. The city says it will stock noise-canceling headphones, weighted blankets, soft seating and sensory kits.
The same plaza hosts the city's other big October event a week earlier. The Bombs Without Boundaries Car Show, the free finale of Somos Peoria, fills City Hall and Centennial Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Schoolhouse is the anchor the city is building toward
The two-room Central School went up in 1906 in the Mission Revival style. It is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Peoria Register of Historic Places. Construction to turn it into an arts and cultural center began April 13, 2026, and the city estimates the $3 million project will be finished by the end of October. A new annex adds restrooms, storage, offices and modern internet and phone lines. That support space lets the historic building host exhibitions, classes, receptions and performances.
The city plans to hold the grand opening in December, during the Downtown Peoria Holiday Festival. The festival is listed for Saturday, Dec. 12, starting at 5 p.m. No separate ribbon-cutting time or opening-day program has been posted. So far, the city has described future programming broadly as classes, art experiences, performances and community activities. Over the summer it held public input sessions to help shape that programming.
Holding the grand opening on the busiest downtown night of the year was a choice. Dec. 12 brings the Holiday Festival, the monthly Second Saturday and the Schoolhouse opening to the same blocks on the same evening.
Jefferson House: what's confirmed and what isn't
Jefferson House sits at 8310 W. Jefferson St., at 83rd Avenue. Its operator describes its neighbors as Driftwood Coffee, Caldwell County BBQ and the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts. The plans call for three chef-run kitchens of 640 square feet each and six retail and eatery spaces of 160 to 440 square feet. There will also be a courtyard bar, a live music stage, a 16-foot splash pad, and seating for 300-plus under a covered black-steel canopy with heaters, fans and misters.
Here is what you can count on, and what is still open:
- Opening: The operator is "targeting November 2026" and has not named a day.
- Planned hours: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Each kitchen and shop sets its own hours within those.
- Tenants: The operator says kitchens and retail spaces are still leasing and tenant announcements are coming.
- Novel Ice Cream: In September 2025, Phoenix New Times called Novel the project's first confirmed tenant. KTAR reported on Oct. 1 that the company has paused its Peoria shop to focus on a Tempe location.
The opening month lines up with the city's plan. A November opening would put a 300-seat courtyard across from the Schoolhouse just in time for the Dec. 12 festival. If the date slips, the Schoolhouse opening and the Holiday Festival still happen on their own schedule.
What's already open on these blocks
Caldwell County BBQ opened its first West Valley restaurant on April 1, 2026. It's on Washington Street between 83rd Avenue and 83rd Drive, a building of about 6,600 square feet between the Fire House Event Center and the former downtown hotel site. Driftwood Coffee is at 8295 W. Jefferson St., steps from the Jefferson House site.
TheaterWorks fills the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts on the same weekends as the street events. Its current calendar lists:
| Show | Dates |
|---|---|
| The Addams Family | Oct. 23 to Nov. 8 |
| The Nevermore Revue, evening cast | Oct. 27 to 28 |
| The Nevermore Revue, afternoon cast | Nov. 3 to 4 |
| A Christmas Carol | Dec. 4 to 20 |
| Phoenix Brass Collective, a City Event | Dec. 16 |
The Addams Family opens the night before the Monster Bash, and A Christmas Carol is running during the Dec. 12 festival. TheaterWorks updates its calendar as shows go, so check performance times before you plan dinner around a curtain.
The downtown fall, Saturday by Saturday
Second Saturdays are back downtown for the season, free, from 4 to 8 p.m. One Somos Peoria listing gives different hours for the October edition, so confirm before you go. Here's how the downtown calendar lines up:
- Oct. 10: Second Saturday, with special Hispanic Heritage Month programming as part of Somos Peoria.
- Oct. 17: Bombs Without Boundaries Car Show at City Hall and Centennial Plaza, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Oct. 24: Halloween Monster Bash at City Hall Campus and Centennial Plaza, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Late October: Schoolhouse construction expected to finish.
- November: Jefferson House target opening month.
- Nov. 14: Second Saturday.
- Dec. 12: Second Saturday, the Peoria Holiday Festival and the planned Schoolhouse grand opening.
The series continues monthly through April 10, 2027.
The Sports Complex keeps its own Saturdays
Moving the Monster Bash doesn't leave north Peoria quiet. The Arizona Fall League's Peoria Javelinas play at Peoria Stadium from Oct. 3 to Nov. 14, with most games listed for 1:30 p.m. Desert West Night Market runs Saturday evenings at the complex through October.
The two calendars overlap on two Saturdays. On Oct. 17, the car show takes over Centennial Plaza while the Night Market hosts a trick-or-treat and costume event and campout. That same night brings the new Grand Slam Campout, an overnight stay at the complex through Oct. 18. It costs $25 per person and is limited to the first 200 sign-ups. On Oct. 24, the Monster Bash runs downtown while the Night Market screens a Minions and Monsters movie night.
So Peoria now has two Halloween Saturdays in two parts of town. The Sports Complex has the ballgames, the market and the campout. The City Hall campus has the city's own family events, plus a restaurant, a coffee shop, a theater and soon a restored landmark within a short walk. Downtown Peoria and Old Town are the same historic district, platted in 1886. This December, the Schoolhouse that served that district as Central School reopens as its arts center.
If you live near the 83rd Avenue blocks and want to understand what the Schoolhouse, Jefferson House and the busier event calendar mean for your street, Tag Team AZ is glad to talk it through, with no pressure to make a move. You can see our neighborhood notes on the Peoria page or contact us with a question.
