Capitol Hill's free Hilloween carnival and trick-or-treating returns Saturday, Oct. 31, giving Queen Anne and nearby families a full day of Halloween activities a short bus ride away.

The carnival runs 1 to 4 p.m. at the AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza at Broadway and Denny, according to the event's official site.

Games, arts and crafts, entertainment and candy prizes are all free and open to kids and adults.

Merchant trick-or-treating stretches across three Capitol Hill corridors throughout the day:

  • Pike/Pine, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Start at Chophouse Row.
  • Carnival at AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza, 1–4 p.m.
  • 15th Ave E, starting at 4 p.m. Shops hand out free jack-o-lantern buckets while supplies last.
  • Broadway, 4–6 p.m. Starts at the plaza when the carnival wraps.

The 15th Ave E corridor is new this year. The 15th Avenue East BIA organized the extension, with restaurants and shops along the street joining in.

Businesses will follow normal operating hours and may not be open the full window, the BIA noted.

After dark, the residential Trick or Treat Hot Zone lights up around 16th Avenue East and East Aloha near Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported.

How the carnival came back

The Broadway Business Improvement Area canceled the carnival due to lack of funding.

District 3 City Council representative Joy Hollingsworth then championed a $5,000 budget amendment to the Department of Neighborhoods matching fund program to support "annual Halloween events for children," according to Capitol Hill Seattle Blog's coverage of her 2026 spending proposals.

Egan Orion and PrideFest took over organizing and expanded the event beyond Broadway into Pike/Pine, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported Oct. 1.

How long the carnival has been gone depends on who's counting. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog's Oct. 27 coverage called it the first in two years.

An earlier Oct. 1 article from the same outlet said three years.

Saturday's event marks the first time Hilloween falls on Halloween itself, organizers said.

The full schedule and participating businesses are listed at hilloween.me and 15thaveeast.com/halloween.