Russell Street Halloween 2026 in Berkeley’s Elmwood

On July 28, while most of Berkeley was thinking about anything but costumes, the City Council approved four years of Halloween funding for Russell Street. The vote came on the consent calendar and was unanimous. Resolution No. 72,417–N.S. sends up to $4,000 from Councilmember Mark Humbert's office to the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association for the Russell Street festivities from 2026 through 2029. Eight of his colleagues added their own contributions.

The amount per year barely changed. The timing did. A year ago, the same tradition got its city help at a meeting held three days before Halloween. This year the money is in place three months early and committed through the end of the decade. Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, and so does the shop trick-or-treating the week before. That gives the Elmwood two weekend shifts on its October calendar, and the evening one now has more city backing than it has had before.

A $1,000 item in late October, then a four-year resolution in July

Humbert has carried both versions of this item. Laid side by side, the two council documents show the change plainly.

Spread over four years, Humbert's $4,000 works out to the same $1,000 a year he gave in 2025. The resolution says the neighborhood association asked for $4,000 "to help cover the costs of the festivities for the next four years." What CENA gained was a predictable budget it can plan around every summer, rather than a bigger one.

The rest of the council added to that baseline. The adopted resolution lists these amounts:

• Councilmember Tregub, up to $150
• Councilmember Blackaby, up to $250
• Councilmember Lunaparra, up to $200
• Councilmember Kesarwani, up to $100
• Councilmember Taplin, up to $200
• Councilmember Bartlett, up to $200
• Councilmember O'Keefe, up to $200
• Mayor Ishii, up to $100

Together with Humbert's share, that comes to as much as $5,400 for a street party that started on one front porch. Every amount is written as "up to," so the final figures depend on what each office actually releases.

The resolution's wording is also clearly written by people who like this event. It calls Russell Street Halloween "a skele-ton of fun for the whole family" and gives its civic purpose this way:

"coffin up funds for this event would serve the civic interests of community-building, creating safe spaces for holiday celebrations, and preventing this event from ghosting"

Why a neighborhood night needs a budget at all

The council items don't list how CENA spends the money. Neither the 2025 nor the 2026 version breaks out a figure for any particular cost.

The city's general rules show what an event of this size involves. Berkeley requires a special event permit for gatherings of 50 or more people on city streets, and every such permit requires insurance plus plans for restrooms, waste and accessibility. Organizers of events with 200 or more people are told to start six to nine months ahead. A crowd the size Russell Street has drawn in past years is far above both of those thresholds.

The city's permit page also says it is no longer accepting applications for new or expanded 2026 events. Returning events and events already in the 2026 queue are not affected. The notice is a citywide policy. It says nothing either way about Russell Street's permit, and nothing published so far does. What it does show is that the city's calendar runs on long lead times, and a four-year funding resolution passed in July fits that schedule better than a one-year item passed in late October.

The day shift, on College Avenue

Russell Street gets the attention, but the Elmwood's October starts earlier and in daylight, along the shops on College Avenue.

1. All of October: Halloween Scavenger Hunt. Shop The Elmwood lists a free hunt in participating stores. You pick up or print a game card, then find the pictured objects inside the shops. The calendar lists it under Oct. 30, but the description says it runs all month, so the card works on any visit.
2. Saturday, Oct. 24, noon to 5 p.m.: Trick or Treating in the Elmwood. Participating stores hand out free treats, and the listing says costumes are highly encouraged. Maps of the participating shops are available at Mrs. Dalloway's, at 2904 College Ave., and at Your Basic Bird.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31: Russell Street Halloween, sponsored by the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association.

The shop event has followed the same pattern for at least three years: the last Saturday before Halloween itself. In 2024, Berkeleyside's listing paired it with a free "Hotel Transylvania" matinee at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood at 11 a.m. on Oct. 26, followed by trick-or-treating along College Avenue. In 2025, the Rialto showed "Hotel Transylvania 2" at 10 a.m. on Oct. 25, and shops ran trick-or-treating from noon to 5 p.m. The 2026 trick-or-treat listing doesn't mention a matinee. If the pattern holds, the Rialto at 2966 College Ave., which is Berkeley's only remaining commercial movie theater, is the place to check before Oct. 24.

The day shift is run by merchants, takes place indoors, and ends at 5 p.m. The night shift is run by neighbors, takes place on the street, and starts around dusk. Even in a year when both fall on Saturdays, they are separate events.

The night shift, on Russell

The Russell Street tradition is older than most of the businesses on the shop map. In 2015, East Bay Times columnist Steve Finacom wrote that the street's elaborate decorating began at a single home in the 1980s and was drawing thousands of visitors each year by then.

The best recent account is Berkeleyside's coverage from 2022, the first Halloween back after a two-year pandemic pause. Neighbors closed Russell Street between College and Claremont avenues from 5 to 9 p.m., and thousands came. That year's displays included a shadow screen set up on a porch, the Flad family's 1970s dance show, and firefighters handing out candy from a fire truck. In 2023, Berkeleyside's events roundup listed the street, again between College and Claremont, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. The Daily Californian's 2024 report described a dance party at about 8 p.m. and one house's high-tech puppet show.

Those earlier years explain why the 2026 funding matters. The event has grown from one decorated house into a closed street with posted hours and thousands of visitors. Those are the conditions that, under the city's own rules, come with insurance, restroom and waste requirements. Families on one block have been carrying that work each year. As of July, they have four years of city support behind it.

What's confirmed for Oct. 31, and what isn't

Confirmed: the date and the sponsor. The adopted resolution names the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association and sets the event for October 31, 2026.

Not yet published: 2026 hours, the blocks to be closed, parking or transit guidance, and volunteer sign-ups. The 5 to 9 p.m. closure in 2022 and the 5 to 8:30 p.m. listing in 2023 are a reasonable guide to the general shape of the night. They are not this year's schedule.

Halloween on a Saturday means no school the next morning and no workday for most people. The published record doesn't say whether that will change turnout, so the safest plan is to arrive early and keep an eye on CENA and local listings as the date gets closer.

The most useful thing for Russell Street households to do this month is probably to find out what CENA needs from the blocks that host the event. The funding and the date are settled. The street's own preparation is still up to the people who live on it.

I follow the Elmwood the same way I follow its market: block by block, through the council records and the merchant calendars. If you live near Russell Street or College Avenue and want to talk about what the neighborhood's traditions mean for your home's story, request a personalized consultation, and I'll start with the street you actually live on.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.