Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, and the peninsula has noticed. There is a haunted mill town, a haunted house in an Elks lodge, a shadow cast at the Admiral, and trick-or-treating on half the main streets between Gig Harbor and Port Angeles. We picked five, and put every town's Halloween-night hours in one place.

The other thing about the next two weeks: the sun sets at 6:09 tonight in Poulsbo and at 5:54 on Halloween, and then the clocks fall back at 2am on November 1 and Sunday's sunset is 4:52. Plan the daylight things early.

Also: the burger bracket's semifinals closed last night, and the championship opens today.

The Rundown

Sequim's Old Granary Is Pouring Coffee

The old grain elevator at 531 W. Washington St. in Sequim has its first tenants: The Coffee Mill and the Granary Cellars wine lounge, open 7:30am to 6pm daily to start, with later hours promised once the staff settles in. The owners are childhood friends Ryan Schaafsma and Jason Hoffman, and a family-style restaurant and three short-term rental lofts are still to come. Sequim's Cars & Coffee club held its October meet there to welcome them, which is about as fast as a place becomes a Sequim institution.

Frog Rock Is Officially Historic

The state's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted unanimously on September 15 to put Bainbridge's Frog Rock on the Washington Heritage Register. Bob and Ellen Green painted it in 1971, the Ladybug turned up not long after, and steward Denise Stoughton submitted the nomination. A boulder with a face is now a registered heritage site, which seems right.

Last Calls Before November

The Sol Duc Hot Springs pools close for the season at noon on Sunday, November 1. Three farmers markets finish on Saturday the 31st: Port Orchard, Sequim, and Port Townsend's regular season, which comes back for winter Saturdays, 10 to 2, from November 7. Chimacum's Sunday market ends on the 25th. Bainbridge keeps going to November 21 and Poulsbo to December 12.

Best Burger of the Peninsula

The semifinals are counted: 14 votes, and two burgers are left. Voting is open now, and the championship closes Wednesday November 4. Tap the one you want in each matchup. One vote per person, and you can skip any matchup you have no opinion about.

Championship

1 Grub Hut Kingston

VS

14 A&H Curbside Grill Port Hadlock

The winner is announced in the next issue and gets the 2026 seal for the front window.

Halloween on the Peninsula

The poster up top is the shortlist. Here is the fine print for each, from the one we would build a night around down to the one for people who would rather not be startled, then every town's trick-or-treat hours for the 31st.

1. Port Gamble, the whole town · about 15 min · Ghoulish Gala $79

Port Gamble has spent years telling people it is haunted, and this is the fortnight it makes good on it. The Ghost Walk was sold out for every October night when we looked on the 21st; the next one with tickets is Friday, November 13, $35, ages 16 and up, through Eventbrite. The rest of the town's Halloween is still open. On Saturday the 24th the Port Gamble Theater shows Little Shop of Horrors at 2 and 7, reserved seating. On Halloween, kids trick-or-treat at the town's businesses from 1 to 5, and at 7 the Ghoulish Gala fills the theater with Clampire, an eight-piece Halloween band, plus a dinner "Boo-fet" and a costume contest: $79, 21 and over, cash bar, no refunds. Tickets were still on sale when we looked on the 21st.

2. Port Orchard Halloweekend · about 35 min · Bay Street

Downtown Port Orchard gives Halloween a whole weekend on Bay Street, from 10am Friday the 23rd to 5pm Sunday the 25th, and wandering it costs nothing. It is the easy one for small kids in costume, a week early, with somewhere to get lunch. Then come back on the morning of the 31st, when the Port Orchard Farmers Market closes its season with trick-or-treating during market hours, 9 to 2.

3. Kiwanis Haunt Town, Port Townsend · about 45 min · $15

An actual walk-through haunted house, built by volunteers inside the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, with the $15 at the door going to Kiwanis programs for kids. Fri Oct 23 and Sat Oct 24, 6 to 9pm; Fri Oct 30 and Sat Oct 31, 6 to 10pm. It counts for more this year: the Kitsap Haunted Fairgrounds haunt says it is not coming back this October, so this is the scare-level option within reach.

4. Rocky Horror at the Admiral, Bremerton · about 25 min · $23 to $32

Halloween night, with a live shadow cast acting it out in front of the screen. Doors at 7:30, an on-stage costume contest in the pre-show at 8:15, the movie at 9. Tickets run $23 to $32 with the party pack and fees included. It is rated R, so under 17 comes with a parent or guardian. If you want the same building with less audience participation, the 80s Halloween New Wave Dance Party is there on Saturday the 24th, with its own costume contest, $14 to $29.

5. Strange Shadows, Port Townsend · about 45 min · sold out, waitlist open

For grown-ups who like spooky but not jumpy. The Jefferson County Historical Society walks you about three-quarters of a mile through downtown for 90 minutes of ghosts, disappearances and sea stories, and finishes inside the jail spaces of the 1892 City Hall. Six dates: Tue Oct 27 at 4:30, Wed Oct 28 at 11:30, Thu Oct 29 and Fri Oct 30 at 4:30, Sat Oct 31 at 11:30, Sun Nov 1 at 2. $28, or $21 for members. ADA accessible, though the jail has two small steps down. Every date sold out on October 20, and the society is taking names for a waitlist through the ticket link on its page.

Halloween night, town by town

All Saturday, October 31, and all free except Pouls-Boo's activity tickets. Sunset is 5:54, so the early slots are the daylight ones.

Poulsbo · Ghoulsbo on Front Street, 4 to 6pm. Before it, Pouls-Boo at the Poulsbo Heritage Museum, noon to 4: a cake walk, a ghost hunt and a costume contest, on activity tickets sold at the door.

Port Gamble · businesses hand out treats 1 to 5pm.

Port Orchard · the farmers market's closing day and trick-or-treat, during market hours, 9am to 2pm at 933 Bay St.

Bremerton · Trick-or-Treat Street at Quincy Square and Pacific Ave, from 5pm.

Gig Harbor · Trick or Treat in the Harbor, 3 to 6pm, with Harborview Drive closed from Pioneer Way to Rosedale.

Sequim · Downtown Trick or Treat, 3 to 5pm, about 70 stops on Washington Street from Creamery Square to 7th Avenue.

Port Angeles · downtown trick-or-treat, 2 to 5pm. Field Hall runs a free haunted theater 2 to 5 and a free all-ages party 4 to 6:30, and Feiro Marine Life Center hands out treats at its front desk noon to 4.

Port Townsend · a costume parade and downtown trick-or-treat. Main Street has not posted the times yet.

This Weekend and Next

Kitsap Halloween Bash  ·  Kitsap County Fairgrounds, Bremerton · Sat Oct 24 · 1 to 5pm · Free

Trunk-or-treat and live music outside, then a DJ dance party indoors in the VanZee Building and President's Hall, with free hot dogs, cocoa and cider while they last. Bring a food donation and the kids get a free bucket while they last.

Trick or Tree  ·  Olmsted Tree Farms, Poulsbo · Fri Oct 23 and Sat Oct 24 · Check-in 5:30pm · Kids $33.99, adults $17.99, plus fees

A glow-in-the-dark candy egg hunt in a tree field after dark, with bonfires and a stage show first. These are its last two nights, and both still had tickets when we looked on the 21st. Advance tickets only, no refunds, and the farm says it is nearly sold out.

Harvest Fest at Miracle Ranch  ·  CRISTA Miracle Ranch, Port Orchard · Fri Oct 23 to Sun Oct 25 · Fri and Sun noon to 6, Sat 10 to 6 · Free entry, some activities on tickets

Hay wagon rides, a hay maze, a petting zoo, archery and a rodeo. Entry and all of that are free; pony rides, dirt bikes, the climbing wall and food run on tickets, and the family pack is $95. No pets.

Ghosts in the Graveyard  ·  Vinland Cemetery, Poulsbo · Sat Oct 24 · 1 to 3pm · Cost not posted

Locals play the town's early residents, staying in character, each stationed near where they are buried. Local history, delivered by the locals in question.

Hansville Oktoberfest  ·  Greater Hansville Community Center · Sat Oct 24 · 5 to 8pm · $25

A community dinner at the north end: beer, brats, German potato salad and apple strudel. The non-Halloween option for the 24th.

Family Day: Jazz Edition  ·  Bainbridge Island Museum of Art · Sun Oct 25 · 11am to 3pm · Free

The Bainbridge High jazz band at 11:30, Mission Drift Jazz at 1, a screening of Soul at 2, and art projects throughout. Meant for ages 1 to 15 and whoever drives them.

Last week of the pumpkins  ·  Bainbridge Island · through Oct 31 and Nov 1

The free Pumpkin Walk at Bainbridge Gardens ends on the 31st (Monday to Saturday 9 to 5:30, Sunday 10 to 4), and the Squash Hunt at Bloedel Reserve, included with admission, ends November 1. Bloedel is closed Mondays.

Fiddler on the Roof  ·  Bremerton Community Theatre · Opens Fri Oct 30 · Fri and Sat 7:30pm, Sun 2:30pm, to Nov 22, but Sat Oct 31 at 2:30pm · $10 to $27

Opening weekend falls on Halloween, for anyone whose idea of a costume is a shawl; that Saturday's show has moved to a 2:30 matinee. Adults $27, seniors, military and teachers $22, youth 13 to 18 and students $12, kids 6 to 12 $10.

Ghost Stories  ·  Field Hall, Port Angeles · Thu Nov 5 · 7pm · $30

Four storytellers open the 27th Forest Storytelling Festival with spooky tales, for anyone who wants Halloween to last another week. About 1 hour 15 from Poulsbo; the festival pass is $70.

Live Music

FRI Oct 23 · Ingrid Michaelson, Cozy Fall Trio Tour  ·  Admiral Theatre, Bremerton · 7:30pm · $48 to $98

FRI Oct 23 · The Wildwoods, folk and Americana  ·  Quilcene Lantern, Quilcene · 8pm, doors 6 · $15 advance, $22 door

FRI Oct 23 · Griffin House, singer-songwriter  ·  Treehouse Café, Bainbridge · 7pm · 21+ · About $37 with fees

SAT Oct 24 · Prom Date Mixtape, 80s Halloween New Wave Dance Party  ·  Admiral Theatre, Bremerton · 8pm, doors 7 · $14 to $29

SAT Oct 24 · The Accüsed Halloween Party, thrash, with Evelyn's Casket, Skelter and Peace  ·  The Charleston, Bremerton · 7pm · All ages · $10 advance, $15 day of

SAT Oct 24 · Paul Spring, with Meernaa  ·  Quilcene Lantern, Quilcene · 7pm · $12 advance, $20 door

TUE Oct 27 · Tannahill Weavers, Scottish trad with pipes  ·  Palindrome, Port Townsend · 7:30pm · $30 advance, $35 door

THU Oct 29 · Jazz Jam with the house band  ·  Treehouse Café, Bainbridge · 7 to 9pm · Free

FRI Oct 30 and SAT Oct 31 · Empty Lane Fest, sixteen punk, post-punk and goth bands over two nights  ·  The Charleston, Bremerton · 5pm to midnight · All ages · $20 a day, $40 both

FRI Oct 30 to SUN Nov 1 · Bainbridge Symphony, "Demons & Destiny", Night on Bald Mountain, Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, Shostakovich's First  ·  Bainbridge Performing Arts · Fri and Sat 7:30pm, Sun 3pm

SAT Oct 31 · Hot Damn Scandal as "Heebie and the Jeebies", dirty jazz and outlaw ballads, costume contest  ·  Field Hall Sunset Lounge, Port Angeles · 8pm · 21+ · $19.50

SAT Oct 31 · Robin Kallsen with Trio Marianne, vintage French tunes, Halloween party with a costume contest  ·  Cellar Cat, Kingston · 6 to 9pm · $20 advance

SAT Oct 31 · Hair Nation, 80s hits  ·  Clearwater Casino, Suquamish · 8:30pm, doors 7 · 21+ · $15

SUN Nov 1 · Are You Ready For It?, a Taylor Swift tribute, billed family friendly  ·  Admiral Theatre, Bremerton · 7pm, doors 6 · $15 to $35

Our listings run to November 5, and the first days of November are quiet so far. If you have a show we missed, tell us.

Spotted

Port Orchard police have a new shoulder patch: a compass, a wave and the year 1941, designed by a South Kitsap High student who chose to stay anonymous. It replaces the 2006 one, which had City Hall on it.

Port Angeles has pulled the floats off City Pier for the winter. They come back for Memorial Day.

The ivy on the Leader building in downtown Port Townsend has gone red, which in Port Townsend counts as news, and we agree.

The Tides

The lowest tides of the next two weeks are all in the middle of the night. At Seabeck on Hood Canal the low reaches about minus 3 feet around 12:30am on the 28th and 1:15am on the 29th, and every minus tide there in the next two weeks falls between about 11pm and 3am. In daylight the lowest there is this morning's, about +2.9 feet at 8:31, and none from here to November 5 is lower. The daylight minus tides come back in March, and we will tell you when.

Predictions from NOAA.

Most of our shoreline is still closed to shellfish. The state's biotoxin bulletin of October 21 closes all species in Port Gamble Bay; Hood Canal from Tekiu Point and Triton Head south to Sisters Point; Dyes Inlet, Port Washington Narrows, Liberty Bay, Agate Passage, Port Orchard Passage and Sinclair Inlet; Discovery Bay and the Quimper Peninsula from Discovery Bay to Middle Point; Port Ludlow and Mats Mats Bay; Sequim Bay; and the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Cape Flattery east to the Jefferson County line, including Dungeness Bay. The ocean beaches are closed to all species through October 31, as they are every year from April 1. Butter clams, geoducks and varnish clams are closed on Hood Canal from Foulweather Bluff south to Tekiu Point, from Tala Shore south to Triton Head, and from Sisters Point east to Twanoh State Park. Butter and varnish clams are closed in Oak Bay, Quilcene Bay and Dabob Bay and on the Kitsap shore from Foulweather Bluff south to Point Jefferson. Razor clams on the coast run on WDFW's own schedule: it has approved digs at Copalis and Mocrocks only, on evening low tides, Mocrocks on October 26 and 29 and Copalis on the 27th and 28th. Long Beach and Twin Harbors stay closed until further notice for domoic acid, and WDFW says toxin tests could still cancel a dig at any moment, so check its razor clam page before you drive out.

Closures change, so whenever you do go, check the beach you are actually standing on first: Washington DOH Shellfish Safety Map.

Hidden Gem: The Chum Are Back

The scariest-looking thing on the peninsula this month is a spawning chum salmon, and the place to see one is Chico Salmon Park, a small, undeveloped county park at 3150 Chico Way NW in Bremerton. Chico Creek carries the biggest wild chum run in Kitsap County. Since the old culvert came out in 2020, the creek has been free to meander again. Chum and coho are coming back now and both peak in November, so every week from here gets better. Wear boots. If you would like someone to explain what you are looking at, WSU Extension's free Kitsap Salmon Tours put guides there and at seven other sites on Saturday, November 7, 11 to 3.

Ferry Watch

The boats are mostly quiet. As of early on the 22nd WSF's alerts listed no cancellations on our routes, and the fall schedule runs to December 26. The exception is the tide: Port Townsend/Coupeville drops its 6:45 and 8:30pm sailings from Port Townsend and its 7:30 and 9:10pm sailings from Coupeville on Sunday the 25th, the 8:30pm from Port Townsend and the 9:10pm from Coupeville on Monday the 26th and Tuesday the 27th, and on Wednesday the 28th the 8:30pm from Port Townsend leaves at 8:25 instead. Southworth keeps its unscheduled third "bonus boat" through November 8, and a new schedule starts on the 9th.

The Narrows is not. From 5am Saturday the 24th to Sunday, November 8, around the clock, WSDOT closes the two right westbound lanes of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the Jackson Avenue on-ramp for an emergency expansion joint repair. It warns of delays of an hour or more from Tacoma to Gig Harbor in the afternoon commute. If you are coming home that way, the boat may be the faster bet for two weeks.

Out west: the US 101 bridge over the Hoh River is down to one lane across the middle, with temporary signals alternating traffic and a 25 mph limit, and WSDOT says there may be daytime flagging this week while crews move their equipment out, so leave time on the way to Kalaloch or Ruby Beach. Closer in, SR 116 near Port Hadlock is closed at Chimacum Creek through the end of October, with a detour on Rhody Drive, Chimacum Road and Irondale Road.

Full schedules and live alerts: wsdot.com/ferries

More for the fortnight

The email ran out of room before the calendar ran out of things. Here is what got cut, plus one bit of south-end Bainbridge news.

Walt's Is Staying Walt's

Walt Hannon has owned Walt's Lynwood Market since 1992 and first worked there in 1977. He is handing it to his son and daughter-in-law, Tyler and Alexandra Hannon, with the sale expected to close within a few months and a grand reopening planned for spring. Tyler wants more produce from island farms and maybe a bigger deli. The pinball machines and arcade games stay, which was the important question.

More Halloween

Little Shop of Horrors  ·  Field Hall, Port Angeles · Wed Oct 28 · 6:30pm · Pay what you like, $10 suggested

The same film Port Gamble shows on the 24th, four days later and an hour farther west. RSVP requested.

Dharma Ridge U-Pick Pumpkin Patch  ·  Historic Glendale Farm, Chimacum · Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25 · 10am to 5pm

Its closing weekend, and the same weekend as the Chimacum market's last Sunday, so one drive covers both.

And the rest

THU Oct 22 · Ash Devine, "Beyond the Veil: Autumnal Folk Songs"  ·  Key City Public Theatre, Port Townsend · 7:30pm

THU Oct 22 · monica, Carmen Quill and Scree, songwriters  ·  Quilcene Lantern, Quilcene · 6:30pm, doors 5 · $10 advance, $15 door

FRI Oct 23 · The Magic of Motown, a benefit for the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society  ·  Field Hall, Port Angeles · 7:30pm · $40 to $70

SAT Oct 24 · Port Angeles Book Fest, local authors  ·  Field Hall, Port Angeles · 1 to 4pm · Free

FRI Oct 30 · Spain Flamenco Arts, "La Velada", flamenco dance and music  ·  Field Hall, Port Angeles · 7:30pm · $34.50 to $64.50, youth $29.50

THU Nov 5 · Girls' Night Out, the start of holiday shopping  ·  Downtown Port Townsend · Shopping 11am to 7pm, Shop & Sip 3 to 7 (21+, $25 to $60)

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