Halloween Falls on a Saturday in Jamaica Plain, and the Whole Afternoon Fits Between the Arboretum and Hyde Square

Jamaica Plain's daytime Halloween events usually spread across different days. This year, Saturday, October 31 puts three of them inside the same four and a half hours. The Arnold Arboretum's botanical Halloween opens at noon. JP Centre/South Main Streets' Canine Costume Parade registers dogs at noon and steps off at 1. Hyde Square Task Force's Halloween Fiesta starts at 3 and runs until 4:30. All three are free to attend, and they're spaced so one event ends close to when the next begins.

The schedule leaves very little slack. Two of the three events list Sunday, November 1 as their rain date, and that Sunday already has a full Día de los Muertos program at Spontaneous Celebrations. One rainy Saturday would move most of Jamaica Plain's Halloween into the same day.

Noon to 4:30, in Order

Here's how Saturday lines up, using each organizer's own posted times.

The Fiesta opens just as the Arboretum event closes. Everything earlier overlaps, so the real planning question comes at 1 o'clock.

The 1 O'Clock Overlap

At the Arboretum, the Wicked Plants program is about the most menacing plants in the collection. The Arboretum describes it this way:

"Armed with spiky thorns, sticky latex, and chemical warfare, these plant species defend themselves from hungry herbivores, other plants—and sometimes from humans who wander too close."

The same page says some of these plants poison their neighbors, scatter seeds explosively, or glow under black light. You don't need to register. Just stop by Hunnewell Lawn any time between noon and 3, and the kids' storytime starts at 1:00. The Arboretum notes that the lawn is flat and right off the paved road, so it's an easy stop for a grandparent, a stroller, or anyone who would rather skip the hills. It lists the program as suitable for all ages.

The 22nd JP Canine Costume Parade steps off at that same 1:00. The organizers are excited that it "falls on HALLOWEEN this year!" To enter the costume contest, you have to register your dog in person on the First Baptist Church lawn, starting at noon, and pay a $10 fee. All proceeds go to Shultz's Guest House Dog Rescue in Dedham. The route goes from 633 Centre Street, down Centre Street, to the Loring Greenough House at 12 South Street. The dogs walk the red carpet once they've all arrived, and the top three costumes win prizes.

The red carpet is a local affair. Brad Brown of the Blue Frog Bakery emcees, and the judges include City Councilor Ben Weber and Dr. Jonathan Levine of the JP Animal Clinic, with more to be announced. Sponsors are TCB – The Cooperative Bank, The Mindful Mutt Doggy Day Care and Boarding, First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, and Happy Tails Market. Spectators are welcome.

So a family with a dog in costume and a child who wants storytime has to pick one for 1:00. The schedule handles the rest of the day well. Wicked Plants opens at noon and stays open until 3, so you can visit the Arboretum before registration or after the red carpet and still make it.

One Way to Spend the Afternoon

Here's a route that uses the full window and ends in Hyde Square:

1. Noon, Hunnewell Lawn. Start with Wicked Plants while it's still quiet. If you're bringing a dog to the parade, head over to the First Baptist Church lawn before 1 so you have time to register in person.
2. 1:00, Centre Street. Watch the parade, or walk in it, from First Baptist Church down to the Loring Greenough House.
3. 1:30, 12 South Street. Stay for the red carpet and judging. Families who skipped the parade for storytime can still get back to the Arboretum before it closes at 3.
4. 3:00, Mozart Park. Finish at Hyde Square Task Force's Annual Halloween Fiesta, with games, music, crafts and treats in Boston's Latin Quarter. It's free and you don't need to RSVP.

The Fiesta handles bad weather differently from the other two. It doesn't list a fixed rain date. If the weather looks doubtful, the listing says to check Hyde Square Task Force's social media for updates.

If It Rains Saturday, Sunday Gets Very Full

The parade and Wicked Plants both list Sunday, November 1 as their rain date. The parade page gives the date but not a rain-day time. Wicked Plants would shift to a shorter slot, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Here's what's already on Sunday's calendar:

• Día de los Muertos at Spontaneous Celebrations. Spontaneous Celebrations' homepage invites everyone to La Piñata's annual Day of the Dead ceremony and celebration at its community center. Altar-building runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the celebration starts at 5.
• Rhythms in the Garden with the Iris Percussion Quartet. This one runs noon to 1 p.m. in the Arboretum's Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden. It's free, but you'll need a free ticket. Its own rain date is November 8.

On a dry weekend, Sunday has room: a noon concert at the Arboretum and a full day of altar-building that leads into an evening celebration. After a rainy Saturday, the same day could also hold the dog parade and a two-hour Wicked Plants. The Arboretum alone would have a concert at noon and a Halloween program at 2. The Arboretum says to check its event page for weather updates, so look at it, and at the parade listing, on Saturday morning before you plan the day.

The Following Weekend Is Quieter

The pace drops after Halloween, and most of the following week is outdoors and free. The Arboretum says all of its events are free.

Before the weekend, one thing to plan around: the Boston Public Library says every neighborhood branch, including the Jamaica Plain branch at 30 South Street, will close at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 6, for a staff event.

Saturday, November 7 has a few options:

• Botanical Ink Printing, a walk-up program on Hunnewell Lawn from noon to 2 p.m., with no registration needed. It's on the same lawn as Wicked Plants, one week later.
• Autumn in the Arboretum, a fall-collections tour led by docent Vicki Amalfitano from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., starting in front of the Hunnewell Building. The ticket listing showed it as sold out. The Arboretum's calendar also lists a birdwatching tour that day from the same starting point.
• Joe Ledoux's Art & Magic Show at Pumpkin Tattoo, listed on the Jamaica Plain News events calendar. Art viewing starts at 7 p.m., the magic show at 8, and admission is free.

On Sunday, November 8, the Loring Greenough House holds its annual autumn garden clean-up from 10 a.m. to noon. It's free, and they ask you to bring gloves and hand tools or borrow theirs. That's the same house where the dogs walk the red carpet a week earlier. The Arboretum's calendar lists a birdwatching walk and The Cosmic Tree tour for the same day. It's also the rain date for the Iris Percussion Quartet, if the November 1 concert gets moved.

A family afternoon like this one, from a flat lawn at the Arboretum to a parade on Centre Street, can also be when you notice a parent's routines changing, or the house at the center of it all starting to be a lot to manage. If that's a conversation your family is starting, Elissa Rogovin and the Elder Moves team can help you think it through step by step, at a comfortable pace and with trusted local partners. Don't know where to start? Let's connect.