"Free Community Events like Trick or Treat Halloween Night and others are at risk." That line runs across the top of the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce's Halloween page, just above a donation link. It's the first thing anyone sees while looking up the time for Trick-or-Treat Night.
Trick-or-Treat Night is still happening. It's set for Saturday, October 31, from 5 to 7 p.m. downtown. The Tree Lighting, the Holiday Market, the Holiday Trolley and the Christmas Ship stop are also back on the calendar this year. Since voters rejected the city's levy lid lift last November, the Chamber has been asking the public to help pay for these traditions. It points to rising costs and new city-related expenses, and the events also rely on sponsors, local businesses and private gifts. The decisions that shape next year come during the same weeks as the events themselves.
What changed after Proposition 1
Edmonds Proposition 1 failed on November 4, 2025, with 10,713 no votes to 7,507 yes votes, or 58.80% to 41.20%, according to Snohomish County's election results.
Before the vote, the city's Resolution 1570 modeled what a $6 million property-tax shortfall in 2026 could mean. Its list included ending parks support and permitting for community events like the Arts Festival and the Fourth of July, and discontinuing the holiday tree lighting. That was a contingency scenario, and not all of it happened. The Arts Festival ran June 19 to 21 with free admission, as My Edmonds News reported.
The cuts that did pass were smaller and less visible. According to My Edmonds News, the amended 2026 budget took $320,000 from Parks and $171,287 from Community Services and Economic Development. Parks said it would reduce mowing, maintenance and trash pickup and put off repairs.
The permit itself is cheap. The city's special events page lists $50 applications for small events and $125 for large ones, with half-price rates for Edmonds nonprofits. The bigger cost sits elsewhere. The city's application form says approved requests for city services or equipment carry an additional fee, arranged directly with Police, Fire, Public Works and Parks. That covers the staffing, police support and safety equipment the Chamber now names as new expenses.
The fall calendar, and who's carrying each piece
The dates below run from this week through December. The last column shows who produces or underwrites each event, according to its own listing.
| Date | Event | Where | Who's behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through Sat., Oct. 24 | Summer Farmers Market, final weeks | 5th and Bell area | Edmonds Museum |
| Entries through Oct. 24; voting Oct. 25 to Nov. 1; winners Nov. 5 | Scarecrow Festival | Around Edmonds and South Snohomish County | Edmonds Museum |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 5 to 7 p.m. | Trick-or-Treat Night | Downtown | Edmonds Chamber; candy bought by businesses on the route; donations requested |
| Nov. 7, 14, 21; Dec. 5, 12, 19, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Holiday Market | 118 5th Ave. N. | Edmonds Museum |
| Nov. 15 and Nov. 18 | Take It to the Limit; Jake Shimabukuro | Edmonds Center for the Arts | Take It to the Limit is guest presented; Jake Shimabukuro is presented by ECA |
| Nov. 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 | A Christmas Carol | Wade James Theatre, 950 Main St. | Theatre production |
| Sat., Nov. 28, 3 to 5 p.m. | Tree Lighting | Centennial Plaza, 5th Ave. N. and Bell St. | Edmonds Chamber; Comstock Jewelers as presenting sponsor; donations requested |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 12, 19, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Free Holiday Trolley, 12th year | Downtown | Ed! and local business sponsors |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Christmas Ship stop with choir | Port of Edmonds; Edmonds Fishing Pier | Argosy Cruises |
Not one of these events lists the city as its producer. Even so, the city's proposed 2027–28 budget still counts support for the Fourth of July, Halloween and the Holiday Tree Lighting among the Parks department's duties. On the listings themselves, the named backers are the Chamber, Ed!, the museum, local businesses and individual sponsors and donors.
Halloween is the second donation drive this year
This isn't the first time the Chamber has asked for help in 2026. Before the Fourth of July, My Edmonds News reported that the parade and children's parade would go ahead. The Chamber asked for donations along the route, citing the same mix of rising costs and new expenses tied to city budget constraints. It gave no dollar target then, and its Halloween page gives none now.
The Halloween plan itself is unchanged. Businesses along the route buy the candy, decorate their storefronts and stay open late. A free costume contest runs at Main Street Commons, at 6th and Main, with on-site registration opening at 5 p.m. and judging finished by 6:30. The Chamber's event page links a map of the street closures, and the volunteer sign-up is open.
Downtown has already lost one longtime event to costs. In April 2025, the Chamber replaced Taste Edmonds with the two-day Edmonds Block Party. Its announcement called Taste no longer sustainable and pointed to restaurant staffing and operating costs and inadequate event infrastructure. It did not blame city permit fees. The pressure it described came from the restaurants that made the event work.
The businesses on the route are running the same math
That's why this fall's restaurant news belongs in the same story. The free events depend on downtown businesses buying candy and staying open, and those businesses face cost pressures of their own.
Arnies Restaurant on the waterfront closed permanently on Monday, September 21, after 45 years. Its door sign, quoted by My Edmonds News, read: "Unfortunately, the current business climate does not allow us to continue." The building's owner, 1010 Development, has proposed a boutique hotel and wellness spa with public-facing food and gathering spaces. A June 2025 report put the start of construction sometime in 2029, after a long permit and design review, so the restaurant closed years before redevelopment was expected.
On 5th Avenue South, Girardi's Osteria has changed its menu instead. Owner Fred Milani told My Edmonds News that "to combat rising costs," most dishes now come in a standard, economical portion, and diners can add extra meat to get the larger size. The family-owned restaurant has been at 504 5th Ave. S. since 1999.
There's new business, too. Rooster Bagel Café, Kitchen and Bar opened on Saturday, October 3, at 515 Main St., in the renovated space the Loft left behind. The Herald reported that chef-owner Niles Peacock and Hillary Ness are serving sourdough bagels and Forecast Coffee espresso daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with cocktails, beer and wine planned for later. Those hours end two hours before trick-or-treating starts, which shows how much each event depends on which businesses choose to stay open late.
The flower baskets run on a gift that's shrinking
Downtown's most familiar feature works on the same model. The hanging flower baskets and corner parks are paid for by the Beautification Program, a special fund built on large donations received in 2022 and 2025. The city's proposed 2027–28 budget states the funding history directly:
Before 2023, beautification expenses were funded through the General Fund.
The fund's income comes from private donations and investment interest. According to the same budget document, spending exceeds the interest the fund earns, so the balance drops by about $275,000 a year. "At current expenditure levels, the program is not sustainable," the document says, and it names the possible result as the General Fund covering Beautification costs again. The proposal trims professional services and small equipment to slow the drawdown.
The budget hearings fall between Halloween and the Tree Lighting
Mayor Mike Rosen presented the proposed 2027–28 budget on October 5 at the Edmonds Waterfront Center. My Edmonds News reported that it does not rely on voters approving a new tax or levy. The Herald reported projected General Fund surpluses of $714,720 in 2027 and $1.9 million in 2028, followed by a $9.5 million deficit by 2032 if nothing else changes.
Parks & Recreation is proposed at $10,248,878 for the two years. More than 30 positions cut earlier have not been restored, according to the council's budget Q&A.
The council's review overlaps with the events in the table above:
- Tuesday, October 27: first public budget hearing
- Saturday, October 31: Trick-or-Treat Night
- Monday, November 2: second public budget hearing
- Tuesday, November 24: targeted budget adoption
- Saturday, November 28: Tree Lighting at Centennial Plaza
The council is scheduled to adopt the budget four days before the Tree Lighting. That vote will set the Parks budget, which includes event support for Halloween and the Tree Lighting, and decide whether the Beautification fund's spending cuts go forward.
If you'd like to talk through how downtown's shifting costs and the city's budget choices could affect Edmonds properties over the next few years, The Greely Group is happy to walk through it with you, with no pressure. Schedule a free consultation whenever it suits you.
