After Oktoberfest, Downtown Hickory Runs on a Different Clock Through the Cookie Crawl

Oktoberfest packed downtown Hickory from Oct. 9 to 11. For the next seven weeks, almost everything on the downtown calendar happens in one place, Union Square. Every event in that stretch, from Friday's costume contest to the Dec. 5 Cookie Crawl, shares that address. The changes are in the hours. Saturday mornings start later. Evening events run in short windows. On parade night, downtown closes to cars in two steps, and if you park on the wrong side you'll be waiting until Santa has gone by.

Here is the schedule, followed by the times that are easy to get wrong.

Friday's Monster Mash Has Its Own Schedule

The Hickory Downtown Development Association holds Downtown Monster Mash this Friday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Union Square. Those three hours are split into parts. Trick-or-treating at downtown businesses runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and costume contest registration happens at the same time at the HDDA table on the square. Judging runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

In practice, a family that arrives at 5:45 has missed both the candy and the chance to enter. To compete, register before 5:30, with costumes on and candy bags in hand.

The contest has three groups, each with its own awards:

• Ages 0 to 6: Cutest Costume and Most Creative Costume
• Ages 7 to 12: Spookiest Costume and Most Creative Costume
• Families and groups: Best Group Costume and Most Creative Theme

The group category is the one that rewards planning ahead. A matching family theme is judged separately from the kids' individual costumes.

For adults, a few blocks east on Main Avenue NE, City Walk Brewing & Distilling is running Haunting on City Walk through Sunday, Nov. 1. It's a pop-up Halloween experience inside the brewery's No Entry Cocktail Lounge at 205 Main Ave NE, described in the Explore Hickory listing as candlelit, with vintage Halloween touches and themed glassware. It runs weekly on Sunday and Tuesday through Saturday and is closed Mondays. That leaves about ten days after the Monster Mash before it closes, and only one of them is a Monday. Check full hours on City Walk's Haunting page.

November Resets the Saturday Morning

The biggest schedule change of the season is easy to miss because it happens at a weekly event rather than a one-time one. From April through October, the Downtown Hickory Farmers Market under the Sails on Union Square is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. From November through April, it's open Saturdays only, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On this year's calendar, that means two changes:

1. Wednesday, Oct. 28 is the last Wednesday market on the posted April-through-October schedule.
2. Saturday, Oct. 31 is the last 8 a.m. Saturday. Starting the first Saturday in November, the market opens at 10.

If your usual routine is an early stop for eggs and bread on the way to something else, the market loses two hours each Saturday and its midweek day. It stays open all year, though, and HDDA's listing says the SNAP/EBT program continues. Vendors sell produce, meats, cheeses, honey, baked goods, eggs, herbs, preserves, cut flowers, potted plants, and handmade soaps and crafts. Vendor details are on the market's own site, hickoryfarmersmarket.com.

The later Saturday start also matters later in the season. Holidaypalooza on Nov. 21 and Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 28 both fall on market Saturdays, so a 10 a.m. market opening is the earliest anything happens on the square on those days.

Parade Night Closes Downtown in Two Steps

The Lowes Foods Christmas Parade & Tree Lighting is Friday, Nov. 20, the Friday before Thanksgiving, as it is every year. The City of Hickory lists a 5:45 p.m. start. Right after the parade, Santa lights the tree on Union Square. According to HDDA, the Fallen Soldiers lead off the official parade at 6 p.m., and Lowes Foods has sponsored the event since its first year.

Pick your parking spot based on which way you'll leave. The City's FAQ lays out the closures:

1. 3 p.m.: 4th Street and everything west on Main Avenue to 1st Avenue close. After 3, the City asks drivers leaving downtown to head east.
2. 5:15 p.m.: The full parade route closes. From then on, you can't drive out of downtown until the parade is over.
3. 5:45 p.m.: Festivities begin, and the parade itself steps off at 6 p.m.
4. After the parade: Santa's float stops at Union Square, where he gets off to light the tree before the float leaves downtown on Main Avenue NW.

The route starts at 4th Street NW and 1st Avenue NW and follows 1st Avenue NW toward City Hall. It then turns right on North Center Street, right again on Main Avenue NW, and goes through Union Square. A car parked inside that loop at 5:15 stays there until the parade ends. Anyone who needs to leave right after the tree lighting should park east of the route and walk in.

The City also doesn't allow food trucks or other vendors at the parade, citing the event's complexity and limited parking. Plan dinner at a downtown restaurant or at home rather than counting on a truck along the curb. For organizations that want to march, entry registration opened Oct. 1 for groups within Hickory city limits through the City's parade registration page.

Part of the Parade Route Is Still on the Streetscape List

The route has an unresolved detail. In March, the City started a streetscape project on two downtown corridors: Government Avenue SW from First Street SW to Third Street SW, and First Avenue NW between North Center Street and Second Street NW. Planned work includes wider sidewalks, more visible crosswalks, curb bulb-outs, new gathering spaces, and infrastructure for lighting that matches existing downtown fixtures. An $850,000 grant from North Carolina's Rural Downtown Economic Development program pays for part of it.

The parade's last block on 1st Avenue NW, between Second Street NW and the turn at North Center Street, is inside that corridor. The March 26 announcement named Government Avenue SW as the first phase and projected completion "by August." The City's July update scheduled closures on parts of Government Avenue SW, Second Street SW, and First Street SW for July 20 through 24. Its Aug. 20 update set another Government Avenue SW and Second Street Place SW closure for Aug. 24 through 26. That closure was later marked postponed, with new dates to be announced. The notice also said Post Office access would stay open by sidewalk and that the parking lots next to Olde Hickory Station at 218 Government Avenue SW and at 1 Third Street SW would remain open.

None of the City's public notices so far mention any effect on the parade. The project is still active on paper, though. If the rescheduled closures land in November, the City's news page is the place to check before parade night.

The Weekend After Fills Up Fast

The parade starts a run of busy Saturdays on Union Square. Holidaypalooza, presented by the City of Hickory and HDDA, is the next day, Saturday, Nov. 21. Full details haven't been posted yet. A week later, on Nov. 28, comes Shop Small Saturday, which HDDA sets on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The last date on the list needs the most planning. The Cookie Crawl is Saturday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. You buy a ticket ahead of time, bring the receipt to the HDDA tent on Union Square, and pick up a passport and map. Then you collect a different holiday cookie from each participating business. HDDA says the event "always sells out fast." Ticket details are listed as coming closer to the date. Since it sells out, watch HDDA's annual events page and the association's newsletter in mid-November rather than waiting until December.

At Osborne Real Estate Group, our team grew up in Hickory and still plans fall around Union Square. If you're thinking about your home's value while downtown fills up for the holidays, ask for your free home valuation. We'll walk you through it, preferably not at 5:15 on parade night.