Arts & Entertainment Community

Harbor Happenings | Halloween is on the horizon

Posted on October 28th, 2025 By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

Goblins and witches and zombies and pirates and who knows what else will wander through downtown and Uptown on Friday, Oct. 31, looking for treats.

The city of Gig Harbor will close Harborview Drive between Pioneer Way and Rosedale Street for the downtown trick-or-treat from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday.

Crowds pack downtown Gig Harbor during the Downtown Waterfront Alliance’s 2022 trick or treat event. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance

In Uptown, merchants will hand out treats from 4 to 6 p.m. The Gig Harbor Lacrosse Association and One Hope Church will give away goodies near the pavilion.

Also at the Uptown Pavilion, master carver Russ Leno will demonstrate his artistic skills on a giant pumpkin from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring your camera to take photos of as Leno transforms a huge squash into a work of art.

Harbor Place at Cottesmore will also have free treats, hot cocoa and cider for trick-or-treaters from 3 to 5 p.m. on Halloween at 1016 29th St NW.

A trick-or-treater wearing a rather apropos mask watches Russ Leno carve pumpkins and skeleton faces. Photo by Carolyn Bick. © Carolyn Bick 2024

Drone show

When night falls on Halloween, the Peninsula School District drone drill team will light up the sky over the harbor with a drone show. The show will be visible everywhere along the downtown waterfront.

Gig Harbor’s drone team was the second in the nation to be formed, following a team in Colorado. Locally, students learn drone programming at the Aviation Academy at Henderson Bay High School. Their first performance took place in September at Gig Harbor High School.

The Halloween drone show is weather-dependent and will be rescheduled if needed.

KGI Watershed Council meeting

The Kitsap-Gig Harbor Islands Watershed Council (KGI) will hold its annual meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St. The agenda includes a review of recent activities, including the fish passage barrier removal program, Forest Health Watch, streamflow observations in the watershed and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Stock Enhancement Program. The meeting is open to the public and can also be viewed on Zoom.

Pier into the Night

Biologists from Harbor WildWatch will lead a Pier into the Night event from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Maritime Pier. Divers will livestream video of the critters they find below the surface, showing the images on a big screen set up on the pier. Expect to see feather-duster tube worms, sculpin, gunnels, several varieties of crabs and nudibranch and maybe even a giant Pacific octopus.

Book discussion

The Gig Harbor Literary Society book group meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Harbor History Museum to discuss “Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk” by Sasha LaPointe.

When she was a child, LaPointe’s family moved frequently and often stayed in dingy, barely habitable places. When she was old enough, she followed her passion to the thriving punk scene in the Pacific Northwest, and her desire to honor her responsibility as the namesake of her beloved great-grandmother‚ a linguist who helped preserve her indigenous Lushootseed language. “Red Paint” is a story of how finding one’s true selves while fighting for the right to claim a place of one’s own.

All are welcome in book group meetings whether or not you’ve read the book. The museum is located at 4121 Harborview Drive and is open during road construction.

At the library

Elementary school kids can learn the basics of drawing — including perspective, shading and more – from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Gig Harbor Library, 4424 Point Fosdick Dr. This week’s lesson is “Finding your Style.”

Teen Movie Night at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, features a showing of “Haunted Mansion.” The event is geared to teens 13-18.

The Teen Creative Space activity at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 is making perler beads. All supplies are provided.

Live music

The Beer Vault, 14004 Purdy Drive, has music bingo starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Kimball Coffeehouse hosts a Halloween Bash with Brian James Was Here at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31. Kimball also hosts an open mic at 6 p.m. Thursdays.

Locust Cider, 3207 57^th Street Court (next to the Inn at Gig Harbor) has an open mic from 6 to 9 p.m. Mondaya

Fan Halen, a Van Halen tribute band, plays high-voltage rock at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Ocean5, 5268 Point Fosdick Dr.

The Gig Harbor High School band performs at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 as part of the District Band Festival taking place at the school at 5101 Rosedale St.

At the movies

The Flashback Cinema movie at the Galaxy Theatres in Uptown is “Halloween,” showing at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29 and 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31.

The Galaxy’s Spooky Series ends this week with “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” showing at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 29, and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30.

Civic engagement

The city of Gig Harbor Arts Commission meets at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, to discuss updates to the Harbor Arbor Art program and 2026 Creative Endeavor grants.

The Gig Harbor City Council meets for a study session at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Civic Center. Tentative agenda topics include a discussion of a North Creek culvert replacement and relocation of the remote site incubator; a Summer Lane wastewater comprehensive plan technical amendment, and a Gig Harbor North trail easement.

Looking ahead

The Thanksgiving Basket Brigade needs volunteers to help procure donations, sort food, and assemble and deliver baskets. The Brigade delivers the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner to approximately 1,300 local families and military families at Joint Base Lewis McChord and Naval Base Kitsap. Click here to donate or volunteer.