Two calendars cover Andersonville between now and mid-December, and they're published separately. The Andersonville Chamber of Commerce runs the street events, like Aville-o-Ween, the tree lighting and the Holiday Trolley. The Swedish American Museum at 5211 N. Clark St. runs its own lineup of story times, late nights, tastings and tours. If you read only one of them, you'll miss how often the two land on the same day or the day before.
Read side by side, the season comes down to three short stretches: Halloween weekend, the first weekend of December, and the Sunday of St. Lucia. The rest of the fall is quieter, with plenty to do but at a slower pace. That's useful to know if you want to be on Clark Street when the most is happening, and just as useful if you'd rather run errands on a different day.
Two Calendars, One Stretch of Clark
The Chamber's 2026 upcoming-events list was last updated October 1 and says dates are subject to change. The Museum lists each event on its own page, with prices and times. Here are the dates where both calendars have something:
| Date | Chamber of Commerce | Swedish American Museum |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Eve of Aville-o-Ween | Hejsan! story time, Museum Late Night, aquavit workshop, Haunted Workshop |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Aville-o-Ween Fright on Farragut | Online Nordic book club |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Day before Small Business Saturday | Hejsan! and Museum Late Night |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Holiday Tree Lighting, Menorah Lighting, Late Night Andersonville | None listed |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Holiday Trolley | Knitting group canceled "due to Julmarknad" |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | St. Lucia | Not on the 2026 Museum calendar |
The table shows a pattern. The Museum often schedules its big evening on the Friday before a Chamber weekend. For Halloween and Thanksgiving weekend, that puts the Museum's longest hours the night before the Chamber's street event.
October 30 and 31 Work as One Weekend
Aville-o-Ween's Fright on Farragut runs Saturday, October 31, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Clark and Farragut. Trick-or-treating at businesses runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. With a two-hour window, families should arrive close to 11 if candy from local businesses is the goal.
The Friday before has the most going on. The Museum's schedule for October 30:
- 11 a.m., Hejsan! A reading of The Slightly Spooky Tale of Fox and Mole, followed by a craft.
- 4 to 7 p.m., Museum Late Night. Items from the extended collection come out to the Main Gallery for the evening, and admission is free after 4 p.m.
- 6 to 7 p.m., aquavit workshop. It costs $20, and you bring a 750-ml bottle of vodka to infuse.
- 7 p.m., Haunted Workshop. Admission is $10, with supplies and refreshments provided.
Put together, that's a full Friday at a single address. You could see the collection for free at 4, start the aquavit at 6, and stay for the 7 p.m. workshop. The aquavit is the item to plan for, since you have to buy the vodka beforehand.
For younger kids, the Halloween events start a week earlier and a few blocks north. Gethsemane at 5739 N. Clark has a pumpkin patch every day through October 31 and a children's festival on Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Quieter Weeks Are Mostly Museum Weeks
Between now and Halloween, the Chamber has little on its calendar. The Andersonville Farmers Market runs Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m. through October 21, so three markets remain. Bingofesten is October 13.
The Museum has events almost every week of that stretch:
- Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m. A screening of Kings of Kubb with a virtual Q&A and a soup dinner, for $10.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 to 11 a.m. Viking Breakfast, with pancakes, rune carving, crafts and a visit from a Viking. It's $20 per adult or child and $15 for members.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m. A free talk on All Saints' Day in Sweden and its remembrance traditions.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m. The Chicago Swedish Mixed Chorus fall concert, with Swedish and Swedish-American songs. Tickets are $15 and sold at the door.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 1:30 p.m. A walking tour of Andersonville's Swedish past and present. It lasts about an hour and costs $7, or $1 for members.
The walking tour is easy to overlook because it's on a weekday afternoon. It's also the one event on either calendar about the neighborhood's own history, which makes it a good outing for a visiting relative.
November slows down on both calendars. The Chamber lists Autumn Restaurant Week from November 1 to 15. The event page lists six restaurants so far for 2026: Big Jones at 5347 N. Clark, Fiya at 5419 N. Clark, Lady Gregory's at 5260 N. Clark, Minyoli at 5420 N. Clark, Oda Mediterranean at 5657 N. Clark and Vincent at 1475 W. Balmoral. It says menus and more restaurants are still to come. The Museum's Golden Gala on November 7 takes place at the Driehaus Museum, not on Clark Street.
Thanksgiving week follows the Halloween pattern on a smaller scale. Hejsan! reads The Reindeer Wish on November 26 at 2 p.m. and again November 27 at 11 a.m. Museum Late Night returns November 27 from 4 to 7 p.m., with free admission after 4. On the Chamber side, Photos with Santa at The Guesthouse Hotel is November 22, and Small Business Saturday is November 28.
December 4 Through 6 Is the Densest Stretch on Either Calendar
On Friday, December 4, the Chamber lists the Holiday Tree Lighting, the Menorah Lighting and Late Night Andersonville. Times and locations for 2026 aren't posted yet. The Chamber's Late Night page still describes last year's event, with late shopping along Clark Street, pop-up vendors and festive characters. That gives a sense of the format, but the 2026 details aren't confirmed.
Sunday, December 6, is the one date that seems to bring together the Chamber's biggest street event and the Museum's biggest bazaar. The Holiday Trolley runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Santa aboard from 3 to 6. The Guesthouse Hotel's cookie decorating with Santa is also that day, with a second session December 12. The Museum hasn't posted a 2026 Julmarknad page, but its listing for the regular Sunday knitting group says, "There is no knitting group on Dec. 6 due to Julmarknad." Last year's Julmarknad, held December 6, 2025, was the Museum's annual Christmas bazaar. It had Scandinavian and modern handicrafts, children's crafts, Santa, a kaffestuga, Lucia processions and folk dancers. Until the Museum confirms hours and details, treat the 2026 market as likely but not announced.
If both happen as planned, there will be a trolley and a Scandinavian holiday market on the same Sunday afternoon, a few blocks apart. Santa's trolley hours start at 3, so a morning at the market followed by the trolley would cover both.
St. Lucia is on the Chamber's list for Sunday, December 13, without a time or route. It doesn't appear on the Museum's December 2026 calendar yet. In 2025, the Museum's version included a crowning, a candlelit procession with Lucia and Star Boy participants, and a performance. The season ends with Late Night Andersonville again on December 18 and a free-with-admission tour of the Museum's We Are America exhibit on December 19 at 2 p.m. If you want a quieter visit, the Museum's Free Tuesday on December 8 offers free admission all day and a guided tour at 11 a.m.
What's Changed Along the Route Since Summer
All of these events take place on the stretch of Clark between the Museum at 5211 and the 5500 block. That stretch looks different than it did in June.
Homebird opened July 18 at 5238 N. Clark St. It's a home-goods shop run by Alfie Rivera, Tom Rzeszutek and Rivera's mother, Barbie Daggett. For anyone doing early holiday shopping on Small Business Saturday or December 4, it's one of the newest stops on the strip.
De Colores at 5403 N. Clark St. is a sit-down Latin-fusion restaurant from Patricia Guerrero, who owns Edgewater Tacos. The planned menu includes ropa vieja, stuffed pineapple, plantain tostones, and Ecuadorian- and Colombian-style empanadas. In January, Guerrero aimed to open by Cinco de Mayo. By late September, Block Club reported a mid-October target. The opening hasn't been confirmed yet. If it holds, De Colores would be open in time for Autumn Restaurant Week.
The Midnight Treasury at 5517 N. Clark St. is the Andersonville location and new name for Scent Queens, from owners Curtis Bumgarner and Andrew Bumgarner-Cookson. They plan to sell candles, soaps, books, tea and vintage goods. WhatNow reported a target of before August 14, and Block Club later said by the end of summer. Both dates have passed, and we haven't seen an opening announcement.
One longtime shop is gone. Chicago Dance Supply, upstairs at 5301 N. Clark St., closed July 27 after 23 years. Co-founder Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth said the business will keep selling at traveling dance shows.
Those are the new spots between the Museum and the trolley stops this year. Check the Chamber's calendar the week of December 4, and the Museum's site for Julmarknad hours, before you plan around either.
At The VC Team, we like knowing where to find a pre-Halloween aquavit workshop and which Sunday has both a trolley and a Christmas bazaar. If you're thinking about Andersonville or another North Side neighborhood, we're glad to share that kind of local knowledge. Start Your Real Estate Journey with a conversation.
