Millis Celebrates Halloween Across Ten Days, From Park Road to the Field of Flags

Which night is Halloween in Millis this year? The first organized trunk-or-treat is tomorrow, Friday, October 23. The last is Sunday morning, November 1. In between are a Saturday crafts bazaar, a week of library programs and the costumes themselves. On the same Sunday as that last trunk-or-treat, the Millis Lions Club begins a month-long display of flags on the Town Hall lawn.

No single organization runs the whole stretch. Each piece comes from a different group: a school parent organization, the Lions, a church and the library. That's why the dates spread out. Each group picks a day that works for its own volunteers and its own space, so a resident who reads the full calendar can catch most of it without trying to squeeze everything into one night.

Here is the full run, in order.

Friday Evening Opens It on Park Road

The Clyde F. Brown HSA hosts the CFB Trunk or Treat on Friday, October 23, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at 7 Park Road. Entry is $5 per child, and no family pays more than $10. A household with three or four costumed kids pays the same as a household with two.

The timing matters. It's a Friday, it starts right around dusk, and it lasts an hour and a half. Coming eight days before October 31, it gives younger trick-or-treaters an organized round well before the holiday. Tickets are sold through the event's Zeffy page.

Saturday Puts Three Things on Two Streets

Saturday, October 24, is the busiest day of the stretch, and the events are split between Plain Street and Main Street.

The Millis Lions Bazaar runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Millis High School, 245 Plain St. The Lions describe it as their annual vendor and craft bazaar, with arts and crafts, jewelry, crocheted items, wood crafts and food. They also call it a day for families, friends, artisans, crafters and community groups from Millis. Its timing also helps anyone who wants a handmade item well before the December rush.

Two library programs overlap with the bazaar's last two hours. The Millis Public Library lists Blood on the Clocktower from noon to 2:30 p.m. and Girls Who Code Byte-Sized from 1 to 3 p.m., both at 961 Main St. A family with kids of different ages can split up at midday and meet again by midafternoon. The bazaar closes at 2, Clocktower wraps up at 2:30, and Girls Who Code ends at 3.

The Library Handles the Weekdays

After Saturday, the Millis Public Library hosts most of the Halloween programs, and each one is aimed at a specific age group.

On Monday, October 26, teens can paint Day of the Dead sugar skulls from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This is the only event in the stretch tied to Día de los Muertos, which falls in the first days of November.

Friday, October 30, has two programs on the same day. Halloween Songs & Stories for young children runs from 10:30 to 11 a.m., and teens can watch Casper from 6 to 7:45 p.m. The morning session is half an hour, a good length for toddlers and preschoolers. The evening movie lands the night before Halloween, which this year is a Saturday.

All three programs are at 961 Main St. That's the same block of Main Street as the Town Hall at 900 and the café at 969 that appear later in this post. A large share of Millis's fall calendar happens within a short run of street numbers.

November 1 Ends One Season and Starts the Next

The second trunk-or-treat is on Sunday, November 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Church of Christ, Congregational, 142 Exchange St. It's the opposite of the first one: a Sunday late-morning hour rather than a Friday evening, held the day after Halloween instead of a week before it. Families who missed the Park Road event, or whose kids want one more chance to wear their costumes, have a daylight option.

The same day, the Millis Lions Club's Field of Flags begins on the lawn in front of Millis Town Hall, 900 Main St. The flags stay up from November 1 to November 30. Each flag is sponsored for $10, and the money goes to Fisher House Boston. Fisher House Foundation builds what the Lions call "comfort homes" at military and VA medical centers, where military and veteran families can stay free while a loved one is in the hospital.

A flag can honor someone serving now or a veteran, or remember someone who served or who died in service. The Lions say each honoree's name will appear on the club's website. Sponsorship is handled through a secure Zeffy donation form linked from the Lions' events page.

On that one Sunday, the town's calendar turns from costumes to a display for veterans and their families. The Lions run events on both sides of it, the October 24 bazaar and the November flags, so one civic group spans the change of season.

November Is Quieter, and the Library Sets the Pace

After the flags go up, Millis's November calendar slows down. Most of what's listed comes from the library at 961 Main St.:

1. Saturday, November 7: Family and community yoga, 11 a.m. to noon.
2. Wednesday, November 18: Adult copper-bookmark workshop, 6 to 7:45 p.m. Registration is required.
3. Tuesday, November 24: Young-adult Hygge Hour, 3 to 4 p.m., two days before Thanksgiving.

The copper-bookmark workshop is the only one of these that says it requires registration. The library's November calendar has the details and the sign-up.

Where to Eat Around the Schedule

Two Millis restaurants that weren't here two years ago work well with this calendar. Their hours determine which events they pair with.

Nirvana Tea House & Cafe, 969 Main St., Unit 2. The vegan café first opened in 2020 and closed in fall 2025. According to Boston Restaurant Talk's report, carried by NBC Boston, Unity Farm Sanctuary bought it in December 2025 and started renovations on January 1, 2026, with a grand opening planned for March 26. The same post said General Manager Keith Maher was returning and the menu would include tea, coffee, smoothies, salads, wraps, soups, bowls and baked goods. The café's website is now advertising a fall menu and taking preorders for apple-cider donuts.

Check the posted hours before you go. Nirvana is closed Mondays, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends, and the kitchen closes 30 minutes before the café does. That rules out the Monday sugar-skull night and the Friday evening events. It fits well with the Saturday library afternoon, since the café is a few doors from 961 Main St., and with the Sunday, November 1, trunk-or-treat, which ends at 12:30 with the café open until 3.

Arigna Irish Pub & Coal Fire Kitchen, 36 Milliston Road. Arigna is at Milliston Common near Roche Bros. Local Town Pages reported that it opened in mid-October 2025, which means it's just past its first year. Co-owners Ryan Blaney and Gordon Hyde started working together in 2008 and opened Murphy's Law in Pawtucket in 2012 before developing the Arigna concept. Local Town Pages quoted Blaney describing it as "a food-focused restaurant that has a bar, rather than a bar that serves food." The name comes from the Arigna coal mines in County Roscommon, which closed in 1990.

The restaurant's website still lists the Millis location and offers table reservations for it. It's the more natural stop after the evening events, such as dinner after Friday's Park Road trunk-or-treat ends at 7. Note that the October 31 Halloween event on Arigna's website is listed for its Bellingham location, not Millis.

Eileen has spent more than two decades on Franklin beautification work and keeps track of what's on the calendar in the towns around it, Millis included. If you're sponsoring a flag this November, or you'd like to talk about how the season is shaping up for your own home, reach out to Eileen Mason. Let's Connect.