The only events on Riverfront Park's fall and winter calendar that you have to register for are the Ghost Story Tours, and those sold out first. The City lists all three Friday tours as sold out: October 9, October 16, and Friday, October 23. Two Halloween sessions are still on the schedule, and neither one is marked sold out. After that, almost every event between now and December 20 is free and needs no registration. It all happens on a short list of Saturdays and Sundays, and a few of those days stack several events together.
That changes how to plan. The paid tours take a booking. The free events only take knowing which weekend they fall on.
What actually costs money between now and Christmas
The Ghost Story Tours are $10, registration is required, and they meet at the Visit Spokane Visitor Center. Local historian Chet Caskey leads them. The City says each tour features "a different verifiable and true" event that took place in the park. The Friday themes covered Christine Dohlman, Spokane's passenger trains, and the "Lovers Leap" stories of the Post Street Bridge.
Here is everything else on the calendar, sorted by what it asks of you:
| Event | Date | Cost | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halloween Ghost Stories | Sat., Oct. 31, 1–3 p.m. or 4–6 p.m. | $10 | Registration required |
| Spo-Candy Crawl | Sat., Oct. 31, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. | Free | First 600 participants |
| Veterans Day Carrousel rides | Wed., Nov. 11, 11 a.m. | Free for active and former military plus one companion | None listed |
| Storytime at the Carrousel | Fri., Nov. 20 and Fri., Dec. 18, 11 a.m. | $1 rides | None listed |
| Skate Ribbon opening | Sat., Nov. 21, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. | $10.95 adult, $7.95 youth, $7.95 rental | Opening is "expected" |
| Numerica Tree Lighting | Sat., Nov. 28, 4–7 p.m. | Free | None listed |
| Wheatland Bank Horse & Carriage Rides | Nov. 28–29, then Dec. weekends through Dec. 20, noon–5 p.m. | Free | None listed |
| Holiday Village | Dec. 10–13 | Free | None listed |
Paid skating is the only other admission fee on the list. Helmets at the rental counter are free on request.
Halloween is the one day with two clocks running
October 31 is the busiest single day on the fall calendar, and the two main events share the same few blocks. The Spo-Candy Crawl runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. across Riverfront Park and River Park Square. Pick up a free worksheet at the Gesa Credit Union booth by Rotary Fountain or at the Looff Carrousel cashier. Find each spooky scene, solve the riddle, and you get a bag of fall goodies. The goodies stop after the first 600 participants. The crawl is a partnership with the Downtown Spokane Partnership and River Park Square.
The cap and the tours set the day's order. A family holding a 1 p.m. ghost tour slot can do the crawl in the morning while goodies are still plentiful, then walk to the Visit Spokane Visitor Center for the tour. A 4 p.m. slot works the other way around, with the crawl first, but by afternoon the cap is more likely to have been reached. Seats for both Halloween tours are booked through the Riverfront Spokane registration page. All three Friday dates sold out, so the Saturday sessions may not stay open long.
November 11 has a new stop next to the Carrousel visit
On Veterans Day the Looff Carrousel gives free rides to active and former military members, plus admission for one companion, starting at 11 a.m. The park now has a second Veterans Day stop that didn't exist last November.
The Daughters of the American Revolution's Jonas Babcock Chapter recently planted a Never Forget Garden next to the park's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, above the Washington Street land bridge. The chapter dedicated it on September 25, according to a City of Spokane Parks & Recreation news release. The garden has 334 plants chosen to bloom red, white, and blue. The chapter also planted 25 Kwanza cherry trees, one for each decade of the country's 250 years. Fifteen stand beside the garden. The other ten are in Red Wagon Meadow, in two flower beds that date back to Expo '74.
In mid-November the cherry trees will be bare. Project lead Anne Oakes said in the City's release that she expects the community to appreciate the addition "especially this coming spring when these cherry trees bloom." A Veterans Day visit shows you where the trees are, so you know where to come back to in April.
The ice opens a week before the tree
The Numerica Skate Ribbon is expected to open to the public on Saturday, November 21, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., a full week before the tree lighting. Unlimited Ice Passholders get a preview night the evening before, Friday, November 20. November 20 is busy at the park. It's also a $1 Storytime morning at the Carrousel and the last day for local makers and food vendors to apply for Holiday Village.
The Numerica Tree Lighting Celebration follows on Saturday, November 28. It runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on the plaza next to the Skate Ribbon, with food trucks and live entertainment, and the countdown starts at 6 p.m. Admission is free. The City calls it a tradition for many Spokane families on Thanksgiving weekend.
The gap between the two Saturdays is useful. If you want to skate without the tree-lighting crowd, opening weekend and the weekdays after it come before the busiest night of the season. If you want the full holiday evening, Saturday the 28th stacks three things together:
- Free Wheatland Bank horse-and-carriage rides start that day, running noon to 5 p.m. from west of the Visit Spokane Visitor Information Center.
- Festivities on the Skate Ribbon plaza begin at 4 p.m.
- The tree is lit at 6 p.m.
The City's main calendar lists the carriage rides at 5 p.m. The event's own page gives the noon to 5 p.m. window, so going in the afternoon is the safer choice.
December belongs to the Pavilion
Once the tree is lit, the season centers on the Pavilion. Its light shows run every weekend all year. The City's holiday lighting schedule changes the look for each occasion:
- Thanksgiving on November 26
- Hanukkah from December 4 through 12
- Christmas from December 21 through 30
- New Year's Eve from sunset until 12:15 a.m.
Holiday Village, presented by Gesa Credit Union, sets up beneath the Pavilion from December 10 to 13. Admission is free. There's hot cocoa, hands-on crafts, a holiday photo station, live local performances, and an artisan market in a glass-top tent under the Pavilion's LED canopy. The hours change by day, which matters if you're planning around work:
- Thursday, December 10: 5 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, December 11: 5 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, December 12: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, December 13: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Village closes before the Pavilion's Christmas lighting starts on December 21. The Hanukkah lighting runs December 4 through 12, which covers the Village's first three days, so you'll see the Hanukkah look on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Holiday Village weekend is also the fullest weekend of December. The carriage rides run both days, December 12 and 13, from noon to 5 p.m. On Saturday that means carriage rides, the artisan market, and the Skate Ribbon are all open at the same time, and none of it requires a ticket except skating. The carriage rides come back the next weekend, December 19 and 20, and that's their last run of the year. In between, Friday, December 18 brings one more $1 Storytime morning at the Carrousel.
So the season works out like this. Book a Halloween ghost tour if you want one. Mark November 21, November 28, and December 12 on the calendar. Every carriage ride wraps up by 5 p.m. on December 20.
When your calendar starts filling with Skate Ribbon nights and carriage rides, it can get you wondering how far you'd like to live from downtown. Katie knows which neighborhoods put Riverfront Park close by and which ones keep it a weekend trip. Katie McDaris is glad to talk it through over cocoa. Schedule a Consultation whenever you're ready.
