Every Saturday since July 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hertel Avenue between Main and Delaware has had a second row of storefronts. The tables sit on the strip of city right-of-way, off the sidewalk and the red brick and out of the street. Most of them cluster between Traymore and Parkside. By Halloween, that will add up to 17 straight Saturdays on the City of Buffalo's special events calendar, and only two are left: October 24 and October 31.
What makes this fall on Hertel different is who keeps the calendar. The steadiest event on the Avenue this year came from the shops themselves, and the season after it will rest on the storefronts and North Park Theatre. As of this week, the association's big three events still have no 2026 dates.
A market the shops built themselves
The city's listing for Shopkeeper's Saturday on Hertel doesn't read like a festival announcement. It reads like a plan written by the people behind the counters:
"Brick and Mortars will be organizing pop up events throughout the year with their own products or small local vendors on the city right of way... Hoping to create more buzz outside and a denser 'market like' feel... The goal is to keep small brick and mortar businesses in the community thriving."
The listing expects about 20 participating businesses, and all of the vendors come from Hertel or the streets around it. The contact email on the city calendar is the same one Wine On Hertel publishes for its wine bar at 1370 Hertel Avenue. So the market is coordinated from a storefront on the Avenue, not from a separate event organization.
Because the shops run it themselves from their own doorways, it has been able to happen every week from mid-July through October.
October 24 is when the two calendars overlap
The second-to-last Shopkeeper's Saturday shares a morning with North Park Theatre. At 1428 Hertel, the theatre has free Halloween screenings of Charlie Brown and Garfield from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 24, with free candy in the lobby. That two-hour window falls right in the middle of the market's 9-to-3 run. The theatre also sits a few doors from the Traymore-to-Parkside stretch where most of the pop-ups set up.
The theatre fills the rest of that weekend too:
- Tonight, Thursday, October 22: FAUST + NOSFERATU with live music by the Invincible Czars, a silent horror double feature. FAUST starts at 7 p.m. and NOSFERATU at 9:15 p.m., and you can buy single or double-feature tickets. The program changed recently, with NOSFERATU replacing THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. The theatre says this is the band's eighth appearance there and the debut of its new FAUST score, marking the film's 100th anniversary.
- Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24: "Sense and Sensibility" plays at several times both days, including 1 p.m., 3:50 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and 9:35 p.m. on Friday.
- Sunday, October 25, 11:30 a.m.: "The Worst Witch" screens on VHS as a tribute to Tim Curry.
The last Saturday lands on Halloween
The series ends on October 31, same hours, same stretch of Hertel. The day before, Explore Buffalo runs its Hertel Avenue History Walking Tour at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 30. It meets outside SPoT Coffee at 1406 Hertel, on the corner of North Park Avenue, and covers about a mile in 90 minutes. The route has little to no incline but some uneven surfaces. Along the way it covers the street's notable shops and landmarks over the years and the communities that have called North Buffalo home.
After dark that weekend, North Park Theatre shows Ken Russell's "The Devils" in a 4K restoration. Screenings are at 7 p.m. and 9:40 p.m. on October 30 and 31, and the run continues through November 4.
Here's what's missing from that weekend. Last year, the Hertel Business Association held Halloween on Hertel on Saturday, October 25, 2025. On the association's events page, the community events section is still labeled 2025, and Halloween on Hertel is listed as "Pending." With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, the shopkeepers' market is the only street-wide daytime event already on the books for that day.
November and December, as currently scheduled
The same "Pending" label sits beside the association's two cold-weather events. In 2025, Small Business Saturday on Hertel was November 29 and the Hertel Holiday Walk weekend was December 5 and 6. As of this week, neither event lists a 2026 date. The city calendar doesn't show any Shopkeeper's Saturdays after October 31, either.
Here is what is confirmed from today through the end of the year:
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 22, 7 p.m. | FAUST + NOSFERATU, live score by the Invincible Czars | North Park Theatre, 1428 Hertel |
| Sat, Oct 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Shopkeeper's Saturday | Hertel, Main to Delaware |
| Sat, Oct 24, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free Halloween screenings: Charlie Brown and Garfield | North Park Theatre |
| Sun, Oct 25, 11:30 a.m. | "The Worst Witch" on VHS | North Park Theatre |
| Fri, Oct 30, 10:30 a.m. | Hertel Avenue History Walking Tour | Meets at SPoT Coffee, 1406 Hertel |
| Oct 30 to Nov 4 | "The Devils" 4K restoration | North Park Theatre |
| Sat, Oct 31, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Final Shopkeeper's Saturday of the season | Hertel, Main to Delaware |
| Wed, Nov 4, 6:30 p.m. | Hertel Business Association open board meeting | 1453 Hertel |
| Fri and Sat, Dec 18 and 19 | Tommy Wiseau live: "The Room" at 7 p.m., "Big Shark" at 10 p.m. | North Park Theatre |
The November 4 meeting is one of the association's open sessions. The 2026 board schedule alternates open and closed meetings, and every meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the association's headquarters at 1453 Hertel. December is a winter recess, so November 4 is the last open meeting on this year's schedule.
In mid-December, North Park Theatre brings Tommy Wiseau to Hertel in person for interactive screenings of "The Room" and "Big Shark," with Q&As and autograph and photo opportunities. An older event page gives December 19 and 20, but the theatre's current promotion lists December 18 and 19. Check the date at checkout.
The storefronts carry the weeks in between
Once the Saturday tables come in, the Avenue's ordinary storefronts fill the gap. The Hertel Business Association's business directory lists a run of shops on the blocks where the pop-ups have set up all season:
- Wine On Hertel, 1370 to 1374 Hertel, a wine bar with retail
- Main Frame, 1386 Hertel, a framing shop
- Hertel Home Consignment, 1390 Hertel, furniture and decor
- Clayton's Toys, 1396 Hertel, a toy store
- Bertha's Diner, 1430 Hertel, next door to North Park Theatre
- Daisy's Doghouse, 1448 Hertel, a pet shop
- Gramma Mora's, 1465 Hertel, a restaurant
Farther along, the directory lists Bob & John's La Hacienda at 1545 Hertel. At the far end of the street, The Burning Buffalo posts weekly hours and online ordering for its restaurant at 1504 Hertel, and Falafel House offers dine-in, takeout, and delivery at 1150 Hertel. The directory is undated, so call ahead before you plan a stop around a single shop.
The busiest weeks of holiday shopping fall in the stretch where Hertel doesn't have a scheduled event yet. With the market done for the season and the association's dates still pending, those weeks rest on the regular hours of the shops listed above, which are the businesses the Saturday market was set up to keep open. One timing note for the wine bar that coordinates the market: Wine On Hertel closes twice a year for two weeks, once in February and once in July or August, and posts the exact dates on social media.
If the association posts 2026 dates for Small Business Saturday or the Holiday Walk, the events page is where they'll show up. Until then, the last Hertel event on the calendar this year is Tommy Wiseau's two nights at North Park Theatre, December 18 and 19.
From Starin Central, this fall's version of Hertel included a weekly market, North Park Theatre's schedule running into December, and the shops listed above. If you're thinking about what your home near Hertel is worth heading into winter, Susan Lenahan can walk you through it. Get a free home valuation and neighborhood strategy built around the blocks you actually live on.
