At 11:45 this Saturday morning, October 24, children in costume will line up on the sidewalk outside Bellmore Movies at 222 Pettit Avenue for the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores' Halloween Parade. About eight hours later, a different crowd in costume will gather at the same address for The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live shadowcast.
The two events have different organizers, audiences and bedtimes. They share a building because that single-screen theater across from the LIRR now regularly books live events alongside films. On Bellmore's Saturday before Halloween, it is where the day begins and where it ends.
The Day, Hour by Hour
Most of the day happens on Pettit Avenue, Bedford Avenue and Broadway, with one church fair on Martin Avenue.
| Time | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Harvest Fair and Car Show | Bellmore Presbyterian Church, 2740 Martin Ave. |
| 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | The Wandering Page Bookshop open | 103 Bedford Ave. |
| 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Church kitchen serving hot food and baked goods | Bellmore Presbyterian Church |
| 11:45 a.m. | Parade lineup | Outside Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Ave. |
| Noon | Parade steps off up Bedford Avenue | Bedford Ave. |
| After the parade | Trunk or Treat | LIRR parking lot on Broadway |
| 2 to 3 p.m. | Guardians of the Panels comic book history talk | Bellmore Memorial Library, 2288 Bedford Ave. |
| 8 to 10 p.m. | Rocky Horror with live shadowcast | Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Ave. |
Morning on Martin Avenue
The earliest start of the day is away from the theater. Bellmore Presbyterian Church lists its Church Fair and Car Show for 10/24/26 at 2740 Martin Avenue. Newsday's 2026 fall fairs guide lists it from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a car show, a DJ, attic treasures, a fresh-vegetable farm stand, handmade crafts and a raffle. Admission is free, and the church kitchen sells baked goods and hot food from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The fair runs all day, so you can go before the parade, after it, or both. If you go first, the kitchen opens at 11, which leaves time to eat before heading to Pettit Avenue for the 11:45 lineup.
The Parade Forms at the Theater's Front Door
The Chamber's Halloween Parade and Trunk or Treat runs from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Costumed children and their parents or guardians assemble outside Bellmore Movies, and the procession starts at noon and heads up Bedford Avenue. According to the Chamber, spooky music will play along the street as the group trick-or-treats, and every participating merchant will have a "Mr. Pumpkin" in the window. After the parade, everyone moves to Trunk or Treat in the LIRR parking lot on Broadway, where the Chamber will set up a Halloween backdrop for photos. The event is free.
Bellmore Memorial Library cleared its own morning to make room. Its 10 a.m. K-Pop Demon Hunters party for ages 4 to 12 is canceled, and the library calendar now tells families, "Visit us at the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce's Trunk or Treat instead!" The children's program that would have competed with the parade is gone, which makes the walk up Bedford Avenue the morning's main event.
The Chamber's listing doesn't mention a rain date or any registration. Check its event page Saturday morning before you head out.
Why the Day Is Built Around a Movie Theater
A parade could line up outside any building on Pettit Avenue. It lines up outside this one partly because the theater has become a regular gathering place again.
In April, the Herald covered a packed night at the theater, which it called Bellmore Movies & The Showplace, when cast members from "The Sopranos" came to talk about the show. The Herald's story quoted co-owner Anne Stampfel on why the theater has been booking more live programming:
"Covid changed everything. The movie business as a whole took a real hit. It's still recovering."
The same article explains that this is a return to how the building started. Long before it showed only movies, the venue paired films with live performances. "When you booked a movie, you also booked an act," Stampfel told the Herald. JD Sarantakos, the producer behind that panel, told the paper the venue is "the oldest movie theater on Long Island."
That history explains Saturday night. A shadowcast is part screening and part stage show, which is exactly the mix the theater was built for.
The Afternoon Gap, Filled on Bedford Avenue
Between the end of Trunk or Treat around 1 p.m. and the 8 p.m. curtain, two spots on Bedford Avenue have something going on.
The first is The Wandering Page Bookshop at 103 Bedford Avenue. Patch reported that Denise and Juan Carlos Cruz opened the storefront on June 27 after running a mobile bookstore for more than a year. Newsday's profile describes a mostly new, partly used selection covering fiction, nonfiction, children's books, manga, mysteries and romance, along with a children's area and seating. The Chamber directory lists Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., so the shop is open before the parade and stays open until an hour before the shadowcast.
The second is Bellmore Memorial Library at 2288 Bedford Avenue. Its 10 a.m. program is canceled, but the afternoon one is still on. "Guardians of the Panels," a talk on the history and preservation of Golden Age and Silver Age comic books, runs from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Community Room. That leaves plenty of time to get there after Trunk or Treat, and it suits anyone who left the parade with a sudden interest in superhero costumes.
Back to Pettit Avenue at 8
The evening crowd returns to where the morning started. The ZEN Room's live shadowcast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show runs from 8 to 10 p.m. at Bellmore Movies. The Eventbrite listing shows a $15 ticket and promises prop bags for sale, raffles and a costume contest. The listing doesn't give an age recommendation or say which props are allowed. If you're thinking of bringing a teenager or your own bag of rice, call the theater before Saturday.
The Same Stage Keeps Going Into November
Rocky Horror is the start of the theater's live calendar, not the end of it. The Bellmore Movies events page lists these next:
- Demon Huntress, Thursday, October 29, 7 to 9 p.m.
- The Wizard of Oz by Sunrise Theatre Company, with performances listed for November 11 at 11 a.m., November 28 at 11 a.m. and November 29 at noon.
- "Hopelessly Olivia" and "Dolly and Divas" by Mor!, Saturday, November 21, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Sunrise Theatre Company describes itself as a community organization that presents theater for performers and audiences of all ages, with a team built around emerging arts professionals. Its productions range from off-Broadway-style shows to children's and student productions. The Thanksgiving-weekend shows on November 28 and 29 put a live play on the same Pettit Avenue stage that hosts a costumed shadowcast this Saturday.
If you live near Pettit Avenue and have wondered how the theater, the train and Bedford Avenue's storefronts figure into your home's value, John Newsom and The Newsom Team can walk you through a free home valuation based on how close you are to the blocks that fill up this Saturday.
