On Sunday, October 18, parking along Corinth and Poplar Streets is prohibited starting at 6 a.m. By 9 a.m. the blocks between Belgrade Avenue and Washington Street are closed to cars. They stay closed until 4 p.m., and for the hours in between the city's first Open Streets in Roslindale fills the Square with a main stage, a Kids Hub and free pedicab rides.
The same Sunday is the second day of Roslindale Open Studios, which runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and sends visitors through the same few blocks to look at paintings, pottery and jewelry. Both events run into the afternoon, and both use Corinth Street.
The month at a glance
| Date | What | Hours | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Oct. 4 | Roslindale Day Parade | Check the committee's site for step-off | South Street and Belgrade Avenue, on a modified route |
| Saturdays through Nov. 21 | Farmers Market | 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | Adams Park, 4225 Washington St. |
| Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18 | Roslindale Open Studios | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Group sites, businesses and home studios |
| Sunday, Oct. 18 | Open Streets Roslindale | 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., streets closed 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Corinth and Poplar Streets |
The table shows that most of October happens within a few hundred feet of Adams Park. The parade uses the streets, the studios use the storefronts, and Open Streets uses the pavement in front of them. The rest of this post takes the dates in order, because each one changes how you get to the next.
The parade goes first, and it takes a different route
The Roslindale Day Parade is on Sunday, October 4. The committee that runs it has held the parade on the first or second Sunday of October since 1975.
This year's route is different. The city's September 25 traffic advisory says the parade will follow a slightly different route than in previous years because of a construction project. It does not say which project, and the committee's site had not posted the new route at last check.
The parking restrictions in that advisory show where the action will be. Washington Street is restricted on both sides from Stellman Avenue to Cummins Highway. Belgrade Avenue is restricted on both sides from South Street to Roberts Street, which is the block where the parade lines up. Robert Street from South Street to Belgrade Avenue is on the route itself, along with sections of South Street from Centre Street to Robert Street and from Washington Street to Belgrade Avenue.
Last year's step-off was at 1 p.m. This year's time should come from roslindaleparade.com, along with the final route. If your usual viewing spot is a corner on Belgrade Avenue, check the map before you set up a chair.
Saturday the 17th is the easy day
The Farmers Market at Adams Park has run since early June and continues every Saturday through November 21. It opens at 9 a.m., and Open Studios starts at 11. On Saturday the 17th you can do the market first and start on the art with the day still ahead of you.
Free parking is available at the Taft Hill Terrace municipal lot off South Street. The Lower Commuter Rail Lot off Belgrade Avenue costs $2 through the PayByPhone app. Both are the market's own recommended lots. Check the Open Streets parking notices before counting on either one for Sunday.
Open Studios has described itself in recent years as the neighborhood's largest celebration of local art. Listings for the last two editions counted more than 30 locations across group sites, businesses and home studios. They also promised hands-on demonstrations, kids' art projects, home studio bingo and live music.
The 2025 group sites were the Emerald Society at 10 Birch St., Roslindale Congregational Church at 25 Cummins Hwy., Roslindale House at 120 Poplar St. and the Roslindale Substation at 4228 Washington St. The 2026 list should be on the Open Studios site, but if the Substation is a group site again, it sits a few steps from the market's own address at 4225 Washington.
Business hosts have changed from year to year. The 2023 lineup included Fornax Bread Company on Corinth Street, The Square Root at 2 Corinth St., Sophia's Grotto on Birch Street and Distraction Brewing at 2 Belgrade Ave. The Muncey Group's office at 20 Birch St. has also hosted artists in past years. Treat that list as history and confirm current sites on the Open Studios artist map.
Sunday the 18th asks the Square to do two jobs
Open Streets Boston has staged its events in other neighborhoods since 2022. This year's schedule has four dates, and Roslindale's is the last of them. The others are Jamaica Plain on August 2, Mattapan on September 12 and Allston/Brighton on October 4.
The city says each route has a Main Stage, live music in two zones, a Kids Hub, a Vendor Hub for local businesses and food, and a Resource Road for community organizations. There are free water stations, free pedicab rides and accessible restrooms. Businesses on the route can put music, discounts and tables onto the asphalt where cars normally park.
Here is how the day stacks up against Open Studios, hour by hour.
- 6 a.m. Parking is prohibited along the route.
- 9 a.m. Corinth and Poplar Streets close to vehicles.
- 10:30 a.m. Open Streets programming begins.
- 11 a.m. Open Studios opens its sites for the second day.
- 3 p.m. Open Streets programming ends.
- 4 p.m. The streets reopen to cars.
- 5 p.m. Open Studios closes.
The overlap runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For those four hours, both are running at once. I found nothing saying the two events were planned together, so the pairing looks like a matter of calendars. Several past Open Studios hosts have been on Corinth Street, which is on the Open Streets route.
Leave the car at home on the 18th. Parking is prohibited along the route from 6 a.m. and the streets close at 9 a.m., and the city encourages walking, biking and transit for its events in general.
What a closed Poplar Street looks like on paper
In early 2025 the Boston Planning Department approved a Squares and Streets plan for Roslindale Square. The plan asked engineers to study whether Washington Street between Corinth Street and Cummins Highway could return to two-way traffic. If it could, Poplar Street beside Adams Park could become a shared street that the city could block off during the weekly farmers market and for public celebrations.
The plan put the engineering study at up to two years and a complete remake of Poplar at five to ten years. It also called for an "interim activation" of the intersection where Belgrade Avenue meets South and Roberts Streets, on a timeline of one to three years. That intersection is where the parade will stage on October 4.
Nothing in the city's Open Streets announcement ties the October 18 closure to that plan. Still, the closure puts cars on other streets for a Sunday afternoon on the same blocks the plan describes. Anyone who has wondered how Poplar Street works without traffic will have a chance to find out.
After the 18th
The Farmers Market keeps going through Saturday, November 21. Roslindale Village Main Street has also run a trick-or-treat at local businesses, with the list of participating stores handed out at the market that morning. The 2026 date is not posted where I looked, so roslindale.net/events is the place to confirm it.
The winter market follows in January. It runs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Emerald Society, 10 Birch St., through the last Saturday of March. Vendor applications for the winter season are open from October 1 through October 31.
If you're between studio stops on Birch Street on the 17th or 18th, stop by the office at 20 Birch St. The Muncey Group has hosted Open Studios artists there in past years, and the team is always glad to talk over October plans for the Square. When you're ready for a longer conversation, Schedule a Consultation.
