Pirate Fest Lands on Halloween This Year, and Ocean Avenue's Longtime Raw Bar Is Between Homes

Boynton Beach Pirate Fest runs Saturday, Oct. 31, from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 1, from noon to 6 p.m. at Centennial Park and Amphitheater and along East Ocean Avenue. Admission is free. This is the first time the festival falls on Halloween itself. It is also the first Pirate Fest in about 30 years without Hurricane Alley Raw Bar open at 529 E. Ocean Ave.

The festival weekend now shares its date with the holiday and its street with a downtown block that is between buildings. The raw bar set its last day at the old address for September, its new home across the street is aiming for a Thanksgiving opening, and the project that displaced it has no announced groundbreaking date. Festivalgoers will walk past all three.

The Calendar Moved Onto the Holiday

For the past three years, Pirate Fest ran on the last full weekend of October, a week or so before trick-or-treating. The city's own event listings show the pattern, as compiled by Boynton Beach Daily.

That shift changes what Saturday looks like downtown. Pirate Fest used to be a warm-up for Halloween. Now it is the main event, with trick-or-treating built in. The Atlantic Current reports that vendors will hand out treats at their booths across the festival grounds and that the Haunted Trail returns. The city's schedule puts the Saturday contests in the afternoon: the kids' costume contest at 2:15 p.m., the adult costume contest at 2:45 p.m., the Haunted Trail at 6:45 p.m. and a pub sing at 9 p.m. A family can do the costume contest in daylight, eat on Ocean Avenue, and still be home for the neighborhood candy run. Families that would rather stay downtown can treat the Haunted Trail as their Halloween night.

Shows run on several stages: Main / Centennial, Railroad / Buccaneer Bay and Kraken / Seacrest. The city's entertainment schedule notes that times are subject to change.

What Fills the Street

The city's Know Before You Go page lists the festival's main attractions:

• Mermaid Grotto, with Mermaid Jules in residence all weekend
• Lil Scallywag Zone, with face painting, games and kids' activities
• Pirate encampments with interactive experiences
• Haunted Trail
• Sword fighting, archery and axe throwing
• Pirate Fest parade, leading into the costume contest
• Food and market vendors throughout the grounds

The Atlantic Current also lists pirate fight-circle demonstrations and perfume making among the vendor and activity lineup.

One piece of the pre-festival game is still open when this post goes live. The city's Pirate Fest Treasure Hunt drops a new clue at 10 a.m. every Monday in October on the @cityofboyntonbeach and @bbpiratefest Instagram accounts. The final clue posts Monday, Oct. 26.

The Street Closes Thursday, Not Saturday

For anyone who lives or works downtown, the date that matters is Thursday, Oct. 29. Full road closures begin at 7 a.m. that day, two days before the gates open:

1. East Ocean Avenue, from Seacrest Boulevard to Northeast Third Street
2. Southeast First Avenue, from Seacrest Boulevard to Southeast First Street
3. Northeast First Street, from Northeast First Avenue to Southeast First Avenue

The city asks drivers to allow extra time and follow posted detours. Its page doesn't give a reopening time. Residents on East Ocean Avenue who need to move their cars during the closures can call the city's Events Division at 561-742-6024 or email [email protected] about parking relocation. The city added that request on Oct. 14.

Festival parking is free at four city sites, with free, accessible shuttles to City Hall at 100 E. Ocean Ave. running from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.:

• Hester Community Center
• Carolyn Sims Center
• Dewey Park
• Boynton Beach Senior Center

ADA parking includes 20 spaces at the K-Pock lot.

Hurricane Alley Is Moving Across the Street

The festival is taking over a street that changed this fall. Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant set Friday, Sept. 25 as its last day at 529 E. Ocean Ave., its home for about 30 years, and held a sendoff there from 3 to 10 p.m. The building is slated for demolition to make way for The Pierce, a mixed-use project at 115 N. Federal Hwy. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency approved it in 2021.

For close to five years, the plan was for Hurricane Alley to move into The Pierce once it was built. On Sept. 3 that plan changed. The Coastal Star reported that owner Kim Kelly had reached an agreement with Carlos Alvarez, owner of Paloma Mexican Restaurant, to take over the Paloma space on the south side of Ocean Avenue and keep the Hurricane Alley name. In a Facebook post quoted by The Coastal Star, Kelly said:

"The owner of Paloma Restaurant and I came to an agreement where I would take over his existing restaurant and allow our Iconic Hurricane Alley to have a new home."

Kelly called the location the restaurant's "new forever home" and said she hoped to open there around Thanksgiving, according to the same Coastal Star update. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, less than four weeks after Pirate Fest ends. Two sources give the address differently. The Coastal Star lists it as 510 E. Ocean Ave. Hurricane Alley's own website lists "500 Ocean Avenue, Suite 105." Either way, it is the former Paloma space with the terra cotta facade, directly across Ocean Avenue from the old raw bar. The restaurant's site sends guests to its social media accounts for the opening date.

So on Halloween, festivalgoers walking Ocean Avenue will pass the restaurant twice: once at the building it left and once at the space it is preparing to open.

The Project Behind the Old Building

The Pierce covers the west side of Federal Highway from Ocean Avenue to Boynton Beach Boulevard, stretching west to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. The Coastal Star reported that construction is expected to take 21 months once it starts. Affiliated Development CEO Jeff Burns told the paper that a firm timeline for any one part of a project this size is hard to set. Deputy City Manager Adam Temple wrote to The Coastal Star that the city remains "committed to continuing to assist and expedite the construction of The Pierce project."

The most recent formal status comes from the CRA's Q2 2026 project report, dated June 22, 2026. It says demolition of the Miller Land Planning building on the site was complete, a Comcast relocation was still pending, and the project team was targeting a construction closing before year-end. The report doesn't give a demolition date for the old Hurricane Alley building or a firm start date for vertical construction.

That puts this year's Pirate Fest in a narrow window. Next October's festival may be planned around a larger construction site on the north side of Ocean Avenue, and possibly around a reopened Hurricane Alley on the south side.

The Rest of Halloween Week

Pirate Fest closes out a week of Halloween events around the city. The Boynton Beach Insider's October guide lists two events ahead of the festival:

• Wednesday, Oct. 28: BOO with the Blue Trunk or Treat, 6 to 8 p.m., at the Boynton Beach Police Department
• Friday, Oct. 30: Scream on the Green, 7 p.m., at Wilson Park, free admission

The city calendar also lists the City Library's Boo Bash Halloween Dance on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., for children ages 5 to 11. That is the same day the Ocean Avenue closures start, so families heading downtown should check the posted detours before they leave.

For questions about the festival itself, the Events Department is at 561-742-6024 or [email protected]. The city's Pirate Fest page posts any schedule changes.

If you own a home near Ocean Avenue, the Pierce site or anywhere downtown, it's useful to know what it's worth while the block changes. David Parker and Power Duo Group have followed Boynton Beach real estate since 2001, and we're glad to put downtown's next few years in context for your address. Start with your Instant Home Valuation, and we'll follow up with the local detail behind the number.