If you line up the October events from the City of Newcastle, the Newcastle Public Library and the Newcastle Pacer, five of them end up in the same place. That's Veterans Park and the library beside it on NW 10th Street. Four of those five come in a span of less than three weeks. The one day that sends things up Main Street is the Homecoming Parade on Friday, October 23, and even then, floats finish in the big Veterans Park lot and cars finish at the library lot next door.
This changes how you plan your month. In Newcastle this October, the venue stays put and the dates change. The calendar below is the whole pattern in one place.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., Oct. 6 | Touch-A-Truck | Veterans Park | 6–8 p.m. |
| Thu., Oct. 8 | Adult book discussion, The Many Lives of Mama Love | Newcastle Public Library, 705 NW 10th St. | 12:30–1:30 p.m. |
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Pop-up in the Park "It's Falling," also billed as Potter in the Park | Veterans Park | 1–3 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Newcastle Homecoming Parade | Newcastle High School to the Veterans Park big lot for floats and the library lot for cars | 10 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Haunt the Park | Veterans Park | 4–7 p.m. |
Two side streets lead into all of it
The City describes Veterans Park as a site of more than 90 acres just west of Hwy. 62/Main Street, with access from NW 10th Street or NW 16th Street. The library sits on the same campus at 705 NW 10th St. In fact, the Newcastle Chamber's listing for Haunt the Park uses that library address as the event location. In practice, every event on the calendar above uses the same parking lots, restrooms and entrances.
The park has a lot of space to work with. The City lists picnic tables, restrooms, pavilions, open practice fields, a baseball backstop, walking trails, a basketball court and a splash pad. The splash pad is the one amenity that's off for October. The City runs it seasonally from May through September, so the playground next to it and the extra pavilion seating are what's left on that end of the park this month.
The library is the main reason the early-October events overlap. At Touch-A-Truck on October 6, the Newcastle Library is offering free face painting and temporary tattoos alongside the trucks. Two days later, the library's adult book group meets indoors at 12:30 p.m. to discuss The Many Lives of Mama Love, and you need to register. The library's events page and the Pacer both call the October 15 afternoon a Harry Potter theme, while the City's event page calls it "It's Falling." The Pacer's preview promises a free afternoon of games, crafts and Butterbeer. It runs from 1 to 3 p.m. on a Thursday, so it suits families with younger kids or flexible weekday schedules.
October 23 moves the crowd onto Main Street, then back to the park
The Homecoming Parade is the one October event that uses the town's main road as its venue. The 2026 route starts at Newcastle High School, heads north on Hwy. 62/Main Street to 10th Street, and ends in the park. Floats finish in the big Veterans Park lot and cars finish at the library lot. So the parade also ends on the same grounds as the rest of the month.
The day starts and ends at the high school. The Racers host the Southeast Spartans that night at Gene Reid Stadium, and the schedule maps the stadium to Newcastle High School on North Main Street. Here's how the day runs on the published schedules:
- 7:30–8:30 a.m. School floats line up. That includes football, class floats, and the high school and junior high floats.
- 8:30–9:30 a.m. Business floats, Little League floats and cars line up. Businesses and the homecoming court meet at the new parking lot on the south side of the high school.
- 9:45 a.m. All lanes of Hwy. 62/Main Street close from NW 16th Street to Hwy. 130. No more vehicles can join the parade after this point.
- 10 a.m. The parade starts.
- 11:15 a.m. The scheduled closure window ends.
- 7–9 p.m. Newcastle vs. Southeast Spartans at Gene Reid Stadium.
- 8 p.m. Barenaked Ladies play Riverwind's Showplace Theatre, 1544 State Highway 9, Norman.
The 90-minute closure is what matters most for your morning. NW 16th Street is the north end of the closed stretch, and it's also one of the two access streets into Veterans Park. So if you're coming to see the parade's finish from the north, you'll reach the park from a different direction than you would on a normal Tuesday.
The rules include some details that matter if you have a kid riding on a float. Parents dropping kids off have to park on the east side of the auditorium and walk their child to the float. Only parade vehicles are allowed in the staging areas. Late arrivals go to the end of the line. Floats can throw candy to both sides of the road, and two walkers have to stay beside each float from the high school to 10th Street. The City also warns that the route could change because of construction at the high school. Check the sign-up page again the week of the parade before you pick a curb spot.
If you want to enter a float or a car, the City's deadline to register is October 9. As of today, that's five days away.
The next evening, the park becomes the venue again
Haunt the Park runs Saturday, October 24, from 4 to 7 p.m., less than a day and a half after the parade floats park in the same lot. The Pacer describes it as free, with trick-or-treating, games and activities spread across the park at booths hosted by local groups and nicknamed "BOO-ths." Because the activities spread across the park, Haunt the Park needs the park's full 90-plus acres in a way the parade doesn't.
The costume contest starts at 5 p.m. and has six categories:
- Ages 0–4
- Ages 5–9
- Ages 10–13
- Ages 14–17
- 18 and up
- Best Group
If you run a Newcastle business, church or nonprofit, the booth sign-up asks for free, interactive, kid-friendly stations. Sales aren't allowed without advance approval. In other words, a BOO-th is meant for giving things away. The booth materials don't describe a car-based trunk-or-treat layout, so plan on walking from booth to booth rather than following a row of tailgates.
The plans that require a drive
Only a few October options are outside the park, and each one takes some planning.
The Barn at Country Club at 1675 NW 32nd St. runs a pumpkin patch with hayrides, a petting zoo, face painting, haunted stalls, concessions and pumpkins. The listings don't agree on dates. TravelOK lists October 1 through 31, 2026. MetroFamily's pumpkin patch guide lists October 3 through November 1, with Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday hours of noon to 6 p.m. Check with The Barn before you plan around the first or last weekend.
Riverwind's Showplace Theatre on State Highway 9 has two October shows. Brett Young plays Friday, October 16, at 8 p.m. Barenaked Ladies play October 23 at 8 p.m. That's the same night as the home football game, so families with plans in both places will have to choose between them.
After October, two dates to watch
The next date on the City's parks calendar is Christmas in the Park on Saturday, December 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. There's no City event listed for November in what's currently posted.
The bigger change to your routine is on the turnpike side of town. In July 2026, the Pacer reported on the approved first phase of the I-44/SH-37/Toby Keith Expressway interchange project. This $75.3 million phase includes a diverging-diamond interchange, new on and off ramps at NW 24th Street, and realigned frontage roads between 24th Street and the 36th Street overpass. Construction was expected to start later in 2026. I-44 is supposed to stay open during the day with at least one lane each way, with intermittent closures at night. No start date has been confirmed yet. Until one is, plan for the October 23 Main Street closure from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. as the one scheduled road change this month.
If the parade route or the coming interchange work has you thinking about how Newcastle's streets fit your daily routine, or which side of Main works best for your household, Oak & Prairie Real Estate is happy to walk through it with you. Our Newcastle neighborhood page is a good place to start. Talk with a local broker and start your neighborhood market consult.
