Kensington MD Halloween 2026: Local Shops Set the Scene

"October 1 reopening!! After nearly 3 years we are able to reopen! Retail area is ready. Rentals will be a work in progress. Let's give it a try! Come see us!!"

Gene's Costumes posted that announcement on social media in the first week of October, and the shop at 10636 Connecticut Ave. opened its doors again on October 1, four weeks before Halloween. The timing matters because of what else is on Kensington's October calendar this year. The Town's event listing for October 31 has two entries, the regular Saturday farmers' market and a party at a brewery. In 2026, Halloween in Kensington is being supplied, staged and hosted by the businesses on Connecticut Avenue, Howard Avenue and Kensington Parkway.

The costume shop came back after nearly three years

On January 2, 2024, an electrical fire started in the basement of Gene's Costumes, according to MyMCMedia's reopening coverage. Much of the shop's rental and retail stock was stored in that basement, and WUSA9 reported an estimated $100,000 in damage. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services brought the fire under control, and no one was hurt. The storefront stayed closed after that.

The business kept going while the doors were shut. Owner Ginger Ager told MyMCMedia that the shop continued supplying theatrical and high school productions during the closure. Over the same period she cleaned and restored costumes from an inventory built up over decades. That restoration work explains the split in the reopening announcement. Retail is ready now, and rentals are still being brought back. Anyone planning a full rented costume for this October should call ahead before counting on it.

The MoCo Show describes Gene's as one of the remaining full-service costume rental and retail stores in the D.C. area, in business for more than 30 years, with costumes, accessories and wigs. Its hours for the season:

• Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Final two weeks before Halloween: open until 9 p.m.

Those extended evening hours make Gene's the one place in town built for the last-minute costume run, and that run tends to land on a weeknight.

A service center already hosted October's biggest street event

On October 3, two days after Gene's reopened, the 10th annual Kensington Car Show put antique cars, trucks and motorcycles along Antique Row. No town department runs this event. Kensington Service Center at 3794 Howard Ave. has hosted it since 2014, and the show grew out of owner Mario Bruno's interest in cars, which Bethesda Magazine traces back to a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner his brother brought home when Bruno was 9.

It rained, and the show still put nearly 100 classic cars on display, including a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1960 Cadillac Series 62 and a 1966 Ford Mustang GT 350. Bruno estimated about 4,000 attendees this year. He says the show has drawn close to 15,000 in recent years, so the weather probably held turnout down.

Admission is free. Registration fees, T-shirt sales and sponsorships go to a Montgomery County organization chosen each year. Past recipients include the Noyes Children's Library Foundation, and this year's money goes to the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department. Pete Brost, KVFD's administrative board representative, said in a statement:

"The Kensington Car Show is not just an opportunity to bring everyone together to enjoy these unique and rare vehicles. It also offers a way for people to help support the volunteers who may one day respond to their home, their family, or their neighbor!"

Both stories start with a fire. A county fire crew answered the call at Gene's in January 2024. Less than three years later, the town's largest October street gathering is raising money for its local volunteer fire department, a few blocks from the reopened shop.

What the Town calendar holds for the rest of October

The Town of Kensington's event calendar does list programming for the rest of the month. Most of it is small, held in the afternoon or evening, and run by community groups.

None of these is a Halloween event. A family-oriented Halloween event does turn up on the Town's site, a Pumpkin Rock N' Roll afternoon at Warner Circle Park, 10231 Carroll Place, co-organized by GIGS and the Town. That listing is dated October 28, 2023. We found no 2026 version on the calendar as of this writing. If one gets added, it will show up on the Town's listing first.

Families also have one fewer indoor option this season. The Noyes Library for Young Children at 10237 Carroll Place closed May 21 for a renovation expected to take 14 to 16 months, and it is projected to reopen in fall 2027.

Halloween falls on a Saturday

October 31 is a Saturday this year, which puts Kensington's two listed Halloween-day events in sequence instead of competing for the same hours.

1. Morning at the train station. The Kensington Farmers' Market runs its regular hours, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Historic Train Station. The listing describes the usual year-round market, with no special Halloween program.
2. Midday on Kensington Parkway. BabyCat Brewery starts its 4th Halloween-iversary Party at noon at 10241 Kensington Parkway. The party runs until 11:55 p.m., with live music, costume contests and food.
3. Evening music and a bus. BabyCat's event page names the bands as Stringtown and Vinyl Fever. It also says a free bus will run between BabyCat's Bethesda and Kensington locations starting at 4 p.m.

The brewery is marking its fourth year in town by tying its anniversary to the holiday. On the Town's own calendar, that party is the main Halloween event on October 31.

Where to eat between errands on Connecticut Avenue

The costume run now has new places to eat nearby. Two counter-service openings have arrived at 10619 Connecticut Ave. this year, on the same stretch as Gene's.

Marathon Deli opened its first Montgomery County location there on May 8. By July it had added an in-store Greek bakery. At that point, daily breakfast service from 7 to 11 a.m. was still described as coming soon, so it's worth checking whether breakfast has started before making a morning trip.

Mezeh Mediterranean Grill held its grand opening at the same address on August 27, serving customizable bowls, wraps and salads.

One more is on the way around the corner. A Deli-Café is coming to 4222 Howard Ave., the former Bamboo Café space. As of the September 19 report, it had no announced opening date.

Put together, a weeknight costume errand in late October now looks like this: Gene's open until 9 p.m., two new places to eat at 10619 Connecticut, and on the Saturday itself, the train station market in the morning and BabyCat from noon on. Of everything on that list, only the farmers' market was available in that form for most of the time Gene's was closed.

At Vassar Broermann Group, we follow the shops and owners who give a town like Kensington its character, because they shape what a street is like to live on. If you're curious how this stretch of Connecticut and Howard Avenues affects what your home is worth today, ask us for a free home valuation and we'll walk you through the local picture plainly.