If you could plan only one fall weekend in Olde Towne Slidell this year, which would it be? The 2026 calendar points to one answer. From Friday, Oct. 23 through Sunday, Oct. 25, the Olde Towne Slidell Zombie Crawl, the Slidell Antique & Craft Street Fair and the last fall Bayou Jam concert all fall within about 48 hours. They all happen in the district's grid of brick storefronts or at Heritage Park on the bayou. Before that weekend, the district has a few scattered dates. After it, most of the season moves to Heritage Park and the Slidell Auditorium, then picks back up in December.
Three days, three organizers, one grid
Each event has its own host, but together they cover the whole weekend from Friday evening to Sunday evening.
Friday, Oct. 23, evening. The Olde Towne Slidell Zombie Crawl opens the weekend, according to the Olde Towne Slidell calendar. In past years, the city has closed sections of Cousin, First, Robert and Carey streets from 3 to 10 p.m. for the crawl. The 2023 closure notice is the most recent one on file, so check for the 2026 version before you drive in.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Slidell Antique & Craft Street Fair covers six blocks of Olde Towne, including Griffith Park. Vendors sell antiques, collectibles and crafts alongside the district's own antique shops, with food and live music. Admission is free, and parking is free throughout the district. The Olde Towne calendar lists the fair for both days. Its listed times are shifted from the tourism listing, so go by the 10-to-5 hours.
Saturday morning. The Camellia City Farmer's Market keeps its regular Saturday slot on the Olde Towne calendar that weekend.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 5 to 7 p.m. Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos closes out the city's fall Bayou Jam series at Heritage Park, 1701 Bayou Lane. The concert starts right as the street fair winds down, so you can go from browsing antiques to a lawn chair by the bayou without leaving the district.
The same weekend, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and School hosts the Slidell Food & Fun Fest, the SMM Fair, from Oct. 23 to 25. It has carnival rides, midway games and festival food, plus a 5K and a one-mile race on Saturday, Oct. 24. If you have kids who want rides and adults who want to browse vintage booths, you can fit both into one weekend.
Why the street fair anchors it
The street fair sets the shape of the weekend because it covers the most ground for the longest stretch, two full days across six blocks. It is also one of Olde Towne's oldest traditions. The Slidell Historic Antique Association runs the fair in spring and fall each year and describes it as an event that benefits more than 100 vendors, paid for by the association's own members. That figure describes the fair in general, not a confirmed count for 2026, but it gives a sense of scale.
Compare it with Olde Towne's other big night. White Linen and Lagniappe, now in its ninth year, ran from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, and the city says it brings thousands of people into the district each August. That's one three-hour evening. The October weekend runs from Friday night to Sunday evening on the same streets, and it's the longest stretch of activity the district hosts this fall.
The same blocks close every time
Olde Towne's big events tend to close the same handful of streets. For the March 28–29 spring street fair and crawfish festival, the city closed First, Second, Erlanger and Bouscaren, plus Carey and Cousin. For July 4 and the golf-cart parade, the list was Cousin, First, Second, Carey, Erlanger, Bouscaren and Robert.
The city usually posts closure notices on MySlidell.com a few days ahead, as it did on March 26 for the spring fair and July 2 for the Fourth. Check there before Oct. 23 for the exact 2026 footprint. If your usual route runs down Carey, First or Erlanger, the closures will likely affect it at least one of those three days.
Golf carts come up often in Olde Towne. In a late-2025 Times-Picayune profile of the district, a First Street business owner described seeing people in golf carts heading to Roots for coffee in the morning. A longtime First Street insurance agent quoted in the same piece said that where Olde Towne once felt empty at 2 p.m., "Now, you can't get a parking place." That was an ordinary weekday. Free parking won't make it easier to find a spot during a six-block street fair.
Where to eat between booths
The most recent full list of Olde Towne's restaurants and bars is the city's White Linen and Lagniappe announcement from Aug. 4, 2026, so every place below was serving in the district as of this summer. Grouped by what you might be after on fair weekend:
- Coffee before the fair opens: Roots Plants and Coffee
- A sit-down lunch: Audibert's Bistreaux, Saint August Maison, Fresco, Triangle Square
- Pizza for a group: Camellia City Pizza, Olde Towne Pizza
- Something quick between blocks: Tacos & Beer, Old Town Soda Shop
- An evening drink after the crawl or the concert: Brass Monkey, Heidelbergs, Olde Towne Tavern, Luna Tequila, Whiskey and Ashe, The GOAT, The Rodeo, American Legion
Saint August Maison is a plant-based restaurant that opened in 2024 in a circa-1904 building on Robert Street. It's one of the newer spots on the list, and it doubled as one of White Linen's larger music stages, with three acts booked there in August. For retail breaks, Southern Refillery, Green Oaks Apothecary and Antiques and Art on First all hosted White Linen music this year. They're good stops if you want an indoor break from the fair booths.
The Times-Picayune profile also covered several longtime Carey Street businesses. KY's Olde Towne Bicycle Shop has been at the corner of Carey and Robert since May 1992. Crave 985 opened in early November 2025 in the building that housed Restaurant Coté. Naulty's Shoe Repair traces back to 1954. That article is almost a year old, so check hours directly before planning a meal around any of them.
After Oct. 25, the season moves to Heritage Park
Once the street fair packs up, the rest of fall shifts to Heritage Park, the Slidell Auditorium and City Hall. The city's 2026–2027 cultural season calendar and its monthly event pages list the dates below.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Oct. 11, 5–7 p.m. | Bayou Jam with Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, free | Heritage Park, 1701 Bayou Lane |
| Oct. 31–Nov. 1 | NOLA Zydeco Festival | Heritage Park |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Slidell Art League exhibit opening reception | George Dunbar Gallery, City Hall |
| Sun., Nov. 8, 4 p.m. | Free Veterans Day Concert, Northshore Community Orchestra | Slidell Auditorium, 2056 Second St. |
| Nov. 9–Dec. 17 | Slidell Art League exhibit on view | George Dunbar Gallery, City Hall |
| Dec. 11–12 and 18–19, 6–9 p.m. | Christmas Under the Stars | Heritage Park |
| Sun., Dec. 13, 5–6:30 p.m. | Krewe of Kringle Golf Cart Parade, free | Olde Towne |
| Sun., Dec. 13, 7 p.m. | Vince Vance and the Valiants | Slidell Auditorium |
The Amanda Shaw show is this Sunday, which makes it the last Bayou Jam before the Oct. 25 closer. The Zydeco Festival comes back to Heritage Park the following weekend, so the bayou lawn hosts music on two weekends in a row.
Between the Nov. 8 concert and Christmas Under the Stars, the city calendar has about a month with nothing in Olde Towne beyond the Art League exhibit at City Hall. That gap is part of why the October weekend stands out.
The Krewe of Kringle parade brings the golf carts back to the streets. The July 4 parade used golf carts too, so the district's two parades this year bracket the fall. The city's event listing places the parade in Olde Towne but doesn't give a route. The parade ends at 6:30 p.m. and the Vince Vance and the Valiants show starts at the Slidell Auditorium at 7 p.m., so you can easily catch both that evening.
Planning the weekend itself
- Friday: Go out on the evening of the Zombie Crawl, but plan on Carey and First being closed if the city repeats past closures.
- Saturday: The farmer's market and the street fair overlap in the morning, so start with Roots, then walk the six blocks before lunch.
- Sunday: Go to the fair's second day after a late breakfast, then head to Heritage Park by 5 p.m. for Felix and Fingers.
- Before you go: Check MySlidell.com for the 2026 closure map and the fair's official Facebook page for any changes to vendors or hours.
If walking the antique booths has you curious about what homes around Olde Towne are worth this fall, Team CeejaySells is happy to run the numbers with you, no pressure and no obligation. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through what's selling near the streets you already know.
