On Saturday, October 10, Bloomingdale is showing Hocus Pocus outdoors at Sloan Park, starting around 6:30 p.m. It's free. You bring your own chair or blanket, and Groovy Goodies will be there serving fall treats. The Bloomingdale Economic Development Commission is hosting the night with the Bloomingdale Library.
The last line on the flyer may be the most useful part: "Pick up a snack or dinner from our local eateries and come enjoy the fall with friends and neighbors." That's a direct invitation to make an evening of Main Street, and the street has more places to say yes to than it did at the start of the year. Most of the change is at one address.
What the Flyer Is Asking You to Do
Movie on Main Street isn't a one-off. It's one piece of a steady push by the Borough's Economic Development Commission. At its July 23, 2026 meeting, the commission talked about a "Golden Ticket" passport that would send people from business to business with QR codes. It also discussed food trucks and non-food vendors for the Holiday Stroll, and a project called Bites of Bloomingdale with "8 more businesses" left to film. At the same meeting, members raised the idea of a movie night around Halloween with food vendors. By September 24, "Movie on Main St Final Planning" was first on the agenda, followed by Holiday Stroll planning, Bites of Bloomingdale, and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Earlier minutes describe Bites of Bloomingdale as a way to promote local restaurants to residents and beyond. Taken together, these items have one purpose. The movie is the reason to come out, and Main Street businesses are meant to get the dinner, the coffee, and the browsing before and after.
That only works if there's somewhere to go. In February, part of the answer was still marked "Coming Soon."
Ward's Plaza, From "Coming Soon" to Open
Ward's Plaza sits at 142 Main St. When the Economic Development Commission met in February 2026, its minutes listed two Ward's Plaza businesses as "Coming Soon": The Bumble Bee Café and the Knitty Kitty Yarn Shop & Cat Lounge. Eight months later, the plaza looks like this:
- March 28: Robbie's Comics & Cards. Mayor D'Amato and council members welcomed owners Rob and Marcia Campitiello to Main Street. The shop buys and sells vintage collectibles, and the owners will travel to buy collections of comic books, sports cards, and vintage toys, My Paper Online reported in May.
- August 30: The Knitty Kitty. The business announced its opening day at Unit 2, 142 Main St., running noon to 5 p.m. It also promoted a ribbon cutting at noon that day.
- Into September: The Bumble Bee Café. The café is listed at 142 Main St., Suite 3. Customer reviews describe coffee drinks, croissants, and other pastries, and one review is dated September 5, 2026.
The Knitty Kitty is the most unusual of the three for a small Main Street. It's a cat lounge and a yarn shop under one roof. The Knitty Kitty website offers bookable cat-lounge visits, bundle packages, lessons, and events. The business describes itself as a place for fiber artists as well as a shop for yarn and handmade gifts. Lessons include crafts, knitting, and crochet. Cat-lounge time is booked in sessions, starting with a 50-minute visit, so plan ahead. You probably can't just drop in on your way to the park.
One caution about hours. A third-party directory listing for the Knitty Kitty doesn't agree with itself. Its hours table shows Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but further down the same page it says Thursday through Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., with a cleaning break from 3 to 4 p.m. If a cat-lounge visit is part of your Saturday plan, book through the Knitty Kitty's own calendar.
Dinner Before the Film, Within a Short Stretch of Main Street
The flyer asks you to pick up dinner nearby. Three Main Street spots cover very different evenings, and two of them are just a few doors from Ward's Plaza.
Munchies, 139 Main Street. It's almost directly across the address range from Ward's Plaza. The menu is built around burgers, cheesesteaks, sandwiches, and desserts. The business lists ordering hours that run close to midnight every night, so it's an easy stop on the way home if the movie runs late.
KRIOS, 60 Main Street. This is the sit-down option. KRIOS serves Mediterranean food, including seafood, grilled meats, and handmade desserts. With a 6:30 start, an early dinner here and a short walk to Sloan Park makes a complete evening without moving the car.
Mia's Ice-Cream, 78 Main Street. Mia's is family-owned and makes ice cream, custom cakes, and novelties. Mia's has a history with these Borough events. It hosted the town's Ice Cream Social on August 15. In late June it was also promoting made-to-order ice cream cakes. That's worth remembering if you're bringing a group to the park.
Here's a practical way to put the night together:
- Late afternoon: Look through the vintage comics and cards at Robbie's, or use a booked session at the Knitty Kitty, both at 142 Main St.
- Around 5 p.m.: Have dinner at KRIOS, or get burgers and cheesesteaks to go from Munchies.
- By 6:30 p.m.: Set up your chair or blanket at Sloan Park, and get dessert from Groovy Goodies at the park or bring something from Mia's.
- After the credits: Munchies' late ordering hours are there if anyone's still hungry.
The Borough's online events page lists the screening from 6 to 9 p.m., and the flyer gives an approximate 6:30 start. Neither one gives a rain date. If the weather looks uncertain, check the Borough's social media pages, where the town posts event flyers and updates.
What Changed on the October 10 Calendar
If you saved the Borough's 2026 events schedule this summer, it's out of date for next Saturday. The PDF, labeled "as of July 2026," listed an Expedition Bloomingdale Scavenger Hunt at Sloan Park on October 10 at 10 a.m. The Borough's current October listing doesn't include the scavenger hunt. It shows Movie on Main Street that evening instead.
The scavenger hunt has run before. In August 2024, council minutes described Expedition Bloomingdale as a scavenger hunt with prizes from local businesses. Like the movie, it was built to get people moving between local businesses. But nothing currently confirms it for this year. Treat it as off the October 10 schedule unless the Borough announces otherwise.
Two Weeks Later, Costumes at Bogue Pond
Main Street's October doesn't end with the movie. On Saturday, October 17, the Borough is holding a paper shredding at 8 a.m. in the Senior Center parking lot. If you have old files to clear out before the holidays, it's a quick morning errand.
On Saturday, October 24, the Dog Costume Parade takes place at Bogue Pond. The start time depends on which Borough source you read. The July schedule PDF says noon. The live Public Events page says 6 p.m. The Borough says registration details and schedules come out closer to each event. You can send questions to [email protected], which is the quickest way to find out whether your dog needs a costume by lunchtime or by dinner.
After that, the commission's attention moves to the Holiday Stroll on December 12, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Sloan Park. The July minutes already mention food trucks, outside vendors, a Santa, and possibly asking the fire department to give rides again. The Ward's Plaza businesses that opened this year will be on the same stretch of Main Street for that one too.
At The Weiss Group, we follow what opens on Main Street in Bloomingdale because it matters to the people who live a few blocks away. Maybe you're seeing the movie from a blanket at Sloan Park and starting to wonder what your own home on these streets is worth. Schedule a free consultation and we'll go through it with you calmly, with no pressure.
