Davis Square Events in October 2026: Empty Spaces, Full Calendar

Most of what's on Davis Square's calendar this October is taking place on property that was supposed to be under construction by now. Davis Square Plaza, the former Starbucks storefront and the corner of Elm and Grove all sat in the path of two large redevelopments. Neither project is moving. This month those same spaces host a two-day food festival, five Fridays of maker markets, a big share of HONK!'s Saturday stages and a city-backed art gallery.

None of this was planned as a citywide program. A volunteer group, a property owner willing to lend out its plaza, and the City's Arts & Culture Division each filled a piece of it, and the pieces now run together. Here is how the month fits together, and what has been proposed for the same spaces once the season ends.

Two Projects That Stopped

The plaza started emptying in 2022. Restaurants, medical offices and a pawn shop moved out ahead of 7th Spoke, a 120,000-square-foot lab redevelopment planned by Asana Partners of North Carolina. The slowdown in lab projects froze those plans, and most of the storefronts were never re-leased. Chipotle is still open, Boston Tattoo Co. has spaces on both sides, and Wild Child Chocolate ran a pop-up there last year. The Starbucks on the property closed last September.

Down the block, Copper Mill had proposed a 502-unit, 26-story tower for Elm and Grove streets. The site covers 231–249 Elm Street and 6–8 and 12 Grove Street. On August 31, CEO Andrew Flynn sent the Davis Square Neighborhood Council a letter withdrawing from the project. The parcel belongs to Myer Dana and Sons, and Mayor Jake Wilson has said the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan will guide what happens there next.

Copper Mill's withdrawal also settled something for the businesses on that block. Wilson told Cambridge Day that the owner had extended the leases of tenants the redevelopment would have displaced, at least for a while, including The Burren and Dragon Pizza.

How a Plaza Got Lent Out

In May, Asana agreed to let buskers and other creative uses fill the plaza every day, and organizers then secured insurance for the space. The effort was organized by Greg Nadeau of the Somerville Foundation along with the organizers of Down in Davis, a free concert series that began at Statue Park on May 1.

By early September, Nadeau told the Cambridge | Somerville Independent that the group had put on 25 free events in Statue Park and 39 in the plaza, one of them a FIFA World Cup watch party, all without city money. "Davis has turned the corner and is getting its vibe back," he said. The plaza saw more events than the park, even though the park has been the square's usual gathering spot.

The City added its own improvements over the summer. Artist Massiel Grullón painted a mural on the Davis Square slip lane, which also got new seating, pollinator plantings and string lights. Black Cat Labs built a new art piece for Statue Park. Both were unveiled at an August 21 ribbon cutting.

October, Friday to Friday

The plaza season ends with five busy weeks.

• Friday, October 2: Heyssis plays the last Alive at Five date listed at Statue Park, 5 to 8 p.m. That evening's Small Mart runs in the plaza from 3 to 8 p.m.
• October 18: One more Alive at Five show is on the calendar. Evan Greer's Dolly Parton singalong, postponed from September 25 at Statue Park, moves indoors to The Burren from 5 to 8 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday, October 3–4: Food Nation, now in its third year, expands to two days of Davis Square restaurants with live music, a beer garden and family activities, 2 to 8 p.m. at 260 Elm St. Entry is free. An all-you-can-eat tasting pass costs $30 for one day or $50 for the weekend.
• Fridays through October: Small Mart, an outdoor market for artists, makers and vintage sellers presented by High Energy Vintage and Existential Thread Co., runs weekly on Fridays from 3 to 8 p.m. during August through October, according to its organizers.
• Wednesdays through November 25: The Davis Square Farmers Market keeps running from noon to 6 p.m. in the municipal lot by the plaza, with more than two dozen Massachusetts farmers and food producers.

The Wednesday market lasts the longest. It will still be running for more than a month after the Friday programs end.

HONK! Saturday Runs Through the Tower Site

The 21st HONK! Festival runs October 9 through 11. Saturday, October 10, belongs to Davis Square. The opening ceremony starts at noon in 7 Hills Park, and bands play from 1 to 9 p.m. at 7 Hills Park, Statue Park, Day Street, Davis Square Plaza, Chester Street, Elm at Grove, Kenney Park and Holland at Winter.

Two of those stages sit on the sites in the table above. One is the plaza Asana has lent out. The other, Elm at Grove, is the corner Copper Mill had planned to rebuild. ArtHONK runs interactive art-making on Elm Street from 1 to 5 p.m., and the HONK! Portal livestream broadcasts from Elm Street from 1 to 6 p.m.

The Sunday parade, held October 11 from noon to 2 p.m., leaves from Herbert and Day Streets and heads to Harvard Square, arriving around 1:15 p.m. It ends at Harvard Square's 47th annual Oktoberfest. Elm Street closes in stages before the start, with Day Street at 11:30 a.m., Grove at 11:40 a.m. and Russell at 11:45 a.m. On Sunday, plan any car trips across Elm Street for before 11:30 a.m. or after the parade has passed.

260 Elm Street Gets a Second Act

The former Starbucks is getting the month's most formal opening. The City's Arts & Culture Division is turning the storefront into Diamond Factory, a pop-up gallery proposed by Susan Berstler, who runs the Nave Gallery in Somerville. The ribbon cutting is Saturday, October 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. It is free, and Mayor Wilson, Berstler and the participating artists will be there.

"Empty storefronts are a challenge for our commercial areas, but they're also an opportunity to get creative, and Somerville has no shortage of people ready to do that." Mayor Jake Wilson

The first show, Diamond Factory I, includes work by Resa Blatman, Sarah Myers Brent, Zach Faugno-Teig, Andrew Fish, Carol Fonde, Sharon Lacey, Greer Muldowney, Andrew Neumann, John Savone and Michael Talbot. The gallery's name comes from We Create Diamonds, a show Talbot curated at the Nave Gallery this spring. City Council President Lance Davis, who represents Ward Six, said the project turns "a dark window into a bright spot for Davis Square."

The lease is short, so the window for a visit is too. The City is renting the space from Asana on a short-term basis. It expects the gallery to stay open for about three to four months and hasn't set a closing date.

The same morning, a few blocks away, Somerville Community Baptist Church at 31 College Ave. holds its Spooky-Thankful-Merry Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Making the Arrangement Last

The volunteers are already planning beyond this season. Nadeau is working with Asana on a 2027 series in the plaza with regular beer gardens and music. His group has also proposed a Down in Davis parking improvement district, which would put fees from the Day Street parking lot back into maintenance and programming for the square.

The idea came from Paul Christie, who owns the Davis Squared gift shop and also runs Arlington Centered, a shop inside a similar district Arlington set up in 2017. Arlington uses its parking meter income for parking lot upgrades, pedestrian lighting, sidewalk snow removal, benches and bike racks. City spokesperson Denise Taylor said the mayor supports exploring the idea, possibly as a pilot that other squares could follow.

The bigger decisions about these sites will come through the Davis Square Neighborhood Plan. The City's project feed shows no October engagement dates, and the next phase starts in February. Wilson has said the plan should be done in the first half of 2027.

Two permanent businesses are moving in on the same timeline. Yafa Bakery & Café plans a second Somerville location at 187 Elm St., in the former Posto space. Founder Abdullah Awad visited the site on September 11, and staff have since confirmed the expansion is still happening, though no opening date has been announced. Curiosity Brewing, from founder Nick DeFae and former Definitive Brewing head brewer Bryan Daly, plans a brewery, espresso café, taproom and patio at 49 Day St. and is aiming to open in late spring 2027. If the plaza series returns, Curiosity's patio would be just off the HONK! Saturday stage on Day Street.

For more on how Somerville's other squares program their own spaces, see our look at Bow Market in Union Square and our Somerville neighborhood page.

At The McLaren Team, we follow Davis Square's stalled sites, its neighborhood plan and its new tenants as closely as its sales, because they all shape the blocks around the square. If you'd like to talk about what the plan or the 2027 plaza series could mean for your home near Elm Street, we're glad to go through it with you. Start Your Move.