Since April 26, the Frankfort Country Market has set downtown's weekly schedule. It runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with nearly 70 vendors, and the last one of the 2026 season is October 25. The Village advertises no indoor or winter market after that. Downtown doesn't shut down when the market ends. Its busy hours move. Laid out by day of the week, the Village, Park District and Chamber calendars for the rest of 2026 put downtown's activity on Thursday and Friday evenings at Breidert Green and Saturday mornings indoors at Founders Community Center, 140 Oak St. Of the ten Sundays from October 25 through December 31, only one has a family event, and that one leaves town.
The Day-of-Week Shift, Laid Out
Here are the downtown and Founders Community Center events on the books between the market's final weekend and New Year's Eve, along with the one Park District outing that leaves town, listed in date order.
| Date | Day | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 23 | Friday | Ghost Stories on the Green | Breidert Green | 6 p.m. |
| Oct. 25 | Sunday | Final Country Market of 2026 | Downtown | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Oct. 31 | Saturday | Safety Trunk or Treat and costume parade | Breidert Green parking lot | 10 a.m.–noon |
| Nov. 7 | Saturday | 33rd Annual Holiday Craft Show | Founders Community Center | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Nov. 23 | Monday | Candy Bar Bingo, ages 4–13 | Founders Community Center | Late morning |
| Dec. 3 | Thursday | Lighting of the Green | Breidert Green | Details pending |
| Dec. 5 | Saturday | Santa Photos & Workshop | Founders Community Center | 11 a.m. and noon sessions |
| Dec. 6 | Sunday | Polar Express Storytime Train | Hickory Creek Metra Station, Mokena | 9:30 and 11:20 a.m. departures |
| Dec. 11 | Friday | Midnight Madness | Downtown shops | 6 p.m.–midnight |
| Dec. 11 | Friday | Puzzle Mania – Holiday Edition | Founders Community Center | 6–9 p.m. |
| Dec. 12 | Saturday | Holiday on the Green | Breidert Green | Details pending |
| Dec. 31 | Thursday | New Year's Countdown for kids | Founders Community Center | 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
Read the Day column and the change shows up right away. Through spring, summer and early fall, Sunday morning was the fixed weekly downtown habit. After October 25, the regular slots are Saturday morning at Founders and Thursday or Friday evening on the Green.
Friday Nights Take Over Breidert Green
The evening pattern begins before the market closes. On Friday, October 16, the Park District's Halloween Bash runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Founders Community Center. It needs preregistration and costs $15 per child. The next Friday, October 23, the Village moves outdoors for free Ghost Stories on the Green at Breidert Green starting at 6 p.m., with family-friendly stories, a magic show and popcorn.
That 6 p.m. start comes back in December. The Chamber's Midnight Madness is set for Friday, December 11, from 6 p.m. to midnight. The Chamber describes late holiday shopping with deals, giveaways and refreshments, and says more than 30 area businesses traditionally take part. The same evening, the Park District runs Puzzle Mania – Holiday Edition from 6 to 9 p.m. at Founders. So December 11 is the one night this season with two downtown-area events at once. A household could split up, with one person working a puzzle table at Founders and another shopping the White Street storefronts, and both would still have hours of Midnight Madness left after Puzzle Mania ends at 9.
The holiday season on the Green itself opens on a Thursday. The Village lists Lighting of the Green for Thursday, December 3, and Holiday on the Green at Breidert Green for Saturday, December 12. Both Village pages still say "details coming soon," so times and programming for both are still to be announced.
Saturday Mornings Go Indoors to Oak Street
Saturday mornings don't vanish. Most of them move indoors. Halloween is the exception. October 31 falls on a Saturday this year, and the Frankfort Police Department's Safety Trunk or Treat and costume parade run from 10 a.m. to noon in the Breidert Green parking lot, with the parade starting at 10. Recommended trick-or-treating hours that evening are 3 to 7 p.m., according to Frankfort Patch.
The next Saturday, the action moves to 140 Oak St. The Park District's 33rd Annual Holiday Craft Show runs Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Founders Community Center. Founders is where Saturday mornings happen from here on. Santa Photos & Workshop is there on December 5, with sessions from 11 to 11:45 a.m. and noon to 12:45 p.m. The children's New Year's Countdown is there too, on Thursday, December 31, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. That's a midday party for kids who won't make it to midnight.
For dog owners, there's one outdoor Saturday morning still on the calendar before the cold sets in. The free Howl-A-Woof is Saturday, October 24, at 10 a.m. at the Bark Park in Commissioners Park, and the gate opens at 9:50. It's the day before the market's final Sunday, so a household could put the two together into one last outdoor weekend.
November 1 and the Trolley Barn
The calendar's one possible new Sunday habit isn't an event. It's a restaurant. In July, the Frankfort Village Board approved a special use permit for Avocado Theory in the Trolley Barn at 11 S. White St., and Frankfort Patch reported that founder Krunal Patel told the Plan Commission the restaurant planned to open November 1. The same Patch article said no major changes were planned for the space and that seating would be inside the enclosed patio. Board documents describe the business's mission as exploring "healthier food options," and Patch noted the chain already has locations in Tinley Park, Naperville, Lincolnshire and Wheaton.
Treat the date as a target, not a promise. As of mid-October, Avocado Theory's own website still lists the Frankfort location as "Coming Soon!" If it opens on schedule, November 1 falls exactly one week after the market's last day. That would give White Street a reason to fill up on a Sunday just as the market stops providing one.
The building has carried downtown traffic before. Frankfort Patch's 2011 history of the Trolley Barn describes trolley tracks running down Kansas Street from 1908 to 1922, and a mechanism inside that turned the trolleys and moved them over maintenance pits. A barn built to service trolleys now houses a restaurant with seating on an enclosed patio, and that patio arrangement suits a November opening.
Out on La Grange Road, the Village approved a carry-out restaurant, Jamaican Jerk Choice, for 19955 S. La Grange Road in Hickory Creek Market Place. Patch reported the approval on October 6, with no opening date announced yet.
December's One Sunday Leaves Town
Here's how the Sunday count comes out. From October 25 through December 31 there are ten Sundays. The first has the final Country Market. The second is Avocado Theory's target opening day. Of the other eight, the Park District, Village and Chamber listings show a family event on just one, and it doesn't start in Frankfort.
The Park District's Polar Express Storytime Train runs Sunday, December 6, departing from the Hickory Creek Metra Station in Mokena at 9:30 and 11:20 a.m., with separate ticket prices for residents and nonresidents. If your family usually plans Sunday mornings around White Street, that's the date to watch. It's the only Sunday in December with a Park District event, and the trip starts with a short drive north to the train.
Another popular holiday tradition is still unscheduled. The Frankfort Area Historical Society's Candlelight House Walk page still describes the 2025 walk, held the evening of Friday, December 5, 2025, from 5 to 10 p.m. A 2026 date hadn't been posted as of this writing. Last year it fell on a Friday night, like most of this season's other evening events.
Building a Late-Fall Routine Around the New Rhythm
Put together, the calendar gives a schedule you can plan around:
- Market's final weekend, October 23–25. Ghost Stories on the Green Friday at 6 p.m., Howl-A-Woof Saturday at 10 a.m., and the final Country Market Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Halloween Saturday, October 31. Trunk or Treat at the Breidert Green lot from 10 a.m. to noon, then trick-or-treating from 3 to 7 p.m.
- Early November. Avocado Theory's target opening on Sunday, November 1, then the Holiday Craft Show at Founders the following Saturday, November 7.
- Thanksgiving week. Candy Bar Bingo at Founders on Monday, November 23, for kids 4 to 13. It's free with a full-size candy bar or bag as the entry, and preregistration is required.
- First December week. Lighting of the Green Thursday, December 3; Santa at Founders Saturday, December 5; the Polar Express from Mokena Sunday, December 6.
- Second December week. Midnight Madness and Puzzle Mania Friday, December 11; Holiday on the Green Saturday, December 12.
Between the craft show and Lighting of the Green on December 3, the listings reviewed for this post show only one event, the Monday morning bingo at Founders. Nothing in those listings is set for Breidert Green during that stretch, and none of it falls on a weekend.
Niki Rocco follows Frankfort's downtown calendar as closely as the sales data. If you own near Breidert Green or White Street and want to know how the winter season and local events tend to affect showings and timing, request a free home valuation and we'll go over your home's numbers with Frankfort's calendar in mind.
