When Pardi Plaza's Wednesday Market Ends, Downtown Dixon's Calendar Changes Shape

From late spring through the end of October, downtown Dixon has a weekly habit. Every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m., the Downtown Dixon Weekly Farmers Market fills Pardi Plaza at 132 E. A St. The Downtown Dixon Business Association hosts it and the City of Dixon sponsors it. The season ends Oct. 28. After that, the plaza stops being a weekly stop. It becomes a place you go on a few marked dates between now and the first week of December.

The weekly market is down to four Wednesdays: Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28. Brewski Fest, the new Scarecrow Festival and downtown trick-or-treating all land in those same weeks. October is the most crowded month this part of A Street will see before the holidays. It's also the month the business association is asking residents to help pay for the next round of events.

Lambtown hands off to A Street

This weekend's crowd is a mile south of downtown. The 40th annual Lambtown Festival runs Oct. 3 and 4 at the Dixon May Fairgrounds, 655 S. First St., after workshops that began Oct. 1. The city's free Movies in the Park series at Hall Park, 600 East A St., had its last dusk screening on Oct. 3, finishing a run that started Sept. 12.

So the two biggest early-fall draws outside downtown both end this weekend. Starting Wednesday, the events that remain sit within a few blocks of First and A.

What the last Wednesdays look like

The August Independent Voice report on the market described more than produce. It listed organic fruits and vegetables, fresh-baked bread, prepared food, flowers, handmade candles, homemade preserves, lemonade and books. The named food vendors were Heena's Kitchen serving Indian food, Mi Fiesta Catering Company and Gomez's Loaded Potatoes, with live music on the Pardi Plaza stage for the whole two hours. Fagelhund Flower Farm joined when the season opened in late spring, and Jan and Vern Wilson ran the booth.

Among the booths, the report also listed information about the City of Dixon's Local Road Safety Plan. Organizer Simba Baratti summed up the market's purpose in one line:

"Bringing community together and connecting local growers to the community."

That connection is weekly only through Oct. 28. If buying from a grower at Pardi Plaza has become part of your Wednesday dinner, you have four more chances this season.

The raffle that pays for the calendar

The Scarecrow Festival is the one item on this fall's downtown schedule the business association calls new. It runs Oct. 1 through 29. You buy raffle tickets for a chance to win one of the scarecrows donated by downtown businesses, "just in time for Halloween." The association says plainly where the money goes: it will "help raise money to continue to add new and exciting events to our wonderful community."

That explains a lot about the rest of the season. The events after October are run by the same association that hosts the market, and the raffle helps keep them coming. The association's 2026 schedule has five entries from October through December:

Three of the five fall between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30. The next two are almost a month apart. This is the stretch when downtown runs the most programming, and it's also when the association raises money for what comes next.

As of this writing, the association's events page doesn't name the businesses that donated scarecrows. If you want to know whose window your raffle ticket might win, ask inside the shops along First Street.

Brewski Fest is open past the ticket table

Brewski Fest runs Saturday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 8 p.m. A ticket gets you a commemorative beer glass and craft-beer tastings at downtown businesses. The route ends at Pardi Plaza, where Smokehouse Reunion plays country and rock. Ticket holders must be 21 or older and show valid ID at check-in. Registration closes at 7:30 p.m., the event happens rain or shine, and tickets aren't refundable.

The line on the event page that matters most for anyone not buying a glass is this one: "A ticket is not required to enjoy our entire downtown." The association says the event is open to everyone at downtown bars, restaurants and businesses. So the free part of Brewski Fest is the live music on the plaza and an evening when First Street is busier than usual.

The tasting-stop list hasn't been published on the event page. For dinner before or after, two long-running First Street spots are good bets.

• Dawson's Bar & Grill, 105 N. First St. Owners Greg and Jill Orr accepted the 2025 Business of the Year award at the Celebrate Dixon 2026 event. The award recognized the restaurant's "longstanding role in the community."
• Bud's Pub & Grill, 100 S. First St. Bud's opened in 1996 and marked its 30th anniversary on Jan. 17 this year. In January the owners described it as open daily from 7 a.m., with regular weekly customers and groups that meet there.

Neither one is confirmed as a tasting stop. Both sit on the First Street blocks the crowd will be walking that night.

Six days later, the same blocks go kid-sized

Dixon Trick or Treating is Friday, Oct. 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. Downtown businesses hand out candy, and the Dixon Chamber of Commerce runs a Trunk or Treat. The Chamber's listing gives the address as 220 N. Jefferson St.

The afternoon time slot is worth planning around. It falls on a school and work day, before most people would head out for evening trick-or-treating at home, so families heading downtown will be going in daylight. The Scarecrow Festival is listed through Oct. 29, the day before, and the association pitches its raffle as a chance to win a scarecrow "just in time for Halloween."

A Street has a barber back

Not everything on the block is an event. Primetime Barbershop held a grand reopening June 27 at 145 E. A St., on the same stretch of East A Street as Pardi Plaza. In July the Independent Voice reported that the shop had moved back to town and planned to expand its apprenticeship program. Once the Wednesday market ends, businesses like this one keep A Street busy between event dates.

Outside downtown, Buckhorn BBQ & Grill opened at 1460 Ary Lane with a June 5 soft opening and a grand opening set for July 10. It's farther from the plaza, but it's one of the few new restaurant names in town this year.

After Oct. 30, the gaps get longer

The schedule gets sparse after Halloween. The Merchants Holiday Open House is listed for Saturday, Nov. 21, with no time or location posted so far. The Annual Tree Lighting Festival follows on Saturday, Dec. 5. From late spring through late October, downtown had something on the plaza every Wednesday. In November and early December, the association's calendar shows two dates.

So the rest of this month is your best chance to use the plaza often. Here's the remaining October schedule:

1. Wednesdays Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28, 5 to 7 p.m.: last farmers markets of the season at Pardi Plaza
2. Oct. 1 through 29: the Scarecrow Festival and its raffle
3. Saturday, Oct. 24, 4 to 8 p.m.: Brewski Fest tastings, with Smokehouse Reunion free on the plaza
4. Friday, Oct. 30, 1 to 4 p.m.: downtown trick-or-treating and the Chamber Trunk or Treat

Scarecrow raffle money goes toward the new events the business association wants to add to downtown's calendar.

Whether you're settling into Dixon for the long run or thinking about a bigger place a few blocks from First Street, Frontline Network knows these streets and the calendar that keeps them busy. Get pre-approved and book a consultation with Claudio. Hablamos español, and we're glad to talk it over before you grab a scarecrow raffle ticket.