On Saturday, October 24, kids will be trick-or-treating along Main Street, and some of the doors they knock on have changed hands since last October. The Village of Manteno's Main Street Trick-or-Treat starts downtown at 11 a.m. Farther north on the same street, the Manteno Sportsmen's Club opens its Trunk or Treat at 1 p.m. If you plan to do both, the whole day is one trip up Main Street, and the downtown end of it looks different than it did a year ago.
The Saturday, hour by hour
Here's the order, start to finish:
- Morning, coffee and a cupcake. Twisted Cupcake at 119 N Main St posts Saturday hours of 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. It sells cupcakes, cakes, cookies, coffee and tea, and it has been on Main Street since 2021.
- 11 a.m., downtown trick-or-treat. The Village runs the event with the Rotary Club of Manteno and the Manteno Chamber of Commerce. Kids trick-or-treat along Main Street, and there are seasonal activities at The Square on 2nd, according to the Kankakee County Convention and Visitors Bureau listing.
- 1 p.m., the handoff. The Village and the visitors bureau list the downtown event as running until 2 p.m. The Chamber's listing gives 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. If your kids want the full downtown loop, the earlier time is the safer one to plan around. The Sportsmen's Club event starts right at 1.
- 1:30 p.m., pet costume parade at the Sportsmen's Club, 851 N Main St.
- 3 p.m., Trunk or Treat wraps up.
Three things happen at 1 p.m.: Twisted Cupcake's posted Saturday hours end, the Chamber's listing ends the downtown event, and the Sportsmen's Club opens its gates. Plan to pick up any downtown treats before then.
What changed on the downtown blocks this year
Main Street Trick-or-Treat depends on downtown businesses, and several of them changed in 2026. In July, WVLI reported that Frank's Appliance Center and Sleepsource would close its Main Street storefront in Manteno after July 18 so its team could work under one roof. Its Bradley location stayed open. That same day, The Lush Vine, a wine bar based in Kankakee, said it planned to open a Manteno location and keep its Kankakee spot open.
A week later, Manteno Chamber President and CEO Ashley Peterson told WVLI's Kankakee Valley Community Happenings that Lush Vine was moving into the old Copelands building on Main Street. At the end of July, Mayor Annette LaMore named more arrivals on the same program: The Lush Vine, The Vintage Sunflower Shop, Reflections, and a prospective dog grooming business.
Here's where those names appear in downtown listings now:
| Business | Address | What the public record shows |
|---|---|---|
| The Lush Vine | 51 N Main St | Village liquor license for Main Street noted in July 20 board minutes; cocktail class held there August 7; Paint & Sip listed for Thursday, October 22 |
| Reflections DME Boutique | 46 E. Division St. | Chamber scheduled a ribbon cutting and open house for October 14, 3 to 7 p.m. |
| Sunflower Vintage & Boutique | 50 N. Locust St. | Listed in the Chamber directory under antiques, estate sales and consignments |
| Pocket Vault Cards & Collectibles | 67 W First St, inside Uplifted Bistro | Open inside the bistro as of February 2026 |
| Twisted Cupcake | 119 N Main St | Serving Manteno since 2021 |
The Lush Vine's location page lists 51 N Main Street, and its first public events at that address are already on the calendar. The Village's July 20 board minutes record that it issued the business a liquor license for Main Street. It's an adults-only stop and not part of the trick-or-treat route, but it's one more lit storefront on the block where costumed kids will be walking Saturday morning.
According to the Chamber's event notice, the ribbon cutting at Reflections DME Boutique was set for 3:30 p.m. on October 14. The boutique offers mastectomy products, wig consultations and compression sleeves.
Pocket Vault is set up a little differently. Southwest Regional Publishing reported in February that the collectibles shop had opened inside Uplifted Bistro LLC at 67 W First Street. On its own website, Uplifted Bistro serves coffee, bubble tea, sandwiches, wraps and flatbreads, and lists Saturday as closed. The hours Pocket Vault announced in February were described as winter hours, with longer spring hours planned. Call ahead before building a Saturday stop around it.
The Square on 2nd keeps getting more use
The Square on 2nd has been on the Village's parks agenda for years. Manteno Parks and Recreation minutes from October 2019 cover a fence there and a corner property the Village had recently acquired. In 2026, it hosted much of downtown's calendar. The Village held Rockin' on the Square there with live music, food trucks and BYOB. In July, Peterson told WVLI that one Friday's lineup featured the band Dirty Pop at 7 p.m. Mayor LaMore's WVLI interview covered Market on the Square on August 5 and Cruise Night on August 4.
Main Street Trick-or-Treat uses the same Square as its home base. The new businesses opened over the same summer the Square was busiest, so October 24 is the first Halloween with both in place.
Then keep heading north to the Sportsmen's Club
The second half of the day is at 851 N Main St. The Trunk or Treat listing on Kankakee With Kids says the campground will be open to the public. Here's what it lists:
- Pet costume parade at 1:30 p.m.
- Dog nail trims from Hannah's Grooming for $20
- Pumpkin ornament painting for $1
- Face painting by Art from the Heart
- A bounce house
- Hot dog and chips for $3, walking tacos for $3, plus cotton candy and drinks
Your dog fits this half of the day. Downtown is built around kids going door to door. Up at the Sportsmen's Club, the costume parade gives a costumed dog something to do, and the nail trim station means you can get a grooming chore done while you're there. The $3 food also means lunch is covered without heading back downtown. The listing reminds families that schedules and locations can change and recommends confirming with the organization.
The rest of Halloween week
October 24 is the biggest day, but more follows that week:
- Sunday, October 25, 4 p.m. The Christian Church of Manteno hosts a Trunk-or-Treat at 401 E. Third St., according to the WIVR community calendar.
- Wednesday, October 28, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Manteno Public Library holds a Halloween Ghost Hunt & Storytime for kids in kindergarten through fourth grade. Registration is required.
- Saturday, October 31. Door-to-door trick-or-treat hours come from the Village. Check villageofmanteno.com for this year's times rather than going by last year's.
Looking further ahead, the same WIVR calendar lists the Manteno Church of the Nazarene's Fall Craft and Vendor Fair for Saturday, November 14, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 698 Locust St. on Route 50. That's the next Saturday where you can browse local vendors after the downtown storefronts get their Halloween crowd.
Annie Mitchell knows these blocks by address, from the Copelands building at 51 N Main to the Sportsmen's Club at 851 N Main. If a Saturday like this one has you thinking about what your own place on Main Street, or a few streets over, would look like to buyers, Annie Mitchell is glad to walk through it with you. Schedule a Free Consultation.
