Four separate events land on the Old School Square campus on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. The fall calendar keeps going through Thanksgiving and on to the 100-foot tree. All of it happens on the front lawn, in the Vintage Gym, at the amphitheatre and along Swinton Avenue. The building most longtime residents link to the campus, the Crest Theatre, isn't on the performance schedule. Its auditorium still has no reopening date, and the city is still working out who should run the campus over the long term.
One Saturday, four events
The season opener stacks up like this, according to the Old School Square events calendar:
- 8 to 11 a.m.: The Witches of Delray 15th Annual Witches Ride. This is a costumed bike ride that ends with Halloween festivities on the square and benefits local children and families through ACCF.
- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Delray Winter GreenMarket opens its season on the Old School Square Campus.
- 10 a.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday: The Delray Beach Orchid Society's 36th Annual Orchids on the Square event and sale moves into the Vintage Gym for the weekend, with blooms, supplies and raffles.
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The City of Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department runs Halloween Kidsfest, with food, vendors, arts and crafts, and entertainment.
The GreenMarket is the one that keeps going. The Delray Beach CRA started the market in 1996. This winter is its 31st season. It runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., from Oct. 24, 2026 through May 22, 2027, and the CRA lists more than 60 food vendors. The CRA's season page doesn't announce any change to the market's operator, its spot on campus, or its parking setup. Regulars will find the same place and the same hours.
A full season that never uses the theater
Past opening day, the fall schedule looks like this:
| Date | Event | Where on campus |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Coco Market Wellness Festival, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Delray Beach Amphitheatre |
| Sat.–Sun., Nov. 7–8 | Art on the Square Fine Art Show | Cornell Art Museum front lawn and Swinton Avenue |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Veterans Day Ceremony, 9 to 11 a.m. | Vintage Gym |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Oceans and Roses Under the Stars gala, 6 to 9:30 p.m. | Old School Square |
| Tue., Dec. 1 | 100-foot tree lighting and Yuletide Street Fair, 6 to 9 p.m. | Old School Square |
Coco Market is a monthly event with free yoga, meditation, reiki, a drum circle and a sound bath, along with wellness vendors and vegan food. The city says the tree lighting will bring 60-plus vendors. The wider Holiday Village and Santa schedules are still listed as to be determined.
Art on the Square has the best comeback story on the list. Boca magazine reported that six shows ran between 2017 and 2020, and the show didn't come back until March 2026, after a six-year break. The November show is its second since the revival, run under Cultural Arts Director Marusca Gatto. The downtown event listing describes nearly 100 artists, free admission and no street closures. Old School Square's own listing says the artists come from around the country and show original work on the museum's front lawn and along Swinton Avenue.
Every event on the list goes to a lawn, the gym, the amphitheatre, or the Cornell. That's partly because the outdoor season suits outdoor events. It's also because the campus's main indoor stage can't take a performance yet.
Why the Crest isn't on the calendar
The Crest Theatre building isn't empty. The Coastal Star reported in March that the city restarted programming at the Crest in November 2024. The arts school was set up again in renovated classrooms inside the building and is expanding to add ceramics. The front of the house has been renovated too. Work on the lobby, reception area, restrooms, kitchen, meeting room and lounge wrapped up in January 2024. Auditorium and backstage work was still needed before the room could be fully used for performances.
That auditorium work is what's left. The city's facility page describes the project as modernizing the auditorium, stage, dressing rooms, bathrooms, corridors, balcony, and lighting and sound systems. As of early February 2026, Boca magazine reported that the theater still couldn't stage performances.
The gap goes back to August 2021, when the City Commission voted to remove the nonprofit Old School Square Center for the Arts from running the campus. Work that was underway stopped at that point. At its Feb. 3, 2026 meeting, the commission told city staff and Mills + Schnoering Architects to go ahead with a $7.9 million design built in stages, so the city can phase work in as budgets or fundraising allow. The architects had presented three concept packages:
- Base rehabilitation: returns the auditorium to safe, usable condition for small events.
- Option 1: restores full theatrical systems and improves back-of-house accessibility.
- Option 2: adds advanced rigging, lighting, audio and video, and livestreaming, aimed at touring productions and larger events.
The Coastal Star's March report put the packages at about $3 million, nearly $6.4 million and $7.9 million. Boca magazine's February coverage gave different estimates of $3.4 million, $7.4 million and $8.8 million. The gap may reflect later design work, but neither report explains it. Neither report gives a construction schedule or reopening date. The city adopted its FY2026–27 budget on Sept. 22, 2026, by Resolution No. 159-26. The city's budget announcement doesn't mention a Crest-specific amount.
Who's running the campus this season
The stage work is waiting on a bigger question. According to Old School Square's about page, the city owns the campus and the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority manages and operates it in partnership with the city. The Coastal Star described the DDA as taking over the campus reluctantly when the city restarted Crest programming in 2024.
That arrangement has been shrinking. Per Boca magazine's February report, the DDA's contract covers the Cornell Museum and the parts of the campus outside the Crest. It started at roughly $1 million in late 2022, the DDA asked for $1.6 million in 2024, and by February 2026 the figure was $700,000. The same report said Mayor Tom Carney wanted a different operator for the whole campus, and commissioners were weighing a transition plan along with a consultant's options.
That consultant reported back at the Sept. 22, 2026 commission meeting. A Citizen Portal summary says cultural-facilities consultant Duncan Webb presented a first-phase needs assessment with a three-part vision. The campus would become Delray Beach's formal "town square," arts education would expand across the campus, and the city would build up its capacity to run events and festivals. Webb put the campus's market at roughly 1.35 million people within about a 30-minute drive. He recommended a second-phase business plan covering operations and finances, and staff estimated it at about $50,000 per phase. Commissioners asked for faster, more specific next steps.
The consultant's vision matches what this fall's calendar already does. Arts education is running inside the Crest, and the GreenMarket, Witches Ride, Kidsfest and tree lighting are the community events at the center of the plan. What the season doesn't show is a decision. No public record so far shows a commission vote picking a new operator or putting the job out to bid. The DDA board's Oct. 13 agenda lists a proposed resolution approving Amendment No. 5 to its interlocal agreement with the city. That meeting is tomorrow, so it's the next public place where this season's operating arrangement gets addressed.
Getting there on a stacked Saturday
With four events overlapping on Oct. 24 and the GreenMarket running every Saturday after that, parking is the practical question. The downtown parking guide lists the two garages closest to the campus:
- Old School Square Garage, 95 NE 1st Ave., at $1.50 an hour.
- Robert Federspiel Garage, 22 SE 1st Ave., at $1.50 an hour.
- Free parking is available on side streets and in lots more than a block off Atlantic Avenue.
The downtown event listing for Art on the Square also points visitors to those two garages. If you still remember a weekend flat fee or free Sundays, that pricing is gone. WPBF reported that starting Oct. 1, 2025, city garages including Old School Square switched to $1.50 an hour all day and night, replacing the old $5 flat-fee periods and free Sundays. A morning at the GreenMarket that runs into Kidsfest now costs by the hour.
The next fixed dates are the DDA board vote on Oct. 13, the Oct. 24 opener, and Art on the Square on Nov. 7 and 8.
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