Chesterton's Weekends Move to 4th Street Until the Twilight Parade

The European Market had its last regular Saturday of 2026 on Halloween at Broadway and Third Street, next to Thomas Centennial Park. That was the European Halloween Market, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it closed out a season that ran every Saturday from May through October. The market comes back for one day on Saturday, Nov. 28, as a holiday edition that opens at 8 a.m. and leads into the Twilight Parade that evening.

Between those two dates, the downtown weekend calendar runs on 4th Street. The 4th Street Theater sits at 125 N. 4th St., and the Chesterton Art Center is at 115 S. 4th St. Their November schedules cover almost every weekend of the month, and one of them ends on the same Saturday the market returns.

Four November weekends at a glance

125 N. 4th Street holds most of the month

The 4th Street Theater has nine performances of Marsha Norman's 'Night Mother on the November calendar, directed by Alexander Bonner. The dates are Nov. 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21 and 22. Sunday shows start at 3 p.m. and every other performance starts at 8 p.m.

Laid out on a calendar, that run covers three straight weekends and ends the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The Thursday show on Nov. 19 is the only weeknight performance. That gives anyone who works Friday nights or travels on weekends one more chance at it. Tickets are sold through the theater's website.

The theater has already listed its next production, Grant Fitch's A Christmas Carol, so the stage on 4th Street stays busy into the holiday season.

115 S. 4th Street ends a show on parade day

Down the street, the Chesterton Art Center has two exhibitions running this fall, and they end on different schedules.

The 4th Street Print Exhibition opened Oct. 2 and runs through Nov. 28. The Art Center describes it as a look at the many ways artists can transform an idea through printmaking. Because the closing date falls on Hometown Holiday Saturday, the morning holiday market and the last day of the print show land on the same date downtown. For anyone who planned to see it "sometime in November," Nov. 28 is the final chance.

The second exhibition, Rinse/Repeat, runs longer. It opened Oct. 2 and continues through Jan. 4, 2027. It's part of the CAC @ WPL quarterly exhibition series, a partnership with Westchester Public Library and Indiana University Northwest. That partnership also points to the rest of the month, because most of the library's November programs fall on weekdays between the theater's weekends.

The Art Center also has youth and teen class registration open for December and January, so families can line up winter classes now.

Weekdays run through Westchester Public Library

On the weekdays between theater weekends, Westchester Public Library has a steady list of afternoon and evening programs at its Thomas Branch and Baugher Center. Here's what's on the calendar starting Nov. 5:

• Nov. 5, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: 200th Anniversary, Treaties of Mississinewa Program at the Baugher Center. You can attend in person or online.
• Nov. 12, 2–3 p.m.: Music at the Museum in the Bertha Wood Meeting Room at the Thomas Branch.
• Nov. 18, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Tiny Tin Treasures, an Altoids tin upcycling craft, also in the Bertha Wood Meeting Room.
• Nov. 19, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Reel Conversations on Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon in the BC Meeting Room at the Baugher Center.

Nov. 19 is a busy Thursday. The Rashomon discussion ends at 7:30 p.m., and the theater's only weeknight show of 'Night Mother starts at 8 p.m. that same night.

Plan around Thanksgiving week. The library closes at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and stays closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 27. Books due that week are easier to return on the Tuesday.

One Saturday takes the calendar to Sand Creek

The biggest November event outside the 4th Street blocks is still close to home, and it fits into the open hours of the theater schedule.

Saturday, Nov. 14. Interwoven Expressions returns to Sand Creek Country Club, 1001 Sand Creek Dr. S., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The organizer and the Duneland Chamber's event page both call this year's show the 41st annual, while the Chamber's main calendar still lists it as the 40th. The Chamber's listing describes it as a holiday-shopping showcase of Midwest fiber and textile artisans who weave, dye, knit, felt, quilt, stitch and design fashion, home decor and holiday pieces. Since it ends at 4 p.m., there's plenty of time to get to the 8 p.m. curtain on 4th Street that night.

A few smaller items for the calendar:

• Elevate Athletics holds its ribbon cutting on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at 878 W. Indiana Ave. The Duneland Chamber describes it as a place for young athletes to build skills and confidence.
• The CPKC Holiday Train won't stop anywhere in the Region this year. Indiana 105 reported on Oct. 20 that the train is expected to pass through Lake, Porter and La Porte counties before dawn on Nov. 23, and cautioned that times may change. The Times of Northwest Indiana reported that Portage planned overnight skating at its Open Air Pavilion, with fire pits and hot chocolate, for people waiting to see it go by between roughly 2:45 and 4:45 a.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28, back at Thomas Centennial Park

After four weeks on 4th Street, the calendar comes back to Broadway on one Saturday. The Duneland Chamber lists the Hometown Holiday Celebration and Twilight Parade from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Indiana Dunes tourism listing describes the event as free and places it at Thomas Centennial Park and the Chesterton Bandstand, 220 Broadway.

Here's how the day lays out:

1. 8 a.m. The holiday edition of the European Market opens, a month after the Halloween Market closed the regular season.
2. During the day. It's the last day of the 4th Street Print Exhibition at the Chesterton Art Center. The Chamber's listing also encourages shopping small at downtown businesses.
3. 5:15 p.m. The Twilight Parade steps off.
4. Into the evening. The listings include Santa visits in the park, carriage rides and the tree lighting.

If you want to see the print show before it closes, go in the morning. The market opens at 8 a.m., and the 5:15 p.m. parade will bring the bigger crowds to Broadway later in the day.

In December, the calendar moves back to 4th Street. The Chesterton Art Center's Sip + Shop is Thursday, Dec. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 115 S. 4th St., with local artists, gift-shop items, small bites, a cash bar, gift wrapping and door prizes. The next night, the Dunes Arts Foundation opens Scary Christmas Stories, which runs Dec. 11 through 13 at 288 Shady Oak Drive.

This November, Chesterton has something on the calendar nearly every weekend, from the theater and Art Center on 4th Street to the parade on Broadway. Meghan is happy to talk anytime about which streets put those weekends within walking distance, or what a home a few blocks from Thomas Centennial Park is worth today. Stop by Meghan Maddox to request a free home valuation.