"I have a bone to pick with Hollywood," Jessie Stensland wrote in the Whidbey News-Times in mid-September. "After everything Coupeville did for 'Practical Magic,' the least they could have done was come back for the sequel."
They did not come back. Practical Magic 2 opened in North American theaters on September 10, 2026, according to Warner Bros.' official film site, which now lists it as "Now Playing." Variety's April trailer story had given the date as September 11. Condé Nast Traveller reports that about half of the 55 shooting days were at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire. The rest were at locations around London, including Hambleden, the Royal Standard of England pub in Beaconsfield, Langleybury Mansion and the Wormsley Estate. The BBC added North Weald station and St Mary and All Saints Church in Lambourne to the list.
Coupeville's October calendar has kept growing all the same. Two local organizations now run two separate witch weekends, five days apart. Most of the ticketed events have already sold out. Plenty is still free or pay-at-the-door, and the street closures follow a schedule you can plan around.
What the Town Kept From the Original
Hollywood is no longer involved, but the town still has the original film's footprint. Stensland covered the original shoot as a young reporter. The column recalls Front Street buildings painted white to read as New England and then painted back before the crew left. The street itself was closed during filming, which did not please every business owner. The building that now houses Molka Xete Mexican Kitchen played Verbena Botanicals, the shop owned by Sandra Bullock's character, Sally Owens. Crew members spent their evenings at Toby's Tavern. Locals worked as extras, and Alice Martin had a speaking role.
The Owens house was never here. Stensland writes that its exterior was essentially a shell built on San Juan Island, most of the interiors were filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, and the house was dismantled after filming. So the Coupeville version of Practical Magic is a streetscape, a storefront and a tavern. That is all the guided walking tours have to work with, and it explains why they stay on Front Street and the blocks around it.
The film's following hasn't faded either. A Seattle Times reporter visiting in summer 2026 found local shops doing brisk business in Practical Magic T-shirts, DVDs, sticker books and tote bags, according to her story as republished by The Spokesman-Review. Ahead of the 2025 festival, a Kingfisher Books employee told Seattle Refined the shop planned to order about 150 more copies of Alice Hoffman's novel.
Two Organizations, Two Weekends
Two separate groups run October in Coupeville now.
The Coupeville Chamber of Commerce produces the Haunting of Coupeville, which has brought Halloween activities to town every year since 2014, according to the Whidbey News-Times. Last year the Chamber added its first Witches Walk at the Coupeville Wharf. The paper reported a coven of at least 150 people signed up. Chamber Director Lynda Eccles gave the same signup figure at a town council meeting and said organizers were planning a larger event the next year. Speaking to FOX 13 Seattle, Eccles put the gap more sharply: organizers expected 60 to 80 witches for the first walk, and more than 200 came.
The Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association runs the Practically Magic Halloweekend, Oct. 22 to 25 this year. It covers the movie screenings, the walking tours, the torchlight parade and the pumpkin race.
Both organizations are adding ticketed events, and with nearly two weeks still to go, most of them are gone. This year's $25 Witches Walk ticket comes with a spellbook of local deals, a collectible pin, prizes and a chance to win a night at Captain Whidbey Inn. The Chamber's ticket page shows it out of stock. The Waterfront Association added a first-ever Saturday matinee for fans under 21. Online tickets for it are sold out, and so are the 21+ evening screenings on Oct. 22, 23 and 24.
Where Each Event Stands as of Oct. 12
| Event | Date and time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber Witches Walk, Coupeville Wharf | Sat., Oct. 17, 2–6 p.m. | $25 tickets out of stock |
| Halloweekend movie nights, 21+ | Oct. 22–24, doors 6 p.m., film 8 p.m. | Sold out online |
| Practically Magic Matinee | Sat., Oct. 24, doors noon, film 1 p.m. | Sold out online |
| Guided filming-location walking tour | Sat., Oct. 24, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. | $25, max 30 per tour |
| The Gilded Toad garden, 21+ | Sat., Oct. 24, 1–6:30 p.m. | Pay at the gate, $10 tokens |
| Torchlight Parade & Street Dance | Sat., Oct. 24, 5:30–7 p.m. | Free |
| Great Coupeville Pumpkin Race | Sun., Oct. 25, 2 p.m. | Free to register and attend |
The walking tours have run every Saturday since Sept. 12, but there is no tour on Oct. 17, the day of the Witches Walk. That leaves Oct. 24 as the last tour day of the season. Local Coupeville residents lead the tours as "witches," and each ticket includes a commemorative gift and a coupon for a margarita or non-alcoholic drink at Osprey Fish Co. A tour without enough signups is cancelled by noon the day before.
There's a name mismatch to know about for the Saturday beer garden. The Halloweekend site calls it The Gilded Toad and puts it in the Kingfisher Arts & Letters Garden at 7 Front St NE. Rain Shadow Nursery & Hardware and Whidbey Provisions produce it, with beer from Crossed Arrows Brewery and hot and cold mulled cider from Greenbank Cidery. The association's main page still lists the earlier name, Ales & Apothecary, with slightly different hours. The Halloweekend site is the more current of the two.
The Open Calendar, in Order
Here's what's still open without a sold-out ticket, in date order. Most of it is free. The Fort Casey trail charges a small entry fee:
- Every day through Oct. 31. Pick up a free Find the Frogs passport at Kingfisher Bookstore and look for the witchy frog at participating businesses. Twelve stamps earn a Halloweekend sticker. Twenty-four earn a sticker and a free book from the store's Seconds Stack. The Haunting calendar also lists the Season of the Witch Scarecrow Trail around town, the Weary Bones graveyard on the Rec Hall lot, and Scenic Isle Farm's pumpkin stand. The farm adds trolley rides and an enchanted barn Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Fri., Oct. 16. The Haunted Pirate Trail at Fort Casey runs 6 to 9 p.m. for $5 a person or $15 for four. Free Truck or Treat runs 5:30 to 8 p.m. The listing says to park in the picnic area.
- Sat., Oct. 17. The Witches Walk itself is sold out, but it passes along public downtown streets. The Town packet puts photos and muster at the Wharf at 3:30 p.m. and the walk at 4 p.m.
- Fri., Oct. 23. Coupeville Library hosts a Lock-in Spooktacular for ages 10 to 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 24. The Torchlight Parade & Street Dance runs 5:30 to 7 p.m., with parade muster at 5 p.m. at Main and Coveland.
- Sun., Oct. 25. The Great Coupeville Pumpkin Race starts at 2 p.m. on NW Coveland by Town Park. It's free to register and to watch.
The Haunting calendar does not list a Front Street trick-or-treat this year. Its trick-or-treat events are the Fort Casey Truck or Treat and an Oct. 30 event at Regency on Whidbey in Oak Harbor, 3 to 5 p.m.
When the Streets Close
The Town of Coupeville's Sept. 22, 2026 council packet lists the street closures organizers requested. The packet asks the council to approve them, so treat these as the planned schedule. Three windows matter for anyone running errands downtown or living near the historic district.
- Witches Walk, Sat., Oct. 17, 4–5 p.m.: Front Street from N. Main to Alexander, Alexander from Front to Coveland, Coveland from Alexander to N. Main, and N. Main from 9th to Front. Traffic can still go east on Coveland and turn south onto Alexander, and the reverse. Street parking in the area stays open.
- Torchlight Parade, Sat., Oct. 24, 5–7 p.m.: N. Main from 9th to Front, Front from N. Main to Alexander, Alexander from the Rec Hall exit to Front, and Coveland from Grace to N. Main. Parking is prohibited on Front and Alexander in the parade and dance area.
- Pumpkin Race, Sun., Oct. 25, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.: Coveland from Madrona Way to Broadway.
The reviewed materials list no shuttle for either weekend. Saturday, Oct. 24 is the tightest day downtown. It has the final walking tours, the matinee, the Gilded Toad and the parade, and Front Street parking goes away by early evening.
Coupeville gave Hollywood a few weeks of closed streets for the original film, and in October 2026 the same blocks are scheduled to close again for the town's own events. If you're weighing a home within walking distance of Front Street and want to know how these October weekends shape daily life on those blocks, Team Langley can walk you through it street by street. Start your island story by scheduling a consultation.
