Sedona October 2026 Events, Shuttle Options and Parking

Red Rock News reported: "Reaching our 35th anniversary is a milestone we are deeply proud of, and we wanted to celebrate by making this event more accessible than ever."

Lori Reinhart has been executive director of the Sedona Arts Festival for 15 years. She was explaining why admission to this year's festival on October 10 and 11 is $5 instead of the usual $15. A City of Sedona grant covers the difference. "Accessible" also has a practical meaning this month. The festival takes place at Sedona Red Rock High School, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road. The city's West SR 89A Park & Ride is up the same road at 905 Upper Red Rock Loop Road.

That pattern holds for most of October. The month's local events land on two West Sedona sites, and both have a free city shuttle lot right there. The new parking garage in Uptown won't open until December or January. Until it does, the way around town this fall is the city shuttle system, and its trailhead and on-demand services run Thursday through Sunday.

The month, laid out by address

Three of the four events sit within a short stretch of West Sedona. The fourth, the Plein Air Festival, is based at the Art Barn Road campus near Uptown, but its painters work outdoors all over Sedona and the Verde Valley for nine days.

Posse Grounds hosts two Saturdays

WagFest opens the month on October 3 with dog-focused booths, presentations, games and a costume contest at the Posse Ground Park Pavilion. Two weeks later the same park hosts Fest of Fall. The City calls it its "newest family-focused community celebration."

The City has published the Fest of Fall lineup in detail. Food trucks listed include Roxie's Drive N' Diner, Vita's Filipino Kitchen, La Tapatia, Dellepiane, Cheeky Kiwi New Zealand Style Ice Cream, Samantha Daissy Sweets and Sedona Coffee Co. There's also a pickleball tournament, a Game On gaming center, a free Glampershots photo booth and a kids' area on the lawn with pumpkin carving and the Reptile Ranch. The stage schedule runs on the hour:

1. 12:00, community karaoke
2. 1:00, community dance with Sara Woolsey
3. 2:00, juggling with James Reid
4. 3:00, Magical Michael Steele
5. 4:00, Best of the Fest contest winners announced

The Kidz & Heroes Cornhole Tournament pairs local youth with first responders, teachers, healthcare workers, veterans, volunteers and other community "heroes." Its first bags fly at 11 a.m. The two event listings give different hours. The City's page says 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit Sedona's listing says noon to 6 p.m. The 11 a.m. cornhole start matches the City's version.

Getting there is part of the program. The City's event page tells people to take transit. Anyone who arrives by bike or by any form of public transit gets a free Rider's Raffle ticket for a $70 gift bag from Natural Grocers. The City also points people to Sedona Shuttle Connect, its on-demand service. Connect can pick riders up almost anywhere within city limits and drop them at the event for $2 per rider.

Posse Grounds is also where the Soldier Pass trailhead shuttle starts. The park-and-ride lot is at 20 Carruth Drive. While the trailhead routes are running, the parking lot at the Soldier Pass trailhead itself is closed, and the same goes for Cathedral Rock. On October 17, that means one park serves as both a family festival and the starting point for one of the city's busiest trailheads.

Upper Red Rock Loop has the festival and the lot

The Arts Festival is the biggest single draw of the month. The anniversary lineup includes more than 100 juried artists from across the country, working in glass, painting, metal, wood, photography and ceramics. There are also food trucks, live music and Gourmet Row, which features locally produced kitchen, bath and home goods. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Over 35 years, the festival has given money to Chamber Music Sedona, the Sedona International Film Festival and the Sedona Visual Artists Coalition, and has funded scholarships and grants for local students.

One rule sets it apart from WagFest a week earlier. The festival is on public school property, so it's smoke-free and only trained service animals are allowed. Organizers ask people to leave pets at home.

The organizer's directions page gives the address and driving directions but says nothing about general parking or an event shuttle. The lot at 905 Upper Red Rock Loop Road is the city's West SR 89A Park & Ride, which serves the Dry Creek and Mescal trailheads. Parking at the city's park-and-ride lots is free, and so are the trailhead shuttle rides. Festival organizers haven't designated that lot for festival parking. It's simply the nearest public parking on the same road.

The transit week runs Thursday to Sunday

The trailhead routes' regular schedule is Thursday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Shuttle Connect runs on the same days, 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., for $2 a ride. The discounted $1 fare covers seniors 60 and older, people with disabilities, veterans with ID, and Medicare and AHCCCS cardholders. Children 5 and under ride free with an adult. Connect also has set pickup points in Uptown, at Los Abrigados and at Hillside Shopping Center. Since November 2025 it has covered the Chapel area too, with a stop at Mystic Trailhead for the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Every weekend event this month falls inside that window. WagFest, both days of the Arts Festival and Fest of Fall all happen on days the system runs. The Plein Air Festival is the exception. It runs nine straight days, from Friday, October 16, through Saturday, October 24, so the trailhead routes and Connect don't run Monday the 19th through Wednesday the 21st. The Verde Shuttle still runs on those days. The City of Cottonwood operates it with the City of Sedona, and its buses run hourly, seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. They stop in Uptown, at Hillside and throughout West Sedona, and a ride within Sedona costs $1. There's a westbound Verde Shuttle stop on 89A at Upper Red Rock Loop Road, which also puts it near the Arts Festival.

Seven-day service isn't on the shuttle calendar for October. The next daily stretch begins November 19 and runs through November 29, with no service on Thanksgiving, November 26. The City's transit page has mentioned a 30-minute Route 14 pilot for Soldier Pass, but the posted Route 14 timetable still shows 50 minutes between outbound trips. For an October trip from Posse Grounds, plan around the posted timetable.

Uptown's garage won't open until winter

Some of what's new in Sedona's parking won't affect anyone this fall. Construction on the Uptown parking garage began in May 2025, with a planned opening at spring break 2026. That moved to June, and as of a September 4 report the expected opening is December or January. The project cost is about $28.25 million.

On August 25 the City Council set maximum Uptown parking rates. The garage and City Lot 5 would cost up to $2.50 an hour, rising to $3.50 during peak seasons in March through May and September through November. On-street meters on State Route 89A and Jordan Road would cost $4 an hour with a three-hour limit, or $5 in peak season. None of those changes will take effect until the garage opens, and city staff want to watch Uptown for at least six months after that.

The same 5-1 vote moved forward a residential permit parking program for Van Deren, Price and Smith roads, between Schnebly Road and Forest Road. It still needs final Council approval. It would take effect only if conditions call for it, such as spillover parking from the garage or resident feedback. For now, Uptown parking this October works the way it did last October.

Tlaquepaque's crosswalk opens and closes with traffic

One more piece of fall traffic sits on SR 179. The City has said the crosswalk at Tlaquepaque won't be closed permanently. It gets gated when Google Maps shows 18 minutes of travel time from the Village of Oak Creek to the "Y," and walkers are sent to the underpass instead. On a busy October Saturday, how you cross the road there depends on how backed up the highway is.

So this October's local calendar mostly sits in West Sedona, beside the city's two main trailhead parking lots. Its events fall on the four days a week the trailhead shuttles and Connect operate, while Uptown keeps its current parking until the garage opens in winter.

Judy Ivicek has lived in Northern Arizona since 1985 and keeps track of the details that shape daily life in Sedona, from shuttle lots on Upper Red Rock Loop to when Uptown's garage is due to open. If you want to talk through how a Sedona address fits the way you get around town, Let's Connect.