The 43rd Pittston Tomato Festival ended in August. The lot behind 71 S. Main St. was back at work the next Tuesday morning. Between now and the first week of December it hosts a weekly farmers market, a Halloween village and a holiday market. Over the same few months, the city is getting ready to rebuild part of it.
A Sunday Dispatch column from the August festival says that next year, meaning 2027, the lower lot is expected to get a permanent stage, a regraded surface and a 20-foot robot sculpture. So these next two months are probably the last time the lot's fall schedule runs on the layout Pittston has used for years.
A Parking Lot With a Nickname
Most of downtown calls it the Tomato Festival lot. On paper it's the Robert Conroy Lot. The city's Parking Authority owns and operates several public lots downtown, and its rental policy names the Robert Conroy Lot as the one "commonly known" as the Tomato Festival lots. That policy splits the lot into two rentable sections, Robert Conroy A, the lower lot, and Robert Conroy B, the upper.
On a normal weekday it's simply parking. The city sells monthly permits for the Robert Conroy/Upper Tomato Festival Lot on Spring Street and lists the Tomato Festival lot as an off-street Pango location. Downtown Pittston Partnership uses a third label. Its event pages put things in a "Middle Tomato Festival Lot" at 71 S. Main St. The official policy and the event calendar divide the space differently. When you head to an event, go by the name on the flyer.
So the same asphalt carries commuter permits, Pango sessions and a fall event schedule. That double use is why the planned stage matters.
Tuesdays Carry the Season
The farmers market is the most regular event on the lot. The 2026 season opened Tuesday, July 7, in the lower lot and runs every Tuesday through November, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with produce, baked goods, local products and weekly entertainment. This year the Downtown Pittston Partnership also added SNAP/EBT, which the market accepts for the first time.
October still has four market Tuesdays, on Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27. The Partnership's 2nd Friday Art Walks, the other regular downtown draw, ended in September. The guide lists them only for May, June, July and September. That leaves the Tuesday market as the only weekly event on the lot this fall.
The Fall Calendar, In Order
Everything here takes place on the Tomato Festival lots or within a short drive of Main Street.
- Tuesdays through November, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Farmers market, lower lot.
- Friday, Oct. 9, 3 to 5 p.m. Pittston City's free Pumpkin Decorating Workshop at the Pittston City Community Garden, Blvd Towers. You have to register, and only 20 spots are available.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, noon to 3 p.m. Trunk or Treat from Pittston Township and Amazon at Tony Attardo Memorial Park, 22 Bryden St. It's free, includes a trunk-decorating contest, and the candy lasts while supplies do.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, late afternoon. Trick or Treat Main Street and the Haunted Village in the lower Tomato Festival lot.
- Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5. La Festa Di Natale's holiday market in the middle lot, Friday 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday 2 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m. The Toy Truck Parade on Main Street, then Santa and the Main Street Christmas tree lighting.
Oct. 24 Is Really Two Events
Oct. 24 has two Halloween events, and they barely overlap. Pittston Township's Trunk or Treat at Tony Attardo Memorial Park runs from noon to 3 p.m. The city's Haunted Village starts afterward in the lower lot. One family can do both in one afternoon.
The official listing doesn't agree with itself on the downtown time. The event card says 3 to 5 p.m., and the description puts the Haunted Village at 4 to 6 p.m. If you're planning around the 3 p.m. end at Bryden Street, check the Downtown Pittston Partnership's page that week before you go.
What the Lot Turns Into Next
In his Sunday Dispatch column on the festival's last day, Tony Callaio reported that the lower lot "will go through a huge transformation" next year, which from an August 2026 column means 2027. He's seen renderings. The city and the festival plan to drop the portable bandshell for a permanent stage. It would go in the east corner near the Zarra Building, away from the west side by Main Street where the bandshell has stood.
The column describes real construction. The lot would be regraded, the sewer drainage changed, the center island taken out and the bank excavated so the stage can be built into it. A new 20-foot metal robot sculpture with a digital sign would stand next to the stage. According to Callaio, performers would be visible from Main Street, and the city would lose few parking spaces, maybe none.
The line that ties this to the fall calendar:
"The new stage will be used throughout the year for many functions and holidays."
Right now the Haunted Village, the holiday market and the market's weekly entertainment all fit into a parking lot laid out with a center island and no fixed stage. A permanent stage in the corner would give those events a fixed place to perform. At this point the plan comes from a columnist describing renderings. It isn't a finished project, so expect the details to change as the city moves forward.
Keep this separate from Market & Main, the downtown proposal people discuss more often. As of March 2026 that project was still a plan: a roughly $32 million theater project with about 50,000 square feet of commercial space, a park and a four-story garage with more than 300 spaces, wrapped in commercial and residential space. The local reporting puts it near Market and Main and the former Quinn's Supermarket site. None of the sources ties it to the Tomato Festival lots.
Eating Within a Block of the Lot
The lot doesn't have a food line outside festival week, but three businesses that opened in the last year are a short walk away.
| Business | Address | What it is | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Coqui Kitchen | 69 S. Main St. | American and Puerto Rican breakfast and lunch, plus coffee | December 2025 |
| Tea & More | 49 S. Main St., Suite 101 | Tearoom with 45 teas, sandwiches and soups, plus jewelry | March 2026 |
| Rotten Tomato Company | 22 S. Main St. | Takeout and delivery meal prep, no seating | August 2026 |
The Coqui Kitchen's address puts it right next to 71 S. Main, so it's the closest stop on a market Tuesday. Rotten Tomato Company fits a weeknight better than a festival day. Its single-serving entrees, salads, soups and desserts are for takeout or delivery within 12 miles. Co-owner and chef Michael Langdon told the Citizens' Voice that despite the name and the homemade pasta, the shop doesn't focus on Italian food. The menu changes about every 10 days.
The Other Side of Downtown Has Its Own Work Schedule
Two of October's biggest evening events are by the river at The Banks Waterfront, 304 Kennedy Blvd. The Shop with a Cop Gala and Auction is Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 10 p.m. The Jenkins Township fire department's 100th anniversary dinner is Friday, Oct. 23, also 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets cost $100 and are sold at the fire station.
Those nights land during scheduled utility work. A city advisory dated Sept. 3 says UGI's natural gas upgrades for the bridge project were set to begin in September 2026 on Kennedy Boulevard between Water and Dock streets and on Dock Street between Kennedy Boulevard and Wharf Street. Work runs mostly from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Expect lane restrictions, detours and delays, and you can't park on the affected streets while crews are working. Both dinners begin after crews usually finish, but daytime trips to the riverfront will run into the work.
That work is groundwork for a bigger job. PennDOT's Route 11 Section 350 project would replace the Fort Jenkins/Kridlo and Water Street bridges between Pittston and West Pittston and rebuild Kennedy Boulevard with new sidewalks, curbs and drainage. Riverfront Park and the North Branch Susquehanna Water Trail are inside the project area. PennDOT lists a proposed construction window from November 2026 through March 2031 on a page last updated in December 2025, so those dates are still proposals. If that schedule holds, the riverfront will be a work zone for years. The lot at 71 S. Main is set to change once, with a stage built for the events already held there.
If you own rental property within walking distance of 71 S. Main or along the Kennedy Boulevard work zone, the lot's events and the bridge schedule will affect parking, tenant questions and access over the next few years. Luxe Homes Real Estate manages rentals and advises investors across Greater Pittston, and we're following both projects block by block. Schedule an Investment or Property Consultation to talk through what they mean for your property.
