Weekend Spotlight is a round-up of the five best events to check out in Delaware over the coming weekend, curated by Arts + Culture Editor Cannon Taylor. This edition covers Oct. 23-25, 2026. What should be on our radar for future editions? Let us know!
Hilda’s Homecoming
Sea Witch Festival casts a spell on Rehoboth Beach
Friday, Oct. 23 through Sunday, Oct. 25. Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach. All day. General admission: Free. Some events ticketed.
Hilda the Sea Witch is currently riding her broom to Rehoboth Beach, where she — more specifically, a parade balloon of her wart-ridden, green head — will hover over costumed tourists and locals during her annual festival.
Despite being named after an 1840s ship that sailed the area, not an actual sorceress, the Sea Witch Festival nonetheless casts a Halloween spell on Rehoboth Beach.
Hilda brings with her a cauldron’s worth of activities: scarecrow and costume contests, mermaid meet and greets, trick or treating, zombie graveyard and haunted house tours, a broom-tossing contest and more. View the full schedule to plan out your weekend.
Cluck Kent
Geek out at Blue Hen Comic Con
Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25. Delaware State Fairgrounds. 18500 S. Dupont Highway, Harrington. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tickets: $15 Saturday, $13 Sunday, $21 weekend pass.
Represented by the mascot “Cluck Kent,” a buff, blue chicken in a biker’s leather vest, the Blue Hen Comic Con brings anime voice actors, comic book artists, Power Rangers and cosplayers to the Delaware State Fairgrounds this weekend.
While Blue Hen Comic Con’s guests certainly aren’t on the same caliber as a major con, true fans know that the true appeal of such an event is found elsewhere.
Dress up as your favorite characters a week before Halloween and browse fanart by artists who, like Vincent Van Gogh, are utterly unappreciated in their time. Best of all, strike up a conversation with a stranger about their cosplay and make friends through fandom.
Sleep-Deprived Zombies
Horror movie marathon lasts dusk until dawn
Friday, Oct. 23. Theatre N. 221 W. Tenth St., Wilmington. 8 p.m. Tickets: $25.
Fuel up on Monster Energy and dress up as a monster before the All-Nite Horrorthon, a movie marathon at Theatre N starting at 8 p.m. and, presumably, ending sometime around sunrise.
The five films being screened are a secret. You won’t know what you’re watching until you’re sitting in the theater, munching on popcorn, and the title card is revealed. It’s bound to be a horror junkie’s wildest dream and a novice’s worst nightmare.
The true horror of the event, however, won’t be onscreen. It’ll probably hit at 2 p.m. the following day, when you transform into a sleep-deprived zombie.
Painting in a Cake Factory
“300 Paintings” documents a comedian’s manic episode
Through Nov. 8. 200 Water St., Wilmington. Times vary. Tickets start at $39.
What do you get when a comedian quits his job, rents an abandoned cake factory and paints over 300 paintings over the course of six months? Apparently, a manic episode, as the comedian, Sam Kissajukian, realized after the fact.
Kissajukian has documented his 2021 experience in the cake factory through “300 Paintings,” an autobiographical play he performs himself.
The Australian comedian has landed in Delaware through Nov. 8 to perform the play for Delaware Theatre Company, sharing his story about living with bipolar disorder with humor and heart.
Half-Witted Hilarity
A ballet of quixotic misadventures
Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25. The Grand Opera House. 818 N. Market St., Wilmington. Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m. Tickets start at $30.
Character Don Quixote’s hare-brained schemes as a chivalrous knight have been so well-read over the past four centuries that his surname has inspired an adjective describing all things idealistic and impractical — “quixotic.”
From mistaking windmills for giants to ingesting a healing potion that actually gives him food poisoning, Quixote offers a 17th century equivalent to the half-witted hilarity of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
First State Ballet Theatre will depict one of the knight’s stupid side quests — his meddling in a wedding — through Spanish-inspired dance this weekend.