The Wayland Festival parade begins at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, in a Town Center laid out like this. Music plays on a stage off Elissa Avenue, vendors and food line Andrew Avenue, and Touch A Truck and a bounce house fill the Ace Hardware parking lot. Elissa Avenue and the vacant storefronts along Andrew Avenue also appear in plans the Town Center's owners announced this week. On Saturday, the streets that carry the festival are the same ones the owners are proposing to change.
The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 4, and organizers suggest bringing lawn chairs or blankets.
Saturday, in the order it happens
- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Touch a Truck, face painting, bubbles, balloon twisting, inflatables and the roaming railroad.
- 10:30 a.m. The parade begins.
- 11 a.m. The opening ceremony and performances start. The scheduled acts include the Wayland High School Honors Ensemble, the Dwayne Haggins Band and the Kathleen Parks Band.
- Through 5 p.m. Local artists and vendors, plus food from area restaurants, stores and trucks.
Arts Wayland also opens its gallery at 35 Andrew Ave for Art in Bloom on Oct. 3 and 4, a collaboration with the Wayland Garden Club. Five floral arrangements sit beside the artworks that inspired them, all drawn from the current member exhibit. Six Garden Club members chose the pieces, including Alexandra MacKenzie, Michelle Long, Ruth Levin, Elisa Scola, Kate Jenney and Jean Milburn. The artworks are photographs, paintings and fiber art. Check the Arts Wayland site for gallery hours before you go.
This is only the second edition of the combined festival. The first was Oct. 4, 2025, when the Multicultural Festival, Arts Wayland, Touch-A-Truck and individual performances were folded into a single day. A student press account put attendance at more than 5,000. Committee member Fran Pollitt told The Wayland Post that last year "people were surprised as they walked around that they saw their neighbors."
The two streets in the plan
The owners of Wayland Town Center bought the property last November. The plans they submitted to the Planning Board this summer call for upgraded gateway signs, a pedestrian-focused Elissa Avenue, new uses for undeveloped areas and a stronger connection to the Rail Trail. According to Patch, they hope to secure approvals soon and introduce the improvements in 2027.
Other concepts are under consideration, including an ice rink developed with the Eliza J. Norton Foundation, an enclosed off-leash dog park and recreation areas for local sports teams and clubs. These are proposals, and none has been approved.
The Town Center has also expanded its public programming through a partnership with Arts Wayland.
What's open for a sit-down meal, and what isn't yet
A parade and a marketplace draw a crowd, and a meal afterward keeps it there. On Oct. 3 the choices are spread across the town, and the newest ones are still weeks or months from opening.
| Place | Where | Status as of Sept. 29, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Takara Japanese Restaurant | 21 Andrew Ave | Reopened in April 2026 after moving from Elissa Avenue |
| Terrain Cafe | 297 Boston Post Road | Opened Aug. 26, 2026 |
| Town House Cafe & Bistro | 21 Cochituate Road | Targeting late November to early December |
| Revival Kitchen & Cafe, with The Guild for Human Services | 43 Andrew Ave | Lease signed, no opening date announced |
| New City Microcreamery | Former Takara space, Elissa Avenue | Announced, no opening date |
Takara sits on the festival's own avenue. It moved into the space that held a Panera Bread and later Wayland Bagel Table, which opened in 2021 and closed in June 2025. Owner Jacky Zheng opened Takara in 2007 with a few tables and a sushi bar. Check its hours before you plan around it.
Terrain is the biggest new arrival and it is on Route 20, just west of the center, in the former Whole Foods plaza at Wayland Village. It is the brand's first Massachusetts location and combines a home and garden store, an all-season nursery, a café, an event venue and design services. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The café serves until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and until 9 p.m. on Sunday. Friday and Saturday service starts at 9 a.m., so a Saturday festival day has a dinner option that runs after the 5 p.m. wrap. Confirm hours on the Terrain Wayland page before you drive over.
Town House Cafe & Bistro is the one to watch. Founder Kirstyn Lipson is a Wayland resident, and her building at 21 Cochituate Road was Wayland's first town hall in 1841 and later the site of the first free public library in Massachusetts. She told What Now Boston that she is aiming for a late November to early December opening. The planned hours are Tuesday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Weekends bring brunch, afternoon tea and dinner, and the cafe is pursuing a beer, wine and liquor license. Earlier reports pointed to a summer opening, so treat late fall as a target and not a promise.
The Guild's café at 43 Andrew Ave fills an address that has been vacant for more than a decade. It will serve scratch-made food and coffee, and it will employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities supported by The Guild. New City Microcreamery, which also has a Hudson location, will move into the space Takara left on Elissa Avenue, the same street the festival stage occupies, and expand its menu.
The Rail Trail connects the pieces
Look at where those pieces sit. The Wayland Depot is at One Cochituate Road. The 1881 train station has housed a charitable consignment craft shop since 1980 and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Town House is at 21 Cochituate Road. The Depot is also the starting point for the Mass Central Rail Trail's Wayland to Weston route, which runs 4.7 miles to Jones Road in Waltham. It is mostly paved, open and unshaded under the power lines, and leashed dogs are welcome. Parking is at the Depot lot and at the Wayland Free Public Library, 5 Concord Road.
Lipson told What Now Boston she expects weekday traffic at Town House to include grab-and-go visitors drawn by the Rail Trail. The Town Center plans list a stronger Rail Trail connection among their goals. The state is also working on the next stretch west, a 1.9-mile segment from Route 126 to the Sudbury Substation. According to Mass.gov, DCR has designed it, design and permitting are expected to finish in 2026, and MassDOT will fund and construct it.
The other fixed date in the week is Wednesday, Oct. 7. That is the last day of the Wayland Summer Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center, 397 Boston Post Road. It runs from noon to 4 p.m. in the shaded upper west parking lot, and well-behaved leashed pets are welcome. The vendor lineup changes weekly, so sign up for Russell's newsletter to see who is coming.
What to watch after Saturday
Three dates decide how much of this becomes part of an ordinary week. The first is whether the Planning Board approves the Town Center's plans and when the owners set a construction schedule. The second is when the Guild café at 43 Andrew Ave and New City Microcreamery announce openings. The third is whether Town House hits its late November target. Town House posts sneak peeks and opening updates on Instagram at @townhousecafebistro.
Rutledge Properties works from Wellesley across MetroWest and pays attention to how a town center changes from block to block. If you have questions about what Wayland's Town Center plans could mean for a home you own or are considering, Work With Us.
