Belmont's week has a soundtrack. The Belmont 4, an a cappella doo-wop group, stroll the Arthur Avenue area on Friday and Saturday evenings, and those two nights are the last of their 2026 season. Next door, the Bronx Zoo is running Boo at the Zoo and has just put American chestnut trees back in the ground for the first time in more than a century. Here is what is on.

The Belmont 4, final weekend

The group sings while walking the blocks around Arthur Avenue from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24. Their season began May 2. The performances are presented by the Belmont Business Improvement District, whose office is at 2396 Arthur Avenue (718-294-8259). There is no ticket: find them on the street.

Boo at the Zoo

The Bronx Zoo's Halloween program runs on weekends through Nov. 1, so Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, are both on. It is included with zoo admission and free for members, and advance reservations are required. New this year is a hay-bale maze and challenge trail, open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The weekend also has costume parades at Astor Court, a candy trail on Rhino Trail from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. stocked with palm-oil-free candy, pumpkin carving demonstrations and face painting. Children ages 3 to 12 who arrive in costume get half off a child ticket with the code COSTUME.

Chestnut trees return to the zoo

On Oct. 5, the zoo planted 20 hybrid American chestnut saplings, each two to three feet tall, along the east bank of the Bronx River inside the park and on the path just north of Tiger Mountain. They are the first chestnuts planted at the zoo since a blight wiped the species out of eastern forests. That blight has a Bronx connection: Hermann Merkel, the zoo's chief forester, was the first to document it, in 1904. It went on to kill nearly four billion trees.

The planting was done with New York Restoration Project and The American Chestnut Foundation, and it is part of NYRP's 1,000 Chestnut Challenge, which began in 2025. Visitors walking the Bronx River path can look for the young trees.

At the Belmont Library

The Belmont Library and Enrico Fermi Cultural Center at 610 East 186th Street has three programs worth marking. LEGO Creations for kids is Monday, Oct. 19, at 3 p.m. AI in Real Life, a session for adults, runs Thursday, Oct. 22, from noon to 2 p.m. and is ticketed. STEAM Build and Play for kids is Saturday, Oct. 24, from 1 to 3 p.m. Library programs are free.

Plan the evening

A Saturday that starts at Boo at the Zoo can end on Arthur Avenue in time for The Belmont 4 at 6:30 p.m. The zoo's main entrances are on Southern Boulevard and Fordham Road.

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