The City of Castle Pines is holding both of its big October events at the same small shopping center that houses the City offices, across the street from the library. In September, that center got back the large restaurant space it had been missing for two years. So for the rest of this fall, most of what's happening in Castle Pines happens within walking distance of 7437 Village Square Drive.

That has a practical side for anyone in Castle Pines Village. You can see the whole fall calendar on one parking lot. Getting to that parking lot, though, means driving roads with active or upcoming work on them. Here is the calendar, the new restaurant, and the route.

Two Nights and a Morning on the Same Square

The City has scheduled back-to-back days at Village Square for the fourth weekend of October, plus one weekday morning in November somewhere else.

The Friday ticket covers a BBQ meal, drinks for guests 21 and over, s'mores supplies, a spot at the fire pits, and live music from Darling Revival. Tickets are sold through the City's recreation programs page. The City says capacity is limited and all sales are final. The September drive-in movie at the future Soaring Hawk Park site filled up and closed registration, so the City's ticketed events do sell out.

The bonfire's history shows the City moving toward Village Square. In December 2024 the City called it the "second annual" event and held it at The Ridge Golf Course. In 2025 it moved to October and to Village Square, and it stays there this year. Its new date also puts it the night before the Fall Festival, on the same pavement.

The Saturday Festival Starts With Errands at the City Offices

The Fall Festival lists Trick-or-Treat Street, a farmers market, a petting zoo, the annual Castle Pines Pumpkin Race at 1 p.m., and a new chili cookoff this year. For racing families, the City offices are part of the event too. Pumpkin race kits cost $25 from the City and are picked up at the City offices at 7437 Village Square Drive, Suite #200. That's the same street address the City lists for the Village Square Shopping Area, where the race runs the next day.

If you plan to compete, these are the deadlines:

1. Thursday, Oct. 22, 5 p.m. is the last chance to buy a pumpkin race kit and the registration deadline for the chili cookoff.
2. Friday, Oct. 23, by noon, kits must be picked up from Suite #200. The office closes for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. every day, so arrive in the morning.
3. Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m., cookoff chili must be hot and ready to serve. The City asks for about 2 gallons per entry, which is two full crockpots.
4. Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m., the pumpkin race starts. Your pumpkin should arrive already built as a race car.

Cookoff entries cost $20 per participant. The chili can be red, green or white, and each entry needs a creative name to display at its tasting station. You can also register for the pumpkin race without buying a City kit and bring your own build, as long as it meets the posted rules.

The Room That Sat Dark for Two Years

Before September, a weekend like this at Village Square had a gap. 361 Village Square Lane, the restaurant space across from the Castle Pines library, opened as La Dolce Vita in 2003. Local resident Joe Sabia bought it in 2017 and renamed it Pino's Italian Kitchen & Bar. It changed hands again in 2023 and closed at the end of September 2024. During the two years it sat empty, Duke's Steakhouse, Pho 5 and Alta Empanada were the center's restaurants, as DougCo Social put it in its opening coverage.

Castello Italiano soft-opened there on Monday, Aug. 31, and opened for good on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The restaurant's announcement was short:

"Castle Pines, the wait is over!"

The owners are the family behind Farro Italian Restaurant in Centennial, and Castello is their first expansion. DougCo Social met co-owners Petrit and Erion. Petrit plans to be at the restaurant every day, and the plan is to grow slowly. The renovation took about a year, and the dining room seats 157. The name has no hidden meaning: castello is Italian for castle.

The opening menu has the expected dishes, like chicken piccata, spaghetti and meatballs, and lasagna, plus some that are harder to find nearby. Highlights include bison short rib ravioli in vodka cream for $27, wild boar ragu over pappardelle for $27, a white bolognese, cioppino for $33 and a 16-ounce Black Angus ribeye for $55. Fresh or gluten-free fresh pasta is a $5 upgrade.

What matters for the weekend is when it's open. Castello serves dinner only, 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, and it's closed Mondays. No lunch or happy hour is planned for now. Walk-ins are welcome and reservations are recommended. Online ordering is pickup only, for scheduled orders. Those hours fit the fall calendar well. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. on the Friday of the bonfire and is open again Saturday evening after the festival wraps up at 2. DougCo Social also mentions that parking out front can be tight, which will be truer on an event weekend.

Here's how the blocks line up this fall: the City offices at 7437 Village Square Drive, Suite #200, the Douglas County Libraries Castle Pines branch at 360 Village Square Lane, and Castello across from it at 361. That's the civic office, the library, the event grounds and the largest dinner room in the center, all on one short walk.

Getting There From Inside the Gates

Getting to Village Square is the harder part this month. The Village at Castle Pines HOA describes the community as located off I-25 and Highway 85 at Happy Canyon Road. On the HOA's full community map, Gate 1 sits at the Happy Canyon Road edge. Both of the main roads that matter here have work scheduled this fall.

Castle Pines Parkway. Reconstruction began June 1. The City reopened the westbound stretch from Monarch Boulevard to Deer Clover Drive on Aug. 11, timed to the school year. In July, Council approved replacing the damaged concrete between Forest Park Drive and the Buffalo Trail roundabout with asphalt in both directions. Here is the sequence from the City's Oct. 1 update:

1. Waterline testing starts the week of Oct. 5.
2. Once the waterline is tested and tied in, crews pave westbound Castle Pines Parkway from Deer Clover to just east of the Buffalo Trail roundabout.
3. After westbound paving is finished, crews pave the eastbound lanes from Buffalo Trail to Forest Park Drive.

Within the work zone, traffic in both directions shares the eastbound lanes. The City still lists completion as fall 2026. Each step depends on the one before it, though, so the week of Oct. 23 could fall during either paving phase. The project page is the place to check before event weekend.

The I-25 and Happy Canyon Road interchange. This is the larger and longer project. The City, Douglas County and CDOT chose Kraemer North America to replace the existing bridge, add a second bridge to the north, and rebuild the on- and off-ramps and signals. A diverging diamond design is the preferred option. The City's project page, last updated in July, gives an anticipated start of "early fall 2026" and completion in mid-2028. As of Oct. 4, no start notice or dated closure had been posted. Treat it as coming soon, not underway. The published plan for the first phase keeps Happy Canyon Road traffic on the existing bridge while I-25 lanes narrow and shift. It also calls for intermittent closures of the northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp, and nighttime I-25 closures for girder installation. The City sends updates through its community newsletter.

Douglas County has one finished project nearby. The new signal at Crowfoot Valley Road and Macanta Boulevard was completed Sept. 2, with pedestrian buttons, vehicle detection, new signs and new striping.

The November Date Points Toward The Canyons

The one fall event away from Village Square is the City's Comprehensive Plan pop-up on Nov. 10 at The Exchange Coffee House. It's a drop-in session for input on growth, transportation, parks and other long-range priorities. The Exchange is at 1415 Westbridge Drive in The Canyons, not at Village Square.

The Canyons comes up throughout the City's own project list. The visible construction at Canyonside Boulevard and Canyon Forge Drive is The Peaks at Canyons, a 70-townhome project. The Happy Canyon interchange plan also includes a connection from the interchange into The Canyons via Canyonside Boulevard. The Canyons developer will build it, and it's expected to open after the interchange work is done. Closer to the Parkway, Phase 1 at Coyote Ridge Park started Sept. 8 and is expected to run through spring 2027. Crews are currently on the baseball field and outfield retaining wall. As of the City's July 16 update, 7 Brew Coffee was under construction next to Wendy's on Castle Pines Parkway, with no opening date announced.

The Nov. 10 session is where the City is collecting input on how growth like this should take shape. Until then, the fall calendar stays at Village Square: bonfire tickets for Friday, Oct. 23, race kits from Suite #200 before noon that day, and a Saturday with the pumpkin race at 1 p.m.

If you're thinking about how the road work and new growth around Castle Pines might affect your home's value or your plans over the next few years, Anne Dresser Kocur is glad to go over it with you, with the same local detail. Book an Appointment whenever it suits your calendar.

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