Local Events · Town of Babylon, NY · October 12–16, 2026

Land Ho, Babylon! The Captain’s Log for Columbus Day Week

106 Events Around the Town of Babylon, NY ~ October 12–16, 2026

Herein is set down the true and faithful log of a week’s voyage through the Town of Babylon. Upon this Monday, five hundred and four-and-thirty years past, being the twelfth day of October in the year 1492, three small ships out of Spain did come upon an island of the Bahamas, and the world upon both shores of the Ocean Sea was changed. Our own voyage this week is a gentler one: potions at Lindenhurst, a Practical Magic matinee at Deer Park, every step of “Thriller” at Copiague, and upon Thursday a free counsel that may matter more than all the rest.

Of the weather for the passage: fair winds and sun from Tuesday unto Thursday, the warmest upon Wednesday at five-and-seventy degrees. Upon Friday showers be likely, so keep below decks with a film.

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE
106 events
Columbus Day through Friday, across the Town of Babylon
2 Monday  ·  29 Tuesday  ·  24 Wednesday  ·  30 Thursday  ·  21 Friday

🧭 Did You Know? Seven Things About 1492

Most of what we learned of the voyage in our schooling was the short telling. Herewith, some of what was left out of it. (The facts themselves are set down plainly.)

DID YOU KNOW? · 1
The man who saw land first didn’t get the reward. Rodrigo de Triana, a lookout on the Pinta, sighted land around 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella had promised a lifetime pension of 10,000 maravedís a year to whoever saw land first. Columbus said he had seen a light hours earlier, and claimed the pension himself.
DID YOU KNOW? · 2
The Niña probably wasn’t called the Niña. Her registered name was most likely the Santa Clara. “Niña” seems to have been a nickname, a pun on her owner, Juan Niño of Moguer. Nobody knows the Pinta’s real name at all.
DID YOU KNOW? · 3
The flagship never sailed home. The Santa María ran aground off present-day Haiti at Christmas 1492. Her timbers were used, with the help of the Taíno, to build a fort called La Navidad, Spanish for Christmas, and 39 men were left behind there.
DID YOU KNOW? · 4
There were two sets of numbers in the log. On the westward crossing Columbus recorded two sets of distances. According to Bartolomé de las Casas, the smaller figures were meant to keep a nervous crew from realizing how far from Spain they were. Historians still argue over this, and some think the “false” figures were actually the more accurate ones.
DID YOU KNOW? · 5
You probably used a Taíno word this year. The Taíno people who met Columbus’s ships gave English canoe (from canoa) and hammock (from hamaca), by way of Spanish.
DID YOU KNOW? · 6
The famous date isn’t on our calendar. October 12, 1492 was a date on the old Julian calendar. Converted to the Gregorian calendar we use today, the landfall fell on October 21.
DID YOU KNOW? · 7
He went home in chains. In 1500 a royal investigator, Francisco de Bobadilla, arrested Columbus, then governor of Hispaniola, and sent him back to Spain in irons. The monarchs freed him within weeks, but he never got the governorship back.
Sources: the log as transcribed by Bartolomé de las Casas, and the standard histories of the voyages. Where historians still disagree, we say so.

Poisons & Potions

Tuesday, October 13 · Lindenhurst Memorial Library · Free

Every ship hath need of a surgeon who knoweth which bottle is which. Lindenhurst Memorial Library teacheth the lesson, and it is all that its name promiseth. 🔗 See the full listing →

Learn the Thriller Dance

Wednesday, October 14 · Copiague Memorial Public Library · Free

The crew learneth a new dance in a single evening. Copiague teacheth the whole of “Thriller,” with All Hallows’ Eve yet a fortnight off. Wear shoes fit for dancing. 🔗 See the full listing →

Movie Matinee: Practical Magic

Thursday, October 15 · Deer Park Public Library · Free

Deer Park Public Library showeth the witches’ tale of 1998 in the afternoon. No sea voyage required. 🔗 See the full listing →

Monday, October 12 — Columbus Day 2 events · 71°, clearing after a damp start

Monday, the twelfth day of October. Five hundred and four-and-thirty years this very day since the lookout upon the Pinta cried out that land was sighted. Showers at first light, clearing ere mid-morning. But two landfalls are marked upon the chart this holiday, and both be worth the putting ashore: the North Babylon & West Babylon Chamber of Commerce 5K setteth forth from the North Babylon pool house, and the Famous Food Festival keepeth its final day at Tanger. This day is known by several names: Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and in New York, Italian Heritage Day.

📅 See all events for Monday here.

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Tuesday, October 13 29 events · 70°, mostly sunny

Tuesday, the thirteenth. Fair winds, and the sun full upon us. The libraries are turned alchemists. At Lindenhurst, a lesson in Poisons & Potions; the young hands of Deer Park fashion a Halloween Shadow Box; and West Babylon spinneth Crystal Cobweb Creations. For the officers of the ship, Babylon Public Library serveth Plots & Pastries, the Lindenhurst Garden Club mixeth Herbal Mocktails, and West Babylon beginneth Before He Was the King: Elvis’ Early Years. By night Cory Branan holdeth the deck at Amityville Music Hall.

📅 See all events for Tuesday here.

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Wednesday, October 14 24 events · 75°, mostly sunny

Wednesday, the fourteenth. The warmest day of all the passage, five-and-seventy degrees and clear. The crew turneth to handiwork: a Paint Night: Harvest Pumpkin at Babylon; at Copiague, instruction to dance the whole of Thriller and another to paint Frida Kahlo; and at Wyandanch a God’s Eye / Ojo de Dios, in the last days of Hispanic Heritage Month. Lindenhurst putteth the question, How Well Do You Know Long Island?; the young adults of North Babylon do craft wands; and the Lindenhurst Chamber sitteth for its elections. At the evening watch, On Your Feet! playeth the Argyle.

📅 See all events for Wednesday here.

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Thursday, October 15 30 events · 65°, mostly sunny

Thursday, the fifteenth. Cooler, five-and-sixty degrees, the sky yet clear. The busiest day of the voyage, and one hour of it weigheth more than all the rest: Breast Cancer Awareness at Copiague Memorial Public Library, given freely, with health educators of the Stony Brook Cancer Center. Round about it, Deer Park showeth Practical Magic; North Babylon, the Science of Magic and a Ceramic Ghost Stack; Lindenhurst raiseth an Edible Haunted Tower and painteth calaveras; West Babylon maketh Boo-tiful Flower Arrangements and endeth its tale of Elvis; and Copiague giveth counsel on Lithium-ion Battery Fire Safety. Hispanic Heritage Month endeth this day.

📅 See all events for Thursday here.

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Friday, October 16 21 events · 68°, showers likely

Friday, the sixteenth. The weather turneth; showers be likely. A fit day to keep below decks, and it is likewise National Mammography Day. Babylon Public Library showeth Project Hail Mary, and Lindenhurst, North Babylon and West Babylon each a Friday film. Should the morning hold fair, the Belmont Lake State Park Tour walketh the shore. At the evening watch, The Byrne Unit playeth Lily Flanagan’s, AJJ bringeth the Dirty Old Power Tour to Amityville Music Hall, and On Your Feet! playeth the Argyle.

📅 See all events for Friday here.

🍂 This Week in October

No costume for this part. Several of October’s observances fall this week.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Tuesday, October 13 is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and Friday, October 16 is National Mammography Day. If you have been putting off a screening, this is the week it is asking about. On Thursday, Breast Cancer Awareness at Copiague Memorial Public Library brings Stony Brook Cancer Center health educators to talk about risk factors, early detection and prevention. It’s free. The Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition’s Vision of Hope Garden is still standing at Town Hall Park in Lindenhurst through October 31. Further out, the Trunk or Treat and Breast Cancer Walk is October 25 in Amityville, and the pink tote bag program is October 29 in Wyandanch.
Columbus Day on Monday is also observed as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and, in New York, Italian Heritage Day. Hispanic Heritage Month ends on Thursday, October 15. Wyandanch’s God’s Eye / Ojo de Dios craft on Wednesday falls in its last days. And Copiague’s Lithium-ion Battery Fire Safety talk on Thursday is worth an hour for anyone with e-bikes or scooters in the house.

The rest of the month’s observances are in the October guide.

🧭 Browse the Week by Category

Every tile opens that category’s own live calendar on ilovebabylon.com.

By community
The complete October 2026 guide — every parade, festival and trunk-or-treat through Halloween night.
The full live calendar — everything on the books.
This week and this weekend — the short views.
Babylon Local — the business directory.
Add your event — it’s free.
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See you around town,
Ryan Williams
I Love Babylon Events | Babylon Local Directory
I Love Babylon, NY