Whoa. I almost fell off my seat. The route of the Park Slope Halloween Parade, a Park Slope tradition for decades, has changed! Yes, you heard me. I nearly did a spit take with the Diet Coke I was drinking. This is, er, big news.
I can see why they did it. Now that there's a huge filed behind the Old Stone House, the nabe has a great football field sized gathering place for a large crowd.
In the past, the parade just sort of peetered out when it reached Lincoln Place on Seventh Avenue. Now the revelry can continue until 9 p.m.
Also, I like the way the parade will now have a Fifth Avenue component. That's cool, too. So I'm okay with this big change. It won't be easy for everyone to adjust. But I'm okay. So here are the 'tails from the Park Slope Civic Council, one of the organizers of the parade.
THE PARADE ROUTE HAS CHANGED! The main event—the Annual Park Slope Civic Council Children’s Halloween Parade—kicks off at 6:30 pm. The parade route will begin at the corner of 7th Avenue and 14th Street, continue north on 7th Avenue, turn left on 3rd Street, cross 5th Avenue and end at the Old Stone House on the Washington Park field where the revelry will continue until 9 pm.
In addition to that big change, there's more Halloween innovation to know about. On Halloween, the festivities begin with the very first Friends of Washington Park “Howl-a-Ween” Pet Parade from 12pm – 3pm.
At 4pm the Park Slope Civic Council Halloween Costume Contest will take place in front of the Secondary School for Law, Journalism, and Research (formerlyJohn Jay High School). “It’s amazing how creative and clever people can be,”says Melinda Morris, owner of Lion in the Sun and one of this year’s judges. After the contest there will be a musical performance of Ethan’s Motley Rockin’ Show.
Even before October 31, there's stuff to do:
The kick-off to the Halloween festivities, the Annual Harvest Festival, will take place on Sunday, October 18, at the Old Stone House in Washington Park from 11am to 3:00pm.
• Mr. Ray, last year's popular musical act, will perform at 11:30am
• Jon Samson and Co-Creative Music will perform at 1:30pm
• A puppet performance of "Witch Bungle" featuring puppeteer Theresa Linnihan will take place at 3:00pm. Theresa says, “We’re excited to work with the local schools as part of their afterschool curriculum and bring the fantasy that these puppets create to this parade."
• A professional costume designer will be on hand to help create costumes that fit with the parade theme, "Spooky Seas."
A Halloween Haunted House Tour will take place from October 27th-October 31st. Please visit parkslopeciviccouncil.org for more information.