People of all ages to are welcome at the downtown BIA's annual Halloween Spooktacular, featuring a hay maze, spinning pumpkin ride and photo booth
The Hamilton Business Improvement Area's Halloween Spooktacular will be on Oct. 27 from 5-8 p.m. in Gore Park. This is a free annual event hosted by Hamilton BIA, and this will be their fifth year running the event. There will be a variety of fun activities to get everyone into the Halloween spirit. People of all ages are welcome to attend, and costumes are encouraged.
This year, they are featuring a hay maze for attendees to navigate, a spinning pumpkin ride, face painting, an interactive pirate ship, a photo booth, a prize wheel, pumpkin decorating and a DJ dance party. Aerialists and a magician will also be roaming the park throughout the event.
The BIA started this event in 2019 because they wanted to foster community and create a space for gathering in downtown Hamilton. Every year, they try to add something new and exciting. This year, they added an interactive pirate ship and a spinning pumpkin ride.
Making it a financially accessible event for the community was very important to them, as Halloween can be an expensive event for some. They wanted everyone to be able to attend and have a good time.
“Halloween is very expensive with costumes and candy … You can come down, there's no barriers to entry. You don't have to purchase anything, just come down and have a good time,” said Emily Gilruth, the operations manager at Hamilton BIA.
Halloween is very expensive with costumes and candy. . .You can come down, there's no barriers to entry. You don't have to purchase anything, just come down and have a good time
Emily Gilruth, operations manager, Hamilton BIA
This is also a great opportunity for students to take a break during midterm season, explore downtown and have a fun time.
Overall, the BIA team hopes that every attendee will have a spooktacular time at this event and leave with a good impression of the downtown core, as they want to advocate for more people to visit there.
“I hope that they kind of leave with some fond memories, some candy, which is always nice on Halloween. But I also hope people have a positive experience of the downtown core and a desire to come back,” said Gilruth.
I hope that they kind of leave with some fond memories, some candy, which is always nice on Halloween. But I also hope people have a positive experience of the downtown core and a desire to come back.
Emily Gilruth, operations manager, Hamilton BIA
In the future, the Hamilton BIA aims to continue running this event and gradually ramp it up with more fun activities each year.
In the future, the Hamilton BIA aims to continue running this event and gradually ramp it up with more fun activities each year.
Hamilton BIA encourages people of all ages to have a fun and spooky time at their annual Halloween Spooktacular
The Hamilton Business Improvement Area Halloween Spooktacular will be on Friday, Oct. 28 from 5 to 8 p.m. in downtown Hamilton at Gore Park. This is an annual event hosted by Hamilton BIA. It is free and family-friendly with a variety of fun activities to get everyone in the Halloween spirit.
They started running the Halloween Spooktacular in 2017 and continued until 2019. After taking a two-year break in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are excited to bring it back this year.
In 2020 and 2021 they had a scavenger hunt instead to promote community spirit, despite the non-ideal circumstances. They had clues with ghost signs hidden around downtown Hamilton and they all had a letter on them. Once players were able to unscramble the letters, they received a prize.
The Halloween Spooktacular is important to the community as it is an entirely free family-friendly event that gives everyone the chance to visit and have a great experience in downtown Hamilton.
This year, Hamilton BIA is featuring a hay maze for attendees to navigate; a fun house, which you can enter an unlimited number of times and a prize wheel, where you can win candy. In addition, there will also be face painting, a photo booth, pumpkin decorating, a DJ dance party and stilt-walking characters roaming around the park.
The BIA team always enjoys seeing everyone show up in a variety of costumes to this event.
“My favourite part of Halloween is honestly the creativity of the costumes that you see. We encourage costumes—they're not mandatory at all, but it's just so great seeing [people of all] ages dress up in their favourite things,” said Emily Walsh, the community engagement coordinator of Hamilton BIA.
My favourite part of Halloween is honestly the creativity of the costumes that you see. We encourage costumes—they're not mandatory at all, but it's just so great seeing [people of all] ages dress up in their favourite things.
Emily Walsh, community engagement coordinator, Hamilton BIA
This year, the BIA team mixed up their events compared to previous years. Instead of cookie decorating, they will have a pumpkin decorating station using paint or stickers to accommodate all ages. This event has had a lot of success in the past and many people come out to attend and have a great time.
“I hope someone will walk away with a good amount of candy in their little street bag, and a good idea that downtown Hamilton is a fun, safe and inviting place to be,” explained Walsh.
In the future, the Hamilton BIA aims to continue running Halloween Spooktacular and gradually ramp it up with more fun activities.