October 18 – SUPERIOR – The city has been showing off its Halloween spirit for ten years. This year, the Spooktacular Parade and Nightmare 5K will move to the University District and will be joined by a new carnival in Hammond Park.
Hammond Park will serve as the hub for the activities on Saturday, October 26. The parade route ends there, the 5K course takes runners through the park and a “tunnel of terrors” is set up in the park by volunteers. .
The festivities also include a pub crawl with art and music and a map of local homes decked out in Halloween decor.
“It’s really fun now to hear people talk about Superior and the Halloween spirit and things like that, and how a small initiative has turned into a really big deal for the city of Superior and the recognition it’s gotten for its Halloween atmosphere,” said Carolyn Nelson-Kavajecz, chair of the board of directors of Superior Activities, the umbrella nonprofit organization involved in the Spooktacular activities.
The
Halloween extravaganza started in 2015
When the Superior Business Improvement District Marketing and Events Committee wanted to host an event downtown following the Tower Avenue reconstruction project, Nelson-Kavajecz said. Instead of competing with summer events or local Christmas parades, they opted for Halloween.
The celebration of all things spooky has grown organically as partners have joined. Grandma’s Marathon hosts the Superior Nightmare 5K race. Goin’ Postal and the Bluebird Foundation organize the music festival and pub crawl. Sterling Silver Studio and the City of Superior are responsible for the parade and Haunt Your House events.
“Every year everything gets a little bigger and more people are involved,” said Nelson-Kavajecz, owner of Sterling Silver Studio.
The newest entrant is Halloween in Hammond Park, a festival organized by volunteers Deanna Ellis and Ashley Lane. They offer a variety of activities including pumpkin tic-tac-toe, pumpkin bowling, trick-or-treating tables, live music, a photo booth, a pet costume contest, a tarot reader and more from noon to 4 p.m.
“We have activities for kids. We try to make it inclusive for all ages because I want teens to feel like they’re involved too,” Ellis said, calling it “a little bit of everything.” for everyone.”
In recent years, a fair has taken place at the Salvation Army. Although Ellis and her family attended the Spooktacular Parade, they were unaware of the carnival or the 5K until they started hosting Halloween in Hammond Park. It’s an opportunity for them to bring their neighborhood together.
“I used to live in the East End, so I got excited about the East End Days and the Fire Muster, as we would call it. And I just think about those emotions and memories that I had and I want to create those memories for my children and their friends in our community,” Ellis said.
She said they would like to host additional events in the park over Easter, Christmas and the 4th of July and raise money to upgrade Hammond Park.
“I think this park is the heart of the city. It’s literally in the center of the entire city, so when people drive off the bridge, no matter where they’re coming from, if they’re going towards Hammond, this is the first park that they’re going to see,” Ellis said, and she wants it to give a superior impression.
The decision to move the Halloween events from Superior’s North End neighborhood to the University District was fueled by the parade’s success, Nelson-Kavajecz said.
“Doing the parade on Ogden Avenue has always worked really well for us, but we’re running out of space there, so moving the parade to a more central location gave us more room for the lineup, more room for the parade,” she says. said.
There are also houses along the route, many of which are decked out for Halloween, adding an extra dimension to the event.
The
Superior Nightmare 5K
starts at 11am. The course starts and ends near Wessman Arena on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus. A children’s race will follow at 12.30 pm. Runners are invited to dress up and prizes will be awarded in various costume categories. Registration is online until October 24.
The
Spooktacular parade
starts at 2 p.m. The line-up is at 1pm on Cumming Avenue next to Northern Lights School. The parade route takes floats to North 28th Street, heads north on Hammond Avenue, follows the road construction detour to Cumming Avenue and ends at Hammond Park.
Online registration
is open until the day of the parade.
Halloween in Hammond Park
is from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. The organizers are collecting new and gently used costumes for all ages, which will be available for free during the event.
“We are both mothers and we want to make sure every child feels included,” says Ellis.
They are also looking for sponsors for the games and volunteers for the event. To donate costumes or help, please email
halloweenathammondpark@yahoo.com
or send a message via the
Halloween in Hammond Park Facebook page
. A link to the pet costume contest can also be found on the Facebook page.
Ellis and Lane are also holding a logo contest and are looking for additional food trucks to set up during the event.
The Poltergeist Pub Crawl and Music Festival starts at 5:00 PM and includes 12 Superior taverns. Visit the
Goin Postal Fall Music Festival Facebook Page
for more information.
Haunt Your House tickets will be available on October 23rd
Superior Spooktacular Facebook Page.
This year there are 43 participants in the non-competitive event.
“We’re really just focused on touring homes, which means we want this to be for everyone,” Nelson-Kavajecz said. “This is really about providing something for kids and families to do and to drive around the city of Superior and look at all the decorations… all the creativity.”
