From the 2016 Halloween Parade (via Town Square)
Oct. 23, 2018 By Laura Hanrahan
The Children’s Halloween Parade and Spooktacular Party is returning to Greenpoint for the 15th year in a row in this Sunday.
Hundreds of costumed parade-goers are expected to march through neighborhood streets during the afternoon of Oct. 28, wrapping up with a party and a zombie nerf war at the Polish Slavic Center, located at 176 Java St.
The parade will kick off in front of the Polish Slavic Center, between Manhattan Ave. and McGuinness Boulevard, at around 12:30 p.m. The route will take attendees one block over to Manhattan Avenue and down a few blocks to Norman Avenue before heading back up to the Center.
The party at the site, suited for children under 10 years of age, will feature arts and craft, games, contests, music, movies, a bouncy house and more.
Once the party finishes at 3 p.m., the space will transform into a post-apocalyptic setting for the zombie nerf war. The event will go from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and all equipment and gear will be provided. Organizers recommend that children 6 years and older participate in the nerf war.
Participation in the parade is free, and marches can join in at any point along the route. Tickets for the party and nerf war are $15.00 each if bought online, and $20.00 the day of the event at the door. A combined party and nerf war ticket can be bought online for $25.00. Children of all ages must have a ticket.
The event is put on by Town Square, a volunteer-based non-profit in Greenpoint. The Halloween party, the group’s first-ever program, was started in 2004 after Executive Director Susan Anderson realized there were no children’s Halloween events in the area.
“It was our experiment to see whether or not the community could use events like this,” Anderson said. “That night, the doors were supposed to open at 6:30 p.m., and at 6 o’clock, there was a line of kids waiting patiently in the cold, in the dark, for the doors to open.
“We had a great time,” he added. “I think we had over 100 kids come through it.”
The parade component was added the following year after Anderson realized there were no parades to take her young son to that weren’t at night.
“During the day, it’s just a really fun event,” Anderson said. “Whole families will come out dressed as themes, you know, a superhero family or royalty families, villain families.”
Town Square now runs several programs in Greenpoint and Williamsburg including an annual Santa brunch, the McGolrick Egg Hunt, and Greencycle Swap, a drop-off, pick-up donation program.
For more information on the parade and on Town Square, visit its website at www.townsquareinc.com
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