How’s this for a freaky Halloween-related trip… this weekend my family traveled to a pumpkin patch and picked gourds, Indian corn and pumpkins in 87 degree heat… and we didn’t have to travel to Hawaii to do so. We went pumpkin picking in Wisconsin where the average temperature this time of year is 62. Wearing shorts in a pumpkin patch in the Upper Midwest during the month of October on day with temperatures 25 degrees above normal—-now that’s freaky.
I plan to write about our pumpkin picking adventures in depth in a future blog, but for now I figured it would be best if I informed the rest of you about the Halloween happenings going on in your neck of the woods… before it’s too late.
ARKANSAS
The state’s largest Halloween celebration, “Magic Screams,” will once again be held at Magic Springs & Crystal Falls theme park in Hot Springs. During the month of October the park gets a spooky makeover complete with ghosts and goblins. However, unlike some other major theme parks, which host activities better suited to adults and older children with a high tolerance for blood and gore, “Magic Screams” has many events that are appropriate for families with young children, including costume contests, a maze, and pumpkin painting. For those of you who enjoy getting the stuffing scared out of them “Magic Screams” also has a number of haunted houses and a totally terrifying haunted trail.
CALIFORNIA
I told you about the annual Halloween extravaganza hosted by Universal Studios in a previous blog, but this is California we’re talking about here, which means there is no shortage of frightening and fun holiday happenings to choose from.
Here are just a few Halloween events taking place in “The Golden State.”
On October 31st the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval gets underway. The event typically draws 500,000 people to Santa Monica Boulevard so if you go be prepared for some creepy company.
In Long Beach, the Queen Mary (the retired ocean liner) is offering paranormal tours, dinners, ghost investigations and haunted hotel rooms during the entire month of October.
In Buena Park, Knott’s Scary Farm’s Halloween Haunt is once again offering mazes, monsters and scare zones to guests of all ages. The award-winning attraction (it won the “Best Halloween Event” 2007 Golden Ticket award from the trade publication Amusement Today) is one of the state’s most popular Halloween events. It runs through the end of October.
In addition, several communities around California are planning to host Dia de los Muertos Festivals, the Mexican “Day of the Dead” tradition. Visitors can create altars in honor of lost loved ones at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, which is opening its facilities on October 27th to anyone interested in creating an altar to honor a deceased family member or friend.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a Dia de los Muertos festival taking place November 2nd will include a procession from the Mission District to Garfield Park. And, on October 28th in Oceanside, city streets will be closed down for a Dia de los Muertos festival where altars made of more than 30,000 marigolds will be constructed to commemorate the dead.
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