As Halloween draws closer, Oxford has planned festivities for children and adults alike.
Trick-or-treat by the Oxford Parks and Recreation (OPRD) and Oxford Lions Club will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in the uptown park. Magicians, face painting, games, balloon artists and more will be present for participants.
“[People] normally come up, they’ll bring their kids into the uptown parks and they’ll play games that we have set up,” said Natalie Boyd at OPRD. “They’ll get candy and they also continue around the businesses and trick or treat there.”
Many of the local businesses on High Street will pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. Attendees can stop by restaurants or shops to get candy.
One business that participates in the activity is incense and gift shop, Wild Berry. Kimberly Clark, an employee and manager at the store, said she loves to see trick-or-treaters in costume.
“We love having the kids come in,” Clark said. “It is just so much fun and they’re so adorable. We set it up so that they can come in and get their candy and go out.”
For children with allergies, Wild Berry offers different goodies to ensure that they do not miss out on the fun.
“We always have a blue, little pumpkin [for kids with allergies],” Clark said.
While the trick-or-treat event is going on, a pet costume contest will be underway at 6 p.m. on the stage in uptown park. Participants are encouraged to arrive between 5:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. to sign up.
The event will have three winning categories for the contest: cutest, most original and judges’ choice. As stated by OPRD’s website, scoring is based on effort, theme and creativity.
“[Contestants] can be any kind of pet,” said Boyd. “The costume is sometimes for the pet and the adult or child … sometimes they’ll do group costumes. Last year there was a hunting dog and a hunter.”
Three judges will judge the pet costume contest. The top three contestants will receive a basket of prizes that are donated to OPRD.
“This year our pet costume contest judges are going to be Swoop from Miami, Rox the Fox and Parker — those are all three mascots,” Boyd said.
After trick-or-treating and the pet costume contest ends, a parade hosted by the Lions Club will take place at 6:30 p.m. Anyone is welcome to join the parade.
Oxford’s neighborhood trick-or-treat will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31. Houses who wish to pass out candy and participate in the festivities are encouraged to have their front porch lights on.
Finally, Oxford residents can discard their jack-o’-lanterns from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at the TRI Community Center on 6025 Fairfield Road in a pumpkin catapult.
