Halloween round-up: what went on!
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Fort Greene Halloween Festival with juggler ©Karen Connell
My vote for best costume at the Ft Greene Halloween Festival ©Karen Connell
My vote for best dog costume at the Ft. Greene Halloween Festival ( A Tree Growls in Brooklyn) ©Karen Connell
Boo at the Zoo in Prospect Park. The seals put on a cute show with the pumpkins. ©Karen Connell
Waverly Ave had one of the scariest garages in Clinton Hill ©Karen Connell
A lot of bloggers captured Halloween around Brooklyn and it’s fun to see what some of neighborhood fests really looked like. After writing about them for the last 2 weeks, it is fun to see the “live” versions in their photos. Our family spent Saturday, the day before Halloween, at the The Fort Greene Halloween Festival. Halloween morning we dashed out to the Prospect Park Zoo for “Boo at the Zoo” and then trick or treating in Clinton Hill. The Fort Greene Halloween Festival seemed to be the twice the size as last year. Would anyone else agree? I thought it was well organized, especially the dog costume contest, old fashioned games with free prizes, graveyard “dust bowl” and the creative pumpkin display with numerous friendly volunteers aiding little ones find their “perfect pumpkin.” I could have done without the overly loud dj (pleeeasse! though to their credit, he did turn it down once a number of people complained), the long line for the hayride, and the poor quality brand face paint (though the workers did nice designs). As always, I loved the stilt walkers and juggler and general neighborhood fun- and it was all for free. The Prospect Park Zoo was sweet and we loved watching the special Halloween themed feedings of the animals, in particular the baboons with their 3 month old babies and the seals. Clinton Hill trick or treating was, as always, packed, but the best streets we found for decorating, performances and candy were Waverly and Washington (and of course the special performance at 313 Clinton Ave). I hope you had a Happy Halloween too! Here is a roundup from the other blogs.
Grace Court "things": photo by ©C. Scales for Brooklyn Heights Blog
Brooklyn Heights Blog took some photos of a great pumpkin collection on Grace Court Alley. I understand that jack o’lantern displays are partly what Grace Court is famous for. From the photos on their blog it didn’t look like Grace was as crowded this year as in years past. Can anyone tell us?
Dog Cissy as "Breakfast at Tiffanys" in the Howl-0-Ween Parade Photo ©Julie Kanfer for Brooklyn Heights Blog
Brooklyn Heights Blog was also present at Howl-o-Ween on the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights. They reported that there were no fewer than 40 dogs in the costume contest, (put on by Perfect Paws) ranging from a shark, dancer, a peacock and some “pug-kins.”
Halloween ninja on Court St. - shot by @McBrooklyn
McBrooklyn reported that “Court Street in Carroll Gardens was very crowded this year.” They heard one shopkeeper proclaim that he had almost the double the usual number of trick-or-treaters. McBrooklyn also said that trick or treaters started earlier this year and wondered if it was due to being a school night. They shot this photo of a mom in her “very cool” ninja costume with her vampire? daughter. I liked it too.
Now this is what I call Halloween spirit! Photo ©Pardon Me For Asking
Pardon Me For Asking also said that Court Street was “a sea of gladiators, super heroes, Jedis…” I love this photo she took of this particularly gun-ho family of television characters!
Mother Cabrini Park Halloween Video ©BoCoCaLand
I loved watching this video that BoCoCaLand posted from the Halloween celebration at Cabrini Park. The music sounded great – wow, that was a lot of horns!
Brooklyn Based dug the Itty Biddies when they played in Clinton Hill on Halloween. ©Brooklyn Based
Brooklyn Based loved their visit to Clinton Hill and proclaimed it the it is the most “Halloweeny in all of Brooklyn.” They were impressed with not only the performances on Clinton and Waverly Aves, but also the festivities the day before in Ft. Greene Park.
The Fort Greene Halloween Festival as captured by The Local
The Local captured “the most “Halloweeny in all of Brooklyn”that showed how incredibly packed Fort Greene Halloween’s Festival was, and hilariously, 2 princesses dukeing it out! The Festival was an incredibly huge production with free pumpkins, face painting, games, prizes and hay rides for all. The PUPkin contest this year was well conceived. There was a humorous emcee and a stone stage for doggies that showcased the ingenuity and creativity in all the costumes.
OTBKB called Park Slope Halloween-central because of its parade, trick or treating, haunted houses and puppet shows. She reported that the teenangers were having shaving cream war in a playground (I remember doing this too). She said 3rd Street was the most crowded as parade revelers marched down the street and others packed in deep to watch.
We spent Halloween at the Sean Casey Animal Rescue event and Owl’s Head Park. At the Sean Casey Rescue event, there were some really creatively costumed pets, food, a band, and pony rides! There were also pony rides at Owl’s Head Park.
At Owl’s Head, we went thru the “scary” haunted walk–where all sorts of ghoulish characters stood by at every turn. There was a portion of the walk that was pitch dark. The flash from my camera as I took photos was the only light we had… otherwise we would have bumped onto the walls! Every now and then one would sense a tap on the shoulder in the darkness. There were two lines there, one was the “VIP” entrance requiring a $5 donation per family/group and the other line that went around the skate park was the line that didn’t charge a fee. We opted for the VIP entrance because it was faster. It was so much fun at Owl’s Head… there was a train ride, lots of bouncy things for the kids to play in, the less scary Fairy Tale Walk, a costume contest and more! We got to bring home a pumpkin from the patch. There was also an area for crafts…we spent a considerable amount of time at the sand art booth. The Art Room also had a booth — that’s the one where the kids stuck their heads thru the “Scream” painting. The crafts area had a fairytale theme to it. Snow White and her seven dwarfs were hanging out there. We almost didn’t get a chance to do trick-or-treating because we spent so much time at Owl’s Head! But the kids reasoned that they couldn’t go home without trick or treating because it wouldn’t be Halloween without that. So off we went door-to-door in Bay Ridge and amassed quite a stash of treats. I wish I had taken more pictures to capture the holiday vibe at the park. This is merely a snapshot of the areas we visited => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVNkb9RokSk .
we went to FGP on Sat and my almost 2.5 yr old didn’t want to sit still for the dog costumes and they were over their head anyway but I do love the show
I was told by a volunteer or staff member (guy in an orange shirt) that they did try to get 2 wagons this year but couldn’t so maybe next year they will try harder!
we didn’t have any problem with the face painting though my daughters was simple (pink on her cheeks, black on her nose and eyelashes) and was just glad it moved fast
and my ‘artist’ daughter (5y) was totally bummed that the stickers didn’t stick on the pumpkin and the markers smudged but she eventually decorated her pumpkin to her liking