Halloween fell on a Saturday this year for the first time since 2020. It won't happen again until 2037.
Restaurants are literally a ghost town on Halloween. You might get some customers who prefer to forgo the celebration but for the most part, it’s empty. This year, business was remarkably better as guests dressed up in costumes and came to party at the bar later in the night. Old Town was full of people in big wigs, sparkly makeup, and capes walking from bar to bar.
I love Halloween. It's probably my favorite holiday. My boys count down the days, literally with an advent calendar. I remember doing the same growing up around Orchard Park: trick-or-treating with friends, filling Dillons grocery sacks with candy, making trips home to unload, then heading back out to hit as many houses as possible.
In College Hill, neighbors spend weeks preparing to welcome thousands of families. We hand out several thousand pieces of candy in less than three hours. Other Wichita neighborhoods get into the spirit, too. Riverside is festive, Eastborough has its legendary full-sized candy bars, and parts of west Wichita put on elaborate light displays.
At our house, I procrastinate on decorating, giving myself four hours to turn tomato cages into ghosts with bedsheets and googly eyes, and zip-tie pool noodles into makeshift scarecrows. We make chili and invite family and friends over. My mom arrives in costume, ready to hand out candy — her favorite part of the night.
This year was a full night of friends, family, and neighborhood fun. Maybe Halloween should always fall on a Saturday.
