WHAT ARE COLORADO COMMUNITIES PLANNING FOR HALLOWEEN?
A recent inquiry from members explored the events that different Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Downtown Development Authorities (DDAs) in Colorado plan for their community celebrations of Halloween. Based on a quick response over two days, we heard from five communities who shared a short summary of the events and activities they plan.
· Arvada: We have "Trick-or-Treat Street" the Friday before Halloween. It is a trick or treating event with the businesses handing out candy. We also do a DJ, a costume contest and some other small stuff. It is very successful with around 2,500 kids attending plus parents.
· Boulder: We do a Trick-or-Treat Street event where the businesses give out candy, and we decorate our alley to be a spooky alley. :)
· Durango: Durango BID always hosts what we call Downtown Children’s Halloween. It is intended to be a safe and fun trick or treating experience for younger kids. We advertise it for kids 10 and under, but of course everyone is welcome. 75 to 100 businesses will hand out tons of candy to attendees, and we have a decent amount that have non-candy items for kids with allergies. In 2022, we added a carnival at a location just off Main Ave. and allow non-Main Avenue businesses to do trunk or treat there. A nonprofit organizes the carnival games and we make a donation to them from our budget to make it worth their time. Our current nonprofit partner for that is our local Boys and Girls Club.
· Greeley: We do a Trick-or-Treat Street event where the businesses give out candy, and we decorate our alley to be a spooky alley. :)
· Havana, Aurora: We hosted a Trick or Treat at the Gardens on Havana and provided $8000-10,000 of candy to the 35 businesses that participated, including a Pet Parade, trunk or treat, and promote the Halloween events at the shopping center as well. In the past we bought pallets of candies from Costco On Havana but the past 3 years we bought the candy at Rocket Fizz to support small, but we get ALOT LESS candy from Rocket Fizz with our 12,000 budgets. We spent about $500 in volunteer gift cards and snacks. Each volunteer gets a $50 gift card for working 2-3 hours in the snow/cold weather to help deliver the candies to each store, hand out candy from 11-1 and help with the photo waivers and crowd control. We spent about $500-1000 in giveaways for events in person and on social media giveaways.
Thank you to the DCI Members who shared their Halloween activities!
