Viola Town Square will once again be transformed into a Halloween town on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.
Halloween in the Park in downtown Viola will be held around the gazebo’s grassy area with residents offering a free evening of fun for trick-or-treaters with candy, cookies, desserts, drinks, hayrides, and a best dressed costume contest.
The costume contest will have two age categories – newborn to 12 years, and 13-18 years. Delightful trophies will be given to the best boy and girl in each category so be the best Ghostbuster, Star Wars figure, ninja, firefighter, police officer, vampire, fairy, superhero, cartoon character, ghost or goblin you can be. Special guest judges are yet to be announced.
This is the third annual Halloween in the Park. The last two years, the evening has offered children spook-tacular fun with free bobbing for apples, a scavenger hunt in the park, hayrides through Viola, both non-scary and scary, and residents on hand to offer children a chance to trick-or-treat for candy, as well as providing them and their parents free hot apple cider and hot dogs.
“It was well attended last year,” said event organizer Kevin Deason. “We were happy with the turnout. We expect an even larger crowd this year.”
This event, as well as Christmas in Viola offered in December, is a community effort to bring visitors into Viola. The Saturday prior to Halloween is chosen because so many people already have trick-or-treat plans on Halloween night.