The annual Park Slope Civic Council Halloween Parade is set for Mon., Oct. 31, which means you have an entire weekend before the big day to work on your phantasmagoric BOOklyn -themed costume. How scary can you get? Building on 25 years of community creativity, we’ll be looking for lots of Brooklyn’s ghostly history, alluring apparitions and Park Slope phantasms, along with a heavy dose of skeletons and other creatures that go bump-in-the-night.
The Civic Council’s Halloween Parade has been a part of neighborhood life since 1986. The route brings together the many parts of Park Slope, connecting Seventh and Fifth Avenues. The phantom march starts at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue at 6:30 p.m., moves north on Seventh Avenue, makes a left turn (west) on Third Street toward Fifth Avenue, and ends at the big field at Washington Park between Fourth and Fifth Avenue, with the great dance music of Hearts of Steel and Paprika until 8:30 p.m.
Cosponsoring the festivities will be the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce.
So organize that stoop party, order in your dinner, and get ready for those trick-or-treaters. Be on the look-out for parade emcee Gersh Kuntzman, editor of The Brooklyn Paper, leading an exciting, family-friendly pack of ghouls and ghosts through the neighborhood. Then be sure to join in at the end of the parade for Park Slope’s greatest neighborhood celebration of the year.
Want to help with the parade? E-mail halloween@parkslopeciviccouncil.org. There’s also more information at parkslopeciviccouncil.org/halloween-parade.
— Old Stone House Executive Director Kim Maier is organizing this year’s spooky festivities.
Photo: Gilly Youner
from the Fall 2011 Civic News