Back in September, the writing team of Petworth News started talking about Halloween… what are our readers planning on doing for the holiday? Writer Cesse Ip created a survey to find out, and published an article that basically said: nobody seems confident of what to do. The desire to give kids a fun time while also ensuring safety from Covid was clearly a big stressor to the community. So we decided to create a small children’s parade for the neighborhood. Maybe 50 people will come?

That idea led to the much bigger, more complicated Petworth News Socially Distant Halloween Parade on October 31st from 3:30pm until 6pm at Sherman Circle. Over three hours we’ll have more than 400 adults and children safely parading through the park based on specific attendance times. (That’s a lot of candy we have to give out, more than 2,000 pieces!)

The main priority is Covid-safety, followed by fun for our neighborhood kids. The US Park Police will be onsite to help with vehicle traffic and local safety. DDOT will have cones out. We’ll have more than a dozen volunteers onhand to help.

Big thanks to President Lincoln’s Cottage and Petworth Ace Hardware, who both donated items for the parade including safety masks, sidewalk chalk, candy bags and their time. Great neighborhood partners!

If you’re attending or just want to watch, here’s what you need to know:

Everyone needs to wear a mask.

If you’re attending:
You should have received an email from Petworth News with instructions, but here’s the gist:

Participants should line up on Crittenden Street NW on the westside of Sherman Circle at the time on your ticket. Please remain a minimum of 6 feet apart from other family units.
Wait until you’re called to enter the park and then enjoy! You’ll walk twice around the park (inner sidewalk, outer sidewalk) and then exit at Illinois Avenue on the northside. You’ll pick up your small (sanitized) bag of candy at the exit.
Volunteers will have large light-up foam sticks to help identify them. They will help guide you around the park.
There will be no games, contests or activities inside the park, and no one but volunteers can stay inside the park. There won’t be any public restrooms so plan ahead!

If you want to watch and cheer on the kids:
Come out at 3:30 to watch a steady stream of socially distant families parade into, around and out of Sherman Circle. You can stand along the outside sidewalk across the street from the park.

No matter where you stand, please make sure you stay an appropriate social distance from others and wear a mask! Oh, and cheer on your favorite Black Panther, ghost, Supergirl or Spiderman!

Don’t have a ticket and are thinking of attending anyway?
Respectfully, please don’t try to join the parade… we have a lot of people participating in the event and Covid-safety is the main priority. We’ll post pictures after the Parade for everyone to see!

Fun articles about the Parade:

The Wash (from American University)

Not a trick: Petworth residents treat neighbors to a socially-distant Halloween

A socially-distant Halloween parade, candy bag giveaways and candy chutes are some of the ways Petworth residents are celebrating Halloween amid COVID-19.

The Washington Post

Parents are going the extra mile to save Halloween for their kids

After Schneider recently overheard his daughter talking about setting up trick-or-treat stations around the house, worried that the pandemic would ruin all other plans, he decided to do something to boost the holiday spirit.