There was a whole lot of spooky fun and antics going on for Halloween in Horsham Town Centre on 31 October as the town hosted its annual Halloween party for younger children organised by Horsham District Council and partners.
Free children’s activities clustered around the Carfax bandstand with event partners Horsham Hub Family Centres and Horsham Churches Together (HCT) busy all day alongside performances from ‘Rebecca’ the story telling witch and outrageous bubble fun from ‘Bubble Joe’.
Thanks to the Horsham District Year of Culture 2019 team, there were appearances in the morning by The Gruffalo, creating a deal of excitement as children spotted the famous character.
A pumpkin trail organised by HCT ran across a Halloween themed market featuring many Carfax traders who really got into the spirit of the day, supported by organisers Horsham Markets. These colourful stalls were accompanied by children’s rides from ML Pleasure Fairs, a face painter and the ongoing Rotary Trick or Treat Trail across the town, all adding to the fun on offer.
In the afternoon, a Halloween costume parade, starting from the Bishopric Stream, attracted around fifty youngsters and their carers led by the ‘Story Witch’ through West Street to the Carfax Bandstand.
Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for the Local Economy Cllr Paul Clarke commented:
“This was another great event staged by the Council and its various partners.
“It encouraged many people to come into the town to enjoy the fun, creating lots of extra business for local traders. It was particularly good to see all the usual Thursday market traders entering into the spirit of the day in their amazing costumes with their Halloween themed wares.”
Two winning costumes were chosen by the Witch and Hayleigh, Horsham Manager of sponsor Chococo, to receive chocolate prizes, the winners were Nistor as a vampire and Ottilie as a young witch.
Hayleigh from Chococo was delighted with the turnout saying:
“There were so many brilliant costumes and some amazing make up, it was really difficult to choose the winners. Halloween seems to get bigger every year and I think it’s great that the town can put on an event like this. It helps businesses like ours to reach out to even more people to give them a great experience.”
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