Halloween falls on a Thursday this year, which in the Castro basically counts as a Friday, but don't expect any big block party or street closure — neither of which has happened in nearly two decades.
Yes, as we lament nearly every year, the big, rollicking Castro Halloweens of yesteryear remain things of yesterday, thanks to a shooting that happened in 2006 and the general menace that started to arrive with massive nighttime parties in the neighborhood — which also took out Pink Saturday celebrations over Pride weekend a few years later.
Last year, the Civic Joy Fund and one of its founders Manny Yekutiel, put together a smaller affair over pre-Halloween weekend in the neighborhood, with a movie marathon and costume contest at the Castro Theatre, and "mini-activations" at spaces around the neighborhood, including at the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Cliff's Variety.
This year, the Civic Joy Fund will again be doling out some funds to bars and businesses to cover Halloween decorations — although the budget is just $25,000 this year, compared to $80,000 last year, as The Bold Italic notes. The festivities, such as they are, will be on Saturday, October 26, and Sunday, October 27.
The Castro Theatre is, sadly, still closed for renovations. But as Yekutiel tells the Bold Italic, "We want to build up excitement for next year, when the Castro Theatre is reopened," and so the activations will return this year, in somewhat smaller form.
There will be a costume contest, but in the daylight on Sunday, over on Noe Street between Market and Beaver streets (this will be the only street closure that weekend). Kids and pets will be judged on their looks at 2 pm and 3 pm, respectively, and the adult costume contest will be at the very tame hour of 4 pm — when most adults will still be at work. Sister Roma will be hosting.
Sunday is also the designated day for trick-or-treating in the Castro, which will be happening after the Noe Street block party.
The idea, says Terry Asten Bennett, president of Castro Merchants Association and owner of Cliff's, is to basically get everyone off the streets and into bars or elsewhere by 8 pm. (Incidentally, Bennett's great-great-grandfather started the tradition of Halloween in the Castro, as a children's festival, in the early part of the 20th Century.)
Saturday will include the "mini-activations" around the neighborhood from noon to 6 pm, according to the Merchants Association website, with "loads of decor, candy, photos and activities." And there will apparently be a pie-eating contest outside of Cliff's.
Nothing official is planned for Halloween Night on Thursday the 31st, but there will likely be house parties and bar parties galore around town.
Top image: An undated photo from Halloween in the Castro. Photo by Frederic Neema/Sygma via Getty Images
