Sunday, November 15, 2009

Halloween in the Park, Part II

A couple of weeks ago I posted a suggestion to have a Downtown San Jose event similar to Christmas in the Park... except themed for Halloween. Everyone seems to think that this is a really good idea and Dan Vado (sponsor for Zombie-O-Rama) volunteered to take point.

Here is a revised list of ideas to reflect what was previously posted in comments.
  • Animated Halloween Displays
    • assembled by talented local artists
    • analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
    • family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
  • Halloween Lighting
    • orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
    • may be possible to use new controllable lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button... that way the lights could stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and would only have to be put up and taken down once
  • Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
    • home decor like candles
    • artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
    • costumes
    • light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
    • zombie/Halloween make-up station 
  • Food booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, etc.
  • Halloween-themed carnival games
  • Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
  • Pumpkin carving station for families. Perhaps a pumpkin carving contest.
  • Costumed entertainers 
    • walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
  • Haunts
    • Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the convention center, or at SJSU.
  • Potential Events
    • Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. timeframe)
    • Dia De Los Muertes Bike Party
    • Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
As before, please post your suggestions below!

5 comments:

  1. Halloween in the park sounds like a great idea to me! It would be a lot of fun and I think a lot of people would participate. It would be a great new tradition for downtown SJ!

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  2. I would just suggest that you keep it family-friendly, so that the most number of people can enjoy it and people can take their kids without fear of it being a gore-fest.

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  3. Pumpkin carving contest!! Maybe a pumpkin carving station for parents to sit with their kids and carve. I wouldn't trust knives so you could just use crayons and paint. Also arts and crafts stuff for young kids making your own mask with construction paper or those ghosts out if tissue.

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  4. Exactly, I agree that it should be family-friendly (at least the core of it). Maybe PG/PG13 like Great America.

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