PROSPECT — Children and adults alike can get into the Halloween spirit this weekend at the town’s 15th annual Pumpkin Festival.
The festival is Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. on the Town Green on Center Street. The rain date is Sunday.
To set the atmosphere, pumpkins that were decorated by students in kindergarten through eighth grade will be on display around the Green. Judges will award ribbons to the top three pumpkins in each grade level.
The festival will feature a variety of vendors, activities and games. There will be a hay bale rolling contest with a $500 grand prize, a hay maze, laser tag, a haunted house, and a haunted hayride with Woodland Regional High School students portraying spooky characters.
The highlight of the festival is the costume and vehicle parade. The parade steps off at about 5:30 p.m. from Chandler Drive. The parade will go from Chandler Drive past Town Hall to the Green.
The parade, which will be led by the “Headless Horseman,” will stop in front of Town Hall where children are invited to gather and then walk in the parade the rest of the way to the Green.
Parade units will include Yalesville Fife & Drum Corps, St. Peter’s Drum Corps, Mattatuck Drum Band, mounted police officers from Waterbury, and decorated floats and vehicles.
Anyone driving an orange vehicle, a tractor or a Halloween- or pumpkin-themed float that wants to participate in the parade is welcome. Anyone interested in participating in the parade with a float or vehicle should be on Chandler Drive by 5 p.m., Mayor Robert Chatfield said.
For more information, call the Mayor’s Office at 203-758-4461.
