The Halloween Parade in Boothbay Harbor is a much loved local tradition. Each year, hundreds of children and parents dress up and parade through the streets collecting treats generously provided by local businesses. 

Officer Larry Brown has been on duty for every parade for over a decade and wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“I love the Halloween Parade, for the safety factor.” Larry says “It is still light when the kids are trick or treating through town and the police officers are out watching traffic and ensuring safety.” This year, Sergeant Jacob Powers gets  to experience the Halloween Parade for the first time.  “The Halloween parade is so great for community and business involvement. I appreciate the collaboration between the library and the police department for this event and the fine tuning that has been done over the years.”

Mary Pinkham, BHML’s children’s librarian emeritus, shared with us the roots of the Halloween Parade a few years back. She told us that she and Diane Dorbin, then program director, started it in 2002 or 2003 and it was a group of about 25 kids who came to Story Times. They would decorate the front portico with cobwebs, play Monster Mash on a boom box, and use a bullhorn to line up.  Since then it’s grown to several hundreds of participants!

The roots of Halloween itself?  They originated almost 2,000 years ago as an ancient Celtic festival where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Sometime In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide Halloween parties as the featured entertainment.

Our Halloween Parade route begins at the Library lawn where everyone gathers for a traditional warming cider before heading off at 4 p.m. The parade route will be marked, and runs up and down Townsend Avenue. Stop by the Boothbay Harbor Methodist Church for juice and popcorn and a supervised leaf jump pile, then cross over to the Opera House parking lot for trunk-or-treating! 

If you are a business not on the parade route that would like to participate in the trunk or treat, email youth@bbhlibrary.org or call the library at 633-3112 to reserve a spot.

“We look forward to another well attended event,” says Joanna Breen, executive director.. “Parking is often a challenge, so head out a little earlier to guarantee your spot. Parking on Townsend Avenue will be blocked off for the parade starting  at 3 p.m, so plan accordingly!””