PHOTO: A woman dressed as a witch and man covered in aluminum cans dance to live music on Prince Street on Halloween. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Trick-or-treating in the Prince Street neighborhood in West Newton is on a whole new level.
“It’s kind of evolved over the years,” resident Meryl Kessler said Thursday evening as she and her husband, Scott Oran, greeted a line of visitors that rivaled a Buckingham Palace procession.
Thousands of revelers from near and far descended on that neighborhood—donned in various costumes—to partake in the trick-or-treat block party that’s become an annual sensation.
Several years ago, Kessler said, neighbors began ramping up their Halloween displays and adding live music and other enhancements. And that escalated.
“So one neighbor down the block always has a band performing on their yard,” Kessler said. “One neighbor has a popcorn machine on their porch, and they make popcorn.”
There’s even a porch with a cotton candy machine, in case regular Halloween candy doesn’t have enough sugar for you.
The annual celebration eventually attracted so many visitors that neighbors petitioned the city to shut down a large swath of the neighborhood from cars for Halloween evening.
“The police have been very helpful,” Kessler said.
If you’re wondering how much candy is passed out for a block party like that: Kessler said she buys 1,800 pieces of candy and typically runs out by 8 p.m.
And this year, there were still crowds in the streets at 9 p.m. Having temperatures in the 70s probably helped. Kessler said people come from outside Newton, and neighbors are happy about that.
“We love it, It’s so fun!” Kessler said with a beaming smile. “It’s families, and it’s big kids and littles. In all the years we’ve been doing this, people are really nice. People are well-mannered, well-behaved. Everybody enjoys it, and it’s a nice safe community activity.”
