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Monsters mash and teeth are gnashed at annual ABIA Halloween street festival

November 4, 2021   ·   0 Comments

On Saturday, October 30th, the Alliston Business Improvement Association (ABIA) hosted its 11th annual Monster Mash Halloween event in the “Rurban” Downtown Core, attracting more than a thousand costume-clad kiddos and their caregivers.

Participants grabbed an ABIA reusable tote, then walked along Victoria Street, visiting local businesses for a trick, or a treat.

The main street was closed for several hours to accommodate the event, which included a spooktacular Open Air Market.

“Not even the rain could dampen spirits on Saturday, with over 1,100 ghosts and goblins visiting the Alliston BIA Monster Mash,” Linda Spurr, ABIA General Manager, told The Times.

“There were so many great and original costumes this year,” said Spurr. “We had everything from unicorns and butterflies to ghoulish monsters wandering around. One of our favourites was spaghetti baby in stroller. Several of our Downtown Alliston Businesses participated with both shelling out treats and in-store specials. Even those not within our street closure took part such as Concession Road with book readings, music and store sales.”

The ABIA had three tents set up along Victoria Street and entertainers – including stilt walkers, singers and musicians – added to the ambiance from the railroad tracks to Paris Street.

“Special thanks to our musicians Grant Boyer, Jeff Dunlop and Nicole Rayy,” said Spurr. “And of course, keeping it all COVID­–19 safe in a fun way, we had our Rurban Social Distancing Officer on stilts watching the crowd of over a thousand.”

The always popular fun family event was especially well received this year.

“The amount of people sharing how amazing it was to have an in-person event that brings community together again was the most surprising part of this year’s,” said Spurr. “With so many respecting COVID regulations and in our true community spirit each being respectful of other’s space. One thing that stands out was how many family costumes there were this year with the adults getting involved. Also we had some great treats for the grown-ups too, like Belfry Chocolate bars, Liberty Tax note pads, and free burritos from Quesada.”

With a lot of work going into the preparation for the event, Spurr says it couldn’t come together without volunteers and the participation from local businesses.

“We can’t do this without our staff and volunteers who make it all work seamlessly,” she said. “Thanks to Danielle, Olivia, Tyler, Matthew, Nancy and Gloria as well as Mayor Rick Milne and Deputy Mayor Richard Norcross who helped out in the rain for hours. Thank you to the Alliston BIA businesses who generously fund and support these community events, and to our community for coming out and making it such a successful event. We appreciate your support of shopping local!”

The next ABIA event is the annual Christmas Crawl, set to take place on Friday, November 26 and Saturday, November 27.

For more information visit www.rurban.ca.

By Wendy Gabrek

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