Scare in the Square draws a terrible crowd

Thousands of Brantford-Brant residents attended the 16th annual “Scare in the Square” event in Harmony Square on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The two-day event began Friday evening with a variety of family-friendly activities such as tractor-drawn hayrides, a roller skating party, the Howl-o-ween dog parade and paranormal tours of Old Town Hall.

On Saturday, participants came dressed to impress at the costume contest. From Charlie Brown to scary clowns, attendees of all ages sported both their best handmade and store-bought costumes to win the judges’ favor.

Jennifer Middleton, special events director for the city of Brantford, said she was thrilled with the turnout that day.

“The turnout was just fantastic,” she said. “The weather always plays a factor at these events and you really couldn’t have asked for a better day to have fun out here. It’s just great and I love seeing everyone dressed up.”

Throughout the afternoon, thrill-seeking teens took a ride on the jack-o-lantern-style berry carousel, tested their coordination on the rock wall, or laughed their way through the inflatable obstacle course.

Members of the Brantford Area Jeep Club also took over Dalhousie Street to parade their vehicles for the stationary Jeep parade. Many handed out candy to youngsters who walked by in awe of the spooky decorations.

Back on the course, Casper’s Craft Corner and two pop-up escape rooms, the Witches’ Hunt and the Clown’s Dressing Room, provided plenty of attraction.

While the area was full of fun activities and shopping, the main attraction of the day was the big trick-or-treating event, where children of all ages raced through the streets to collect their candy.

Nine North was just one of the many businesses that took part in the raffle and Chandriz Rimando said she was pleasantly surprised at how many people took part on the day.

“I’ve never seen so many people in the area. It’s been a little over an hour and we’ve already consumed at least 650 candies, and I would say by the time we’re done we’ll have made it to about 900,” she said. “It was so much fun to see everyone dressed up and everyone looked so cute. It’s really nice to see how many people came, I love it.”

Middleton said she couldn’t have created another great year without all of her volunteers.

“I really have to thank all of our sponsors and volunteers,” she said. “We have about 50 volunteers helping out and without them none of this would be possible, so I’m just so grateful to be able to put on another great event.”

Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding will allow her to report on rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. You can reach her at [email protected].