Hundreds of carved and decorated pumpkins line Avenue A during the 10th annual Great Falls Festival on Saturday in Turners Falls.
Hundreds of carved and decorated pumpkins line Avenue A in Turners Falls. Credit: DAN LITTLE / Staff File Photo

Spooky season is here, and with it comes a series of haunted happenings across Franklin County and the North Quabbin region. Here’s how you can celebrate Halloween:

Ashfield

The annual Rag Shag Parade will be held Friday, Oct. 31. The parade will kick off at 6:30 p.m. outside Neighbors Convenience Store and proceed down Main Street to the Fire Station, where a trunk or treat will be held. To register your vehicle, contact the Police Department at 413-628-4441, ext. 1.

Athol

  • The Athol Street Hockey Association is hosting a trunk or treat from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1. Attendees can enjoy games, music and more at 1060 Pleasant St.
  • Attendees can follow the clues to find creepy costumed characters hiding around the Athol Public Library and collect candy, leading to a final prize at the library’s Haunted Scavenger Hunt on Tuesday, Oct. 28, between 4:30 and 6 p.m.
  • Students are invited to a Halloween dance hosted by the Parent-Teacher Organization on Friday, Oct. 24, at 5:30 p.m. at Athol Community Elementary School. Attendees can enjoy music, raffles, refreshments and vote on a pumpkin decorating contest.

Bernardston

  • A Kids Costume Dance Party will be held at The Barn at The Farm Table at 219 South St. from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25. Tickets are $5 at the door, and participants can enjoy music, dancing, a Halloween-themed craft and refreshments. Additionally, the same venue will host a Halloween Costume and Dance Party on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 7 to 11 p.m. AfterGlo will perform. There is a $5 cover charge.
  • The Bernardston Kiwanis Club will host a drive-thru trick or treating event on Friday, Oct. 31, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at 16 Hartwell St. The Recreation Department, Veterans Club and United Church of Bernardston are also involved.

Colrain

  • Attendees can enjoy candy, games, cider and a photo booth at the Colrain Central School Trunk or Treat hosted by the Parent-Teacher Organization on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. Prizes will be available for the best trunk decorator in the following categories: most silly, most spooktacular, most original and treaters’ choice.
  • Griswold Memorial Library will host a Halloween movie night on Saturday, Oct. 25. There will be a free screening of “Hocus Pocus” at 5 p.m.

Deerfield

The Deerfield Police Relief Association’s 39th annual Halloween Hayride will kick off at Deerfield Elementary School on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. Cider doughnuts, cider and apples will be available at 5:45 p.m. before the hayride.

Besides its sold-out Deerfield After Dark Ghost Walks, Historic Deerfield is also hosting a series of other events in the Halloween spirit:

  • The “Gravestones and Graveyards” event on Saturday, Oct. 25, will see stone carver Karin Sprague lead gravestone carving demonstrations at Hall Tavern from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Historic Deerfield guide Solomon Ashley will also lead 50-minute walking tours of gravestone art through the Old Burying Ground on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 1 to 3 p.m.
  • Historic Deerfield visitors will also have the chance to learn about the rocks carvers use for gravestones and design their own paper gravestones at “Stones and Bones” on Saturday, Oct. 25, and Sunday, Oct. 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the History Workshop.
  • Hall Tavern will be open on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for visitors to play historical games, make pumpkin-themed crafts, help mix and bake sugar cakes, and watch an open hearth cooking demonstration.
  • Champney’s Restaurant and Tavern will host a Witches Ball will on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Historic Deerfield’s Halloween activities will finish with “A Peddler’s Pack of Eerie Tales” with Dennis Picard on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Hall Tavern. Picard will tell tales from local folklore of witches, vampires and other peculiar events.

Erving

The annual Halloween Extravaganza will be held on Sunday, Oct. 26, with festivities beginning at 4 p.m. at the Erving Public Library. Attendees can enjoy a trunk or treat and a photo booth, and participate in a parade to the Fire Station at 5 p.m.

Gill

Peila’s Creamery at 20 Lyons Hill Road will host a trunk or treat on Friday, Oct. 31, starting at 3 p.m. Guests can play Halloween-themed games and activities, and candy will be distributed at 4 p.m. Anyone dressed in a costume gets a free hot chocolate made using Peila’s chocolate milk.

Greenfield

  • The Garden Cinemas will show free screenings of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 11 a.m. and Friday, Oct. 31, at 3:30 p.m. The theater is also screening scary movies, such as the Guillermo del Toro version of “Frankenstein,” “Begonia” and “Chainsaw Man.”
  • The Greenfield Public Library invites teens and young adults ages 13 to 20 to the Teen Room on Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 3 to 5 p.m. Activities include horror movie trivia, candy jewelry making and tarot card readings. Materials will also be available for crafting Halloween costumes. Then, for children ages 5 to 8, local storyteller Rona Leventhal will lead a “Goblins and Giggles” show in the library’s Children’s Room at 4 p.m. Wrapping up the day’s festivities will be a 5 p.m. Family Costume Parade.
  • As part of the city’s annual holiday tradition, the Greenfield Recreation Department is throwing a downtown Halloween celebration on Friday, Oct. 31, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Residents can go trick or treating at downtown businesses from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and can pick up a free bag of treats at the Greenfield Common. There will be special event pumpkin posters in participating business windows supplied by the Greenfield Business Association. The Rag Shag Parade will commence at 5:30 p.m., led by the Greenfield High School Marching Band. The parade will begin at the Mohawk Mall before concluding at Energy Park for a costume contest, judged by Mayor Ginny Desorgher. Costume contest winners will be awarded pizza for the following categories: Best Homemade Costume, Funniest Costume, Best Cartoon Character Costume, Scariest Costume, Cutest Costume, Best Adult Costume, Best Group/Family Costume and Best Howl-O-Ween Costume for animals.
  • On Friday, Oct. 31, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Franklin County’s YMCA will offer activities, including gym games, inflatable obstacle courses, spooky swim and trick or treating.
  • Greenfield’s Parent-Teacher Organization will host its third annual trunk or treat on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Greenfield High School, 21. There will be music, games, prizes and treats.
  • BETE Fog Nozzle at 50 Greenfield St. will host its third annual trunk or treat on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 3 to 5 p.m. There will be hayrides, candy, costume contests and prizes.

Heath

The Heath Public Library and Heath Police Department invite the community to a Halloween party and trunk or treat on Saturday, Oct. 25 , at the Jacobs Road Municipal Center. From 4 to 5 p.m., attendees can trick or treat in the parking lot, and at 5 p.m., they can head inside for games, music, refreshments and a costume parade. For more information or to register to pass out candy, email heath.library@gmail.com.

Montague

  • The annual Turners Falls Rag Shag Parade returns on Friday, Oct. 31. The parade will start at the Great Falls Discovery Center parking lot, then move down Avenue A to Peskeompskut Park at the intersection with Seventh Street. Costume judging will start at 4:30 p.m. and the parade will start at 5 p.m., be led by the Turners Falls High School Marching Band. Costume winners will be announced at Peskeompskut Park at 5:30 p.m. and the three winners will earn free pizza certificates for Turners Falls Pizza House. Apple cider and doughnuts will be provided. Guests can stay for a free screening of the 30-minute movie “Scared Shrekless.”
  • A dog costume contest will be held at Unity Park on Friday, Oct. 24, from 3 to 7 p.m. Guests can bring their dogs on leashes to the park for the contest, which will award prizes for scariest, most creative, best pet and owner duo, and best in show. Guests can also enjoy food trucks, music and caricature portraits by Matt Bernson.
  • A variety of trunk or treats will also be held. On Friday, Oct. 24, the Montague Elks Lodge will host a free trunk or treat at 1 Elks Ave. from 4 to 6 p.m. Plus, Turners Falls High School will host a trunk or treat on Friday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the school’s softball field.
  • On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Franklin County Technical School will host its annual Trek at Tech celebration from 4:30 to 6 p.m. For the first time, the celebration will be inside the Aviation Maintenance Technology hangar on the campus. The event is free and open to kids preschool-aged through sixth grade.
  • The Rendezvous will present a Halloween Costume Party on Friday, Oct. 31, at 9:30 p.m. There is a $10 cover charge. The event is for ages 21 and up.

Northfield

  • The Northfield Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization, the Northfield Police Department and Northfield’s Junior Firefighters will be at the elementary school from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, to help attendees carve pumpkins donated by Patterson Farm as part of Pumpkin Palooza. Attendees can also enjoy apple cider and other treats.
  • The Veterans of Foreign Wars post will host its annual Rag Shag Parade on Friday, Oct. 31. Participants can begin lining up outside Town Hall at 5:30 p.m. and the parade will begin at 6 p.m. The Police and Fire departments will lead the parade to Northfield Elementary School, where the Recreation Commission will host a trunk or treat.

Orange

  • Crossroads Church will hold a trunk or treat on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 92 New Athol Road.
  • Enjoy carnival games, explore a haunted house and participate in a costume contest at the Revival Wheeler Mansion’s fourth annual Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 6 p.m. Peruse local craft and food vendors, play games for $2, tour the haunted house for $5, and enter a contest for a chance to win prizes for best clown costume, most creative carnival-themed costume, and best duo or group costume. A rain date has been set for Sunday, Oct. 26.
  • Wheeler Memorial Library will have candy, a scavenger hunt and Halloween-themed crafts in the Children’s Room on Thursday, Oct. 30. Visitors who come in costume will get a sticker.

Shelburne

  • The Shelburne Grange will host its annual Halloween party at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31. Enjoy snacks, games and participate in a costume contest at Fellowship Hall, 17 Little Mohawk Road.
  • Apex Orchards will offer a trunk or treat on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Local businesses will be visiting the orchard, with festively decorated trunks. Attendees can also enjoy Apex Orchards’ mini cider doughnuts, food from Steve’s Weiner Wagon and Stout Pigeon Coffee.
  • Hager’s Farm Market will host its annual Pumpkin Smash fundraiser for the 4-H program on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be raffles, prizes and fried dough.

Shelburne Falls

  • The annual Rag Shag Parade will be held on Friday, Oct. 31. Kids and families will begin lining up outside of The Blue Rock Restaurant and Bar at 5:30 p.m. and march through the village to Fraternal Order of Eagles at 52 State St., where there will be cider, candy and doughnuts. The event is sponsored by the Eagles, with assistance from the Shelburne Falls Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8503.
  • The third annual Zombie Bar Crawl will be on Saturday, Oct. 25. Beginning at 6 p.m., adults are encouraged to come dressed in their best zombie garb, make new friends, and sample beverages from the village’s various bars. Participating venues include Juicebox Winebar, Fraternal Order of the Eagles, The Blue Rock Restaurant and Bar, Floodwater Brewing Co. and Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley.

Sunderland

Bub’s BBQ will hold its second annual trunk or treat on Friday, Oct. 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. There will also be pumpkin painting and carving, and participating vendors.

Wendell

  • Residents can stroll through a haunted village on the town common and go trick or treating on Saturday, Nov. 1. Meet at the gazebo at 5:45 p.m., then explore spooky houses. A rain date has been set for Sunday, Nov. 2. Anyone who is interested in building a spooky house can contact the Wendell Free Library at 978-544-3559.
  • Deja Brew Cafe & Pub will hold a Halloween party with Lady Pop on Friday, Oct. 31, from 8 to 11 p.m.

Whately

Whately Elementary School’s Parent-Teacher Organization is hosting a trunk or treat in the school’s parking lot on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 3 to 3:30 p.m. The Best Costume and Best Trunk prizes will be awarded after trick or treating from 3:30 to 4 p.m.