Spooky Fun Awaits at Riverhead’s Annual Halloween Fest!

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Coffin Races, Trick-or-Treating, and a Goblin Parade Set to Delight on October 19th

Downtown Riverhead will once again transform into a hauntingly fun hometown for its annual Halloween Fest on October 19, 2024 at 2pm (rain date: October 26th). This festive celebration is perfect for the whole family, with a jam-packed schedule of spooky activities, including the thrilling Coffin Races, trick-or-treating, and the crowd-favorite Goblin Parade. Come dressed in your best costumes and enjoy a ghoulish day of fun on Main Street!

The Coffin Races: A Spooky Spectacle

2pm: Main Street

Kicking off the festivities is the highly anticipated Coffin Races at 2 PM on Main Street. Teams of five, divided into two age groups – Ghoulies (5-12 years old) and Zombies (12+), will compete in a fast-paced race to the finish line. Each team’s custom-made coffin must meet specific design specifications, including size and safety features, and will be inspected prior to the race. The top team in each age group will win a $500 cash prize, ensuring that participants bring their best—and spookiest—game to the competition.

Racers will compete in multiple heats, with each heat consisting of two coffins. The team with the fastest time in each heat will advance to the next round until a champion is crowned. Make sure to arrive early to cheer on your favorite teams and witness the creativity and skill on display!

Trick-or-Treating Extravaganza

3-5pm: Main Street

Following the Coffin Races, from 3 PM to 5 PM, little ghouls and goblins can enjoy trick-or-treating along Main Street. Local businesses and vendors will offer treats, and families can explore the downtown area in full costume. This is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the festive decorations, connect with the Riverhead community, and support the local businesses!

Goblin Parade: A March of Frights and Fun

6pm: Starting at Griffing Avenue Intersection

As the sun sets, the festivities continue with the Goblin Parade, which kicks off at 6 PM from the Griffing Avenue intersection and marches east on Main Street, concluding at Town Square. Parade participants are encouraged to walk, drive, or perform in costume, with cash prizes awarded for the best costumes based on a People’s Choice vote. The grand prize for the best costume is $300, followed by $200 for second place and $100 for third. Whether you’re joining in the parade or simply watching, this is one of the most spirited events of the day.

Family Fun and Community Spirit at Halloween Fest

Halloween Fest is more than just a day of spooky fun; it’s a celebration of community spirit. Each year, Downtown Riverhead comes alive with decorations, family-friendly activities, and opportunities to support local businesses. Be sure to take in the autumnal sights, including cornstalks and festive pink and orange décor in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which will be adorning the lampposts along the streets.

Join the Fun at Halloween Fest

Whether you’re racing down Main Street in a coffin, collecting candy, or marching in the Goblin Parade, Halloween Fest promises to deliver a day full of excitement and fun for all ages. So mark your calendars for October 19th, and don’t miss out on Riverhead’s spookiest celebration of the year!

For more information, including coffin race specifications, registration, and parade guidelines, visit Downtown Riverheads official website or contact [email protected].

For more Halloween Events, click HERE!

Melissa Farrell

Melissa Farrell has a mission to support local business by "Going Local." As a local business owner herself, she understands the struggles entrepreneurs face when owning a business and is always trying to find ways to shine a spotlight onto them. Melissa started Going Local Tours & Experiences back in 2020 during the pandemic in hopes to bring people back into local restaurants and shops. She created food tours in Huntington, NY that would stop at 3-4 local businesses and gave the guests the chance to meet the owner and hear the story behind the business. She soon realized how powerful storytelling is when connecting people to local businesses and created options with local store owners as well to bring them onto the tour to share their story. Melissa wanted to expand out of Huntington to be able to support even more local businesses and started creating luxury picnics where she would bring local to you! She would find local businesses in the area of the picnic set up and deliver it to you offering ways to support over 3 local businesses at each picnic. This wasn't enough. She wanted to find a better way to help spread awareness of local businesses and share their stories. Enter Evangeline Knell...a woman with over 30 years of broadcasting experience who somehow convinced Melissa to host a 3 day live stream from the Huntington Fall Festival. She had never been on camera before, but working alongside Evie to create the 3 shows, gave Melissa the confidence to take on the challenge. The 3 shows produced focused on the local vendors, the food trucks and the events that occurred at the festival and had a much larger reach than Melissa could ever of done on her own. They soon realized a business partnership was needed and combined their two businesses, Identity Digital which is a production company and Going Local Tours and Experiences to form Going Local Media. Evie and Melissa even formed their own distribution outlet by creating Going Local TV, a streaming platform like Netflix or YouTube, that is all about local businesses, events and organizations on Long Island. There are over 200 videos including their podcast series "Let's Get Local" "Long Island Business Minds" and "Local Business Spotlight" that help spread awareness of our local businesses and Long Island Professionals. They are always thinking up new ways to support local, including this site, Going Local Long Island is a directory of articles on how to Go Local on Long Island. We appreciate you taking the time to read this and for supporting local! Thank you!

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