With the fall season nearly a month in the books, orange has a tight grip on American culture right now ranging from pumpkin spice sweets to huge leaf piles.
Although the weather has not been of the traditional autumn type for the Grays Harbor area, that hasn’t stopped people from preparing for Halloween. As people begin to present carved pumpkins and spooky decorations, one local organization is looking to increase the Halloween-themed festivities.
Harbor Markets & Events will be hosting a Halloween Costume Contest, Book Reading and Vendor Market this weekend. The event, which will be hosted by Fatima Marketing & Business Advocacy 4 Women, will feature a vendor market, a children’s costume contest, an adult costume contest and a book reading by local author Amber Vonda.
“So far we have 22 different types of vendors ranging from street tacos, face painting, kid’s entertainment, and arts and crafts among other things,” said Tasha Ross, the lead organizer of the event. “Our goal is to have something for everybody to enjoy no matter what age group they’re in.”
Ross, who was one of the lead organizers for the pumpkin carving contest hosted by Harbor Markets & Events in Hoquiam on Oct. 8, said while the promotion of the costume contest event wasn’t as in-depth as the pumpkin carving event, the hope is that a good turnout will happen.
“I couldn’t tell you what we think the turnout will be, but I’ve had people reach out for more information and our Facebook page has had around 60 people respond to the invite, so the hope is that we see a good number of people because these events are fun with more people.”
Like the layout of the pumpkin carving contest, the children’s version of the costume contest will be broken down into age groups from zero to four, five to 11, and 12 to 17. Children are free to participate, and the winner of each age group will receive a trophy and gift certificate to a dessert-themed establishment in the Harbor. Ross said she will see if the vendors will want to donate anything to be put in a gift basket for each winner.
As for the adult costume contest, the fee to enter is $20 in a winner’s pot with the winner taking home half of the money entered. The other half will go to help the venue pay for any bills. Costume contest fees can be paid in cash only at the venue.
