In Salem, the Halloween season starts up in September but the first Thursday in October is the official kickoff when the annual Haunted Happenings Parade takes place.
This year's theme was movie monsters and I have to say this was probably the best Halloween parade they've done. It's probably in part due to the theme being something I'm very much into but there were also lots of great costumes and floats/vehicles too.
I make it part of my seasonal celebration when I'm able to go. Every year I take photos because I want to share it with people who aren't there. And every year, the photos come out terrible. This is what happens when you try to take pictures at night of moving objects and don't have a pro-level camera (or skill to know how to use one).
But, lucky for you, Creative Salem has both those things! They've got close to 200 photos of the parade setup, progression, and people that attended. You can check those out here.
And if you have about an hour to kill, you can watch the entire parade as broadcast by Salem Access TV. Sadly, the sound is a gamble but you can throw on your favorite Halloween record. The parade starts around the 2:33:00 mark...or you can just watch downtown Salem for a couple hours until it starts. It'll be just like you got there early to get a good seat!
Be sure to visit all the Halloween houses by clicking the link below!
I took a look at the photos on the facebook page. There are some good costumes there! A nice mix of funny and spooky. Oddly, the scariest one to me was the popcorn container! I love that there's a witch on the Salem High School banner. And the band's colors are orange and black! How cool is that? I wonder if the school mascot is a witch? I'm envious of the kids going to that school. I would have loved all that. And how cool to have the trolleys in the parade! I love the Jurassic Park Jeep with the dinosaur too. :) There's a funny kid in that photo. He's looking pretty scared. And the Batmobile, with a little orange added! I want that! I could go on and on. :) Great photos.
ReplyDeleteI'll give the video a watch later on. I know what you mean about adding a video with questionable sound. I wanted to add a video to my last blog post but ended up going with another one because of music issues. It had one of the worst rap songs I've ever heard attached to it! I figure the guy who made the video also did the rapping. ;)
Yes, the Salem High School team is naturally the Witches. Their colors are actually Red, White and Black. The Target in Salem actually sells Salem Witches shirts and baseball caps.
DeleteThe trolleys are a good touristy thing to do. You can pay one price and can get off and back on all day. They do give a little bit of history as you ride around town.
The video sound...some parts have no sound, some have really low sound, and others have normal sound. Seems to depend on which camera they cut to. It's really a shame because in some parts, the music the floats are playing just adds to the experience.
How awesome! I didn't know there was a parade. We were in Salem yesterday, just love walking around and exploring. Count Orlock's Museum may be my favorite. So amazing. Also loved touring the House of Seven Gables, but really, I could just walk around all day and be a happy dude.
ReplyDeleteThere's a street fair on the weekends with all sorts of vendors and some people are walking around dressed in costumes.
DeleteCount Orlock's is amazing and I always tell horror fans that it should be the one thing they do when they visit.