Over the years, Longmont has celebrated Halloween as a community, by coming together on Main Street. Longmont’s Halloween Parade & Trick or Treat Street occurred on October 28 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. There was music, candy, and a parade for all ages dressed in costumes. In this parade, you can follow many school bands, and many stores on the street have someone handing out candy. Kids and adults can walk behind the band in their costumes.

Silver Creek’s marching band has participated in the parade for a while now and after a few years, the Thriller dance, taught by William Legg, has become an assumption to all students who perform.

“There’s a long story to how we started the Thriller dance, but when we did it everybody loved it and it’s become this expectation that we do the Thriller dance at the Halloween parade,” Legg said.

Not only do teachers enjoy the dance, but students also find a source of happiness while being part of it. One of them being Nicole Sosa-Olivier, a sophomore at Silver Creek.

“The thing that makes the parade the most special is the thriller dance. We all come together as a band, and we learn the thriller dance together, then we teach the 8th graders, over at Altona the dance and the music and perform it together, during the parade.” Olivier said.

Even after all these years, Longmont still makes the parades special and fun for everyone.

“Longmont likes parades, honestly, and they like parades that are kind of loose and fun as well. We do a number of parades every year and for the most part the bands just bring energy and fun and they’re dancing down the streets.” Legg stated.

“I think people just enjoy it and it started out as a trick or treating where kids would trick or treat with their parents, and get candy and then they just added bands.” Legg said.

The parade is special to many people, including Nannette McMurtry. McMurtry is a parent of a student at Silver Creek and works for the district. She believes that the parade is special because of the community.

“For us, it’s that feeling of ‘small town’ in our ‘big town’ that happens when we are a part of the parade or watching the parade. I know it’s also wonderful for the businesses downtown to engage with the community by hosting the trick-or-treating after the parade!” Says McMurty.

If traveling down Main Street in a parade collecting candy from different stores isn’t something you would enjoy, you could always come and sit on the side of the street, watching all the people in their costumes walk by. This is also another one of McMurtry’s favorite things about the event.

“I love seeing the creativity in the costumes, especially the group costumes where entire families or groups have a unique theme. Although, even predictable themes like Star Wars are fun to see, too!”

The parade is a great way to get out of your house and celebrate pre-Halloween! Even if you don’t want to participate in the parade it is still fun to sit and watch all the costumes and music travel down the road. Longmont’s Halloween Parade & Trick or Treat Street fosters a sense of community spirit, creativity, and festive fun, making it a cherished annual tradition for residents of all ages to come together and celebrate Halloween in a uniquely vibrant way.