ANOKA, Minn. — Few cities do Halloween better than Anoka.
Every year, the community comes together to organize a full month of Halloween activities.
This year marks 102 years of Halloween fun, and two years since the pandemic came along.
“I’d say last year was fairly normal, but you know, people were a little cautious, right? They didn’t know what to anticipate,” former parade organizer Liz McFarland said.
McFarland organized the parade both of those years.
She also owns the Anoka Clothing Company on Main Street.
“These events just bring so many people into town,” McFarland said. “I always say around 40 to 50 thousand people are in town for the big Grand Day Parade.”
The big parade will start on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
On Friday, the community held their annual kids parade in downtown.
“Everyone loves to see all the kids dressed up and the kids love it too. What kid doesn’t like being in a parade?” parade organizer Michelle Austin-Dehn said.
Austin-Dehn took over the parade this year. She is also relieved to finally have a “normal” year after COVID-19.
“I think it’s great. I think we all needed that. I think all of us have just needed to have that normal feeling again,” Austin-Dehn said.
The kids parade on Friday brought hundreds of kids and their families to town.
Austin-Dehn says that parade tends to draw in a lot of locals, but she says the big parade on Saturday can draw people from all over the state.
“It’s a big draw. We see a lot of new people and we love to show them what Anoka is all about,” Austin-Dehn said.
To see the full list of events in Anoka this week, click here.
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