Downtown Riverhead is getting ready for its annual Halloween-themed weekend of “spooktacular” events, the Riverhead Business Improvement District announced yesterday.
Halloween Fest Riverhead, hosted by the Riverhead BID, will take place Oct. 25-26, with day and night activities, restaurant specials and entertainment for ghouls and goblins of all ages.
The Suffolk Theater kicks off the weekend Friday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. with a free screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (Note: There is a $20 per person food and beverage minimum.)
The historic Vail-Leavitt Music Hall is staging Bram Stoker’s “Dracula, The Play” with performances on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 (seniors 65 and over, $25) and are available online here.
Following the Run for the Ridley 5K, hosted by N.Y. Marine Rescue Center on Saturday, Oct. 26 (start time: 8 a.m.), Halloween festivities begin with the Bats, Barnacles and Broomsticks children’s party at the Long Island Aquarium at 11 a.m.
BID-sponsored activities get underway at 3 p.m. with the Coffin Races on Griffing Avenue, in front of the court house (check-in: 2 p.m. for participants). Teams build a coffin according to BID specs and race the street for a chance to win cash prizes in ‘Youth’ and ‘Open’ categories.
Trick or treating takes place on Main Street from 4 to 6 p.m., from Griffing Hardware to the Long Island Aquarium, as businesses and community members hand out candy sponsored by sPower, in partnership with the Riverhead BID.
As night falls, music by Beach-101.7 FM will fill the air and the “Reflextions Riverhead: Art in the Park,” walkable light art and fire display returns to Grangebel Park, with the addition of Halloween-themed sights, beginning at 6 p.m.
The Grand Halloween Parade steps off at 7 p.m. on Griffing Avenue (participants line up at 6), heads south on Griffing to Main Street, then east along Main Street, finishing at the showmobile stage at the Peconic Riverfront park.
There will be performances by local theater groups (Peconic Ballet Theater will perform “Thriller”) and others. Cash prizes will be awarded by the BID for best costume, best-decorated car and other stand-outs.
Rain date for outdoor events: Oct. 27.
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