Historic Halloween

If you suspend the disbelief that there was no Halloween in Williamsburg during the 1770s, you will find the presentation by Colonial Williamsburg in the Revolutionary City quadrant of the Historic Area to be quite compelling.  Welcome to “A Haunting on DoG Street: Blackbeard’s Revenge.” It’s designed to draw in more families to a wider, more interactive experience.

Outdoor exhibits of skeletons and pumpkins reflect the imagination of a creative programming staff. Bushel baskets of candy were ready at the Palmer House and other historic homes for giving out on the first night of the event, Friday the 30^th.

As the sun set over Duke of Gloucester Street, dozens and then hundreds of children in costume arrived with their parents in all manner of clever outfits for the first of several evening programs and games. Eventually the crowd grew to 4,000, according to a Colonial Williamsburg spokesman. A two-year-old boy wore his Batman costume in his Batman stroller. That was comparable to the iconic shot of the White House trick-or-treat earlier in the day when a toddler was dressed as the Pope and sat in his pope mobile toy car.

The strangest sight on Duke of Gloucester was a pumpkin-headed rider moving slowly along on a black horse with a skeleton outline in white. People were awed. The rider was among 100 staff in costume. The program and design staffs of Colonial Williamsburg have outdone themselves in the realm of creativity. 

Let’s go sail. To see the rates and reserve a date for a sailboat charter,  click here. To check out reviews from sailors, click here. To become a crew member on a charter sail or to tell us your sailing story, click here.