Halloween is just around the corner and kids and parents are gearing up for the festivities. Costumes, decorations, fireworks, and more are all on the table, but trick-or-treating may not be one of them. Last year children were permitted to go trick-or-treating as long as a mask was worn. People handing out candy concerned with social distancing and infection resorted to throwing the candy to the kids from a safe distance, giving out candy hands free, or keeping a bowl of candy on the porch for kids to take. Nonetheless tensions were high for many in a questionable period of the pandemic.
A new poll came out this year asking the general public about their views on Halloween, suggesting not as many doors will be open this year. The online poll done by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies asked parents if they let their child trick-or-treat last year and if so, are letting them do it again this year. 252 of the 447 participants let their children dress up and go door to door last year. Of those 252 participants, 93% of them say they will likely let their kids do the same thing this Sunday. Of the 56% people who said they disallowed their children to go out last year, half of them said they would normally dish out candy on Halloween, but due to the health risks they would not partake in doing so.
Pixabay / gadgemayur
Despite the fear circulating around Halloween, the executive vice-president of Leger, Christian Bourque put out a statement saying some parents who kept their kids inside may allow them to go out on October 31st given the high vaccination rates now compared to last year. Rules are in place across Canada to ensure people have an enjoyable and safe time this Halloween. Specifically in British Columbia, people that partake in Halloween will need to continue to wear a mask outside and use hand sanitizer or wash their hands often. People are being urged to hand out sealed and pre-packaged candy outside on their porch. Anyone who is attending an indoor social gathering should be vaccinated, however no limits are in place for the amount of people you can have over.
With the dampening of restrictions comes the arrival of Halloween events. You can get your spook on to get you and your friends and family in the spirit at some of these scary spots across the lower mainland. Fantasy Farms out in Chilliwack is perfect for anyone looking for a scare. Fantasy Farms’ haunted house “Reapers Haunted Attractions” is sure to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up. Crazed asylum patients and evil doctors roam the halls as you tread with utmost caution, fearing for what’s around the next corner. If that isn’t enough of a fright for you, Fantasy Farms’ offers a terrifying experience in the corn maze. With no lights and no sense of direction, you must navigate yourself to the end while the masked madman from Chainsaw Massacre stalks the field with his chainsaw in search of his next victim.
Pixabay / webandi
If you’re looking for something more family friendly, Laity Pumpkin Patch in Maple Ridge may be the place to satisfy all your needs for the autumn season. Laity offers the public a look at their vast pumpkin patch, a petting zoo inside a barn full of cute farm animals, and many other activities including wagon rides, panning for gold, and a corn maze. Laity Pumpkin Patch brings back so many nostalgic feelings from when I was a kid. My favourite part about Laity is that from the hundreds of pumpkins out in the field you’re able to choose one and bring it home or carve it at the pumpkin carving station at Laity Pumpkin Patch. Tickets to the pumpkin patch are only $10 for people ages 3+, but time is running out to attend. Laity Pumpkin Patch is only open till the 31st of October. You can reserve tickets to the pumpkin patch to ensure you get in on their website at https://laitypumpkinpatch.com/tickets.
To say the least, the festivities for Halloween are in abundance this year, but for many fireworks may not be one. The Vancouver Government put out a statement last year announcing fireworks would be banned for the coming years due to health risks and noise complaints by many Vancouver residents. The Vancouver Government is following through with this ban of amateur pyrotechnics, disallowing residents of Vancouver the ability to purchase, sell, or use fireworks. Breaking these rules could result in a $1,000 fine to anyone involved. Only those with both a federal operator certificate and a municipal fire permit may use fireworks for commercial use only.
This issue of banning fireworks is not a new issue to Vancouver when Green Councillor Pete Fry brought the issue to light in 2019.
“It’s been an ongoing issue, especially for the folks who have pets or folks with PTSD, the distressing anxiety over fireworks,” Fry said at the time.
Fry’s gripes with fireworks were not only with the effects it had on people and animals suffering from PTSD, but with the damages they could potentially set upon neighbourhoods and people.
Back in 2015 a Vancouver family lost their home to a fire when a roman candle was shot and landed on the porch setting the house ablaze. Patricia Mitchell’s Home was up in flames within minutes as the fire spread around the house. Her brother and tenant were in the house at the time and narrowly escaped as the structure started to collapse. “The fire department said, ‘One more minute and your brother would have been dead,’” Mitchell told reporters. The ones who shot the roman candle were never caught creating a nightmarish 5 years of legal issues and trouble for Mitchell and her family.
Another incident in 2020 caused major backlash towards the sale of fireworks when a Vancouver senior, 88 was burned while sleeping when a firework burst through her window and hit her head. Luckily she only suffered minor injuries.Thankfully no fire broke out and police were quick to the scene only finding the cardboard casing in which the firework was shot from.
Law enforcement and fire departments are wary that the ban of fireworks will result in the boom of an underground market for unregulated pyrotechnics. Vancouver Officers are saying that people must be cautious this year and stay mindful of those around you.
Hopefully with this information you can navigate the do’s and don’ts of an ever growing and ever hectic holiday. Stay safe and Happy Halloween.