Halloween looked a little different this year thanks to the pandemic, but the virus didn’t do much to wipe out the spooky spirit.
Drive-thru treats, homemade candy chutes and masks instead of face paint — those are just some of the ways Chicagoans got creative Saturday as they tried to make the most of the candy-grabbing and costume-wearing celebration despite a variety of restrictions with COVID-19 cases surging statewide.
After Mayor Lori Lightfoot decided not to cancel Halloween, some neighborhoods and schools hosted weekend events as a way to let families safely celebrate the holiday.
At “Halloween on Catalpa” hosted by the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, hundreds of ghosts, goblins and other characters stopped at spaced-out tents for candy and other goodies over the course of the six-hour event, including the Walzer family.
Halloween is second to only Christmas as the Walzer family’s favorite holiday. They originally planned to go to a friend’s house in the suburbs to trick-or-treat, but with cases on the rise, they opted to stay close to home.
“It doesn’t seem like a great idea right now,” said Jennifer Walzer, who lives in Rogers Park. “[We’re] probably not going to do traditional trick-or-treating… We might do a scavenger candy hunt instead.”
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22004382/TRICKORTREAT_110120_9.jpg "Candy chutes and drive-thru treats: Chicagoans get creative
for COVID-19 Halloween 2")
Walzer’s 6-year-old daughter, Amelia, who was dressed as a witch with a floral face mask, said this will be a Halloween to remember.
“Different than all the other Halloweens,” said Amelia.
JJ Stankevitz shared a sneak peak on Twitter as to what trick-or-treaters can expect when they stop by his Old Irving Park home.
Stankevitz created a makeshift candy chute using PVC pipes, duct tape and a leaf blower after seeing various examples on social media.
“[I] wanted to figure out one that wouldn’t take much effort to set up but would still be effective in getting trick-or-treaters their candy,” he said.
Stankevitz and his wife wanted to take their 11-month-old twins on a walk around the neighborhood during Saturday afternoon’s festivities. However, they decided against it because of the coronavirus.
“Hopefully by the time our boys are old enough to go trick-or-treating, we’ll be done with the pandemic and won’t have to have candy chutes,” he said.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22004383/TRICKORTREAT_110120_10.jpg "Candy chutes and drive-thru treats: Chicagoans get creative
for COVID-19 Halloween 3")
