Fishers’ favorite Halloween celebration, Boo Bash, will feature some new offerings this year, the largest of which includes a new, Sensory-Friendly Hour and a different location. The event will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 28.
NEW LOCATION
Previously, Boo Bash has set up at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheatre, but because of construction on the amphitheater, that location was not an option. Boo Bash will instead set up on the central green in front of City Hall, 1 Municipal Dr.
“The layout will be different. It’s in front (of City Hall) but has the same great things people expect, like the trick-or-treat village with different booths and seeing different costumes and experiencing the event,” said Tony Elliot, director of Fishers Parks and Recreation Dept. “Because of the construction, we are moving it out to the front this year, but it will be similar to years past with 60 vendors.”
Sensory-Friendly Hour
In an effort to create an all-inclusive event, Boo Bash will feature a Sensory-Friendly Hour from 5 to 6 p.m.
“With all of our events, we understand or we are trying to understand better and make our events as inclusive to everyone in the community as possible,” Elliot said. “If you have a young child or a child with autism, for example, those kids sometimes are sensitive to a lot of loud noises or bright lights or strobe lights or different sorts of stimuli. We are hoping that early 5 to 6 p.m. time could be parents with very young kids who might just be a little harder to wrangle during the time it’s dark, or it could be families with kids or a parent in a wheelchair where it’s more difficult to navigate the venue at night. Our goal with opening this up and doing a lights-on hour makes it more inclusive or more inviting for everybody, so nobody feels it’s too overwhelming. We want everyone to feel welcome to come out to Boo Bash.”
GOING SOCIAL
Another aspect new to Boo Bash is moving the costume contest to social media this year. Participants were required to submit their photos by Oct. 23, but the winners will be announced at Boo Bash.
“Families and individuals submit a photo of themselves in costume on a forum on our website, and then public voting will open Oct. 23,” said Kara Hall, marketing and public relations manager. “We encourage people that submit photos to share the photos with friends and family and get as many people to like their photos. The top five with the most likes wins the costume contest. There are no categories, it is purely public voting. We want to make Boo Bash a social event this year.”
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Food trucks will be available and the Halloween Village will return.
“Boo Bash at its core is the Halloween Village,” Elliot said. “The event is in sort a perfect marriage of parks and recreation mixed with community engagement. So in the Halloween Village, we invite the community and businesses and nonprofits to come out and take over a booth. So different businesses and nonprofits come out and decorate the booth and (the public) has the opportunity to meet different companies or nonprofits and have an interaction and pick up candy at each booth. It’s a safe trick or treating opportunity but a unique way to engage with businesses and different individuals in the city.”
Last year, approximately 7,000 people attended the event and Elliot doesn’t expect the change in location to deter people. For more, visit fishers.in.us/boobash.
Social interaction
In addition to moving the costume contest to Facebook, the city is creating more opportunities for the public to interact socially through Boo Bash.
“We are encouraging people to snap photos at Boo Bash and submit (to social media) using #fishersboobash and after the event, we pick the top five best photos of the event and announce winners on Halloween,” said Kara Hall, marketing and public relations manager. “There’s just a lot of chances for people to interact and get social with us and engage through the community with our Facebook page this year, which is really cool and new.”
