Every year, the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) and residents organize a Halloween Parade and Party when our little neighbors can showcase their cute/scary/funny costumes. This year is no exception. The parade will be held on Monday, Oct. 31, beginning at 4:30 p.m. (gathering starts after 4 p.m. at 45th and Baltimore).

The parade will proceed to the 4200 block of Osage Ave. (Little Osage) where the annual Halloween Party will be held until 7 p.m. Neighbors and local businesses will be treating the tots to cider and baked goods.

The parade has taken place over the past eighteen years and has grown each year.

For more information, visit the SHCA website. Also, check this Facebook event page for latest information.

The Woodlands Cemetery and Mansion will be hosting a number of cool events this month to help you get into the Halloween spirit. We have compiled the listings below. Also check out The Woodlands website (www.woodlandsphila.org) for more information. Note: The annual Woodlands Gobble Wobble Fun Run will take place November 12. Click here for more details.

HollyWoodlands Movie Night 

Saturday, Oct. 15, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

HollyWoodlands is back for a Double Feature evening: first watch the original Ghostbusters and then stick around for the Halloween classic, Poltergeist! In addition, enjoy snacks from PB & Jams and BYO smores supplies for The Woodlands’ firepits. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film starts at 7 p.m. Costumes are encouraged but not required. Requested donation: $10 for adults, $2 for children under 12. You can register online here. Rain date: Sunday, Oct. 16.  Continue Reading

The popular local dance group, Philly Thriller (Facebook page), which holds Michael Jackson inspired flash-mob performances on the streets of West Philly every Halloween, will be entertaining the crowds this year as well. We got in touch with the group director Rashida Holmes to see where folks can catch them this Saturday. According to Holmes, they’ll be at Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore) tomorrow from 5:30-6:45 p.m., so don’t miss their performances. For more Halloween events, go here.

Photo by West Philly Local reader Dan Chen.

The 5th annual West Philly Local Pumpkin Carving Contest is underway, and you can still enter it before it closes at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. Many thanks to everyone who already sent us photos of their pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns! We hope to receive more though. Don’t be shy, take a snapshot of your pumpkin and email it along with your name and address to: contest@westphillylocal.com and who knows, maybe you can win some great prizes provided by our sponsors: Curio Theatre, Greensgrow Farms, Lil’ Pop Shop, Local 44, Mariposa Food Coop, Renata’s Kitchen, and VIX Emporium. More info on how to enter the contest can be found here.

By the way, you don’t have to be an artist to win our contest, you just have to be really into it, according to our multiple prize winner Bimal Desai. Bimal is a pediatrician at CHOP and lives with his wife Naomi, also a pediatrician, and 6-year-old twins, Sam and Mauli, in Spruce Hill. We interviewed Bimal last year, but didn’t get a chance to publish the interview then. We’re publishing some excerpts from the interview now and hope Bimal’s excitement about pumpkin carving will inspire you.  Continue Reading

We hope you’re already getting into the Halloween spirit. Here’s an assortment of spooky and fun events happening this Saturday. If you know of any other events that are not included in the list please email: editor@westphillylocal.com or use the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to submit a photo of your carved pumpkin or jack-o’-lantern for our Pumpkin Carving Contest. UPDATE: On Friday, Oct. 30, The Woodlands Cemetery and Curio Theatre are inviting everyone to spend a Mischief Night with them. The event starts at 6 p.m. Go here for more information.

Saturday, Oct 31 – Halloween!

• The annual Spruce Hill Halloween Parade starts at 45th and Larchwood at 3:30 p.m. (gathering begins at 3 p.m. near 45th and Baltimore). The parade is followed by a party on the 4200 block of Osage Ave.

• The Locust Moon Comics Festival, which will be held at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut) from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., coincided this year with Halloween celebrations. The annual festival, organized by West Philly’s own comic shop, is a celebration of comics, illustration, and the graphic arts.

            Photo courtesy of Penn Museum.

• The Mexican Cultural Center, the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia, and the Penn Museum present a Day of the Dead celebration at the museum (3260 South St.), from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.. Enjoy Mexican culture and the rich traditions of Día de los Muertos at this family-friendly afternoon filled with music and dance, puppetry and storytelling, and arts and crafts.

• International House Philadelphia (3701 Chestnut St.) is offering two “spooktacular” films. The first is a special Family Matinee showing of “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” at 2 p.m. Tickets are just $5 for kids and adults and free for IHP members. For adult moviegoers, the second film is “Vampyr“, a 1932 horror classic from Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer that screens at 7 p.m. ($9).  Continue Reading

Spiral Q’s Peoplehood Parade is this Saturday.

Here’s an assortment of events happening this weekend in West Philly and vicinity. For more events, check out our Events page. Also, it’s time to carve your pumpkin and enter it in our Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest!

Saturday, Oct. 24

• Give Kids Sight Day – Free eye care and eyeglasses at Give Kids Sight Day from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Medical College Alumni Hall, 1020 Locust St. No appointments or insurance is necessary.

• A free document-shredding event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at State Rep. James Roebuck’s district office, 4712 Baltimore Ave.

• Spruce Hill Community Association is hosting a Fall Book Sale and Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their office (257 S 45th St.).

• From The Robeson House to Clark Park: the 16th annual Peoplehood Parade will kick off at 1 p.m.

• Catch Curio Theatre’s new show “The Handmaid’s Tale” on the main stage (48th and Baltimore), 8 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 25

• Join your neighbors for Halloween Family Fun Day at The Woodlands (40th and Woodland), 12 – 4 p.m.

• Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra presents music from 5,000 years of civilization at Kimmel Center (300 S Broad St.), 2 p.m.

• A Classical Arab Music and Poetry concert by Al-Bustan Takht Ensemble, with poetry reading by Ahmad Almallah, Trinity Center for Urban Life (22nd and Spruce), 4 p.m.