The kind of Halloween people think of when they think of a small town Halloween
Kären and I moved here in 2022. We wanted to be good stewards of the neighborhood, so for that first Halloween I bought at meaningful amount of candy. Not too much – we’re not the house handing out full-sized bars, or anything – but enough to not make us a target.
And no one showed up. Well, not no one. Maybe two kids over the course of the whole night. We had a lot of leftover candy.
We learned a simple truth. In the greater Salida area, everyone goes to F Street.
I describe Halloween on F Street to my North Carolina friends as a family-friendly version of Halloween on Franklin Street. In recent years the city has leaned into it. About ten blocks of F Street are shut down – from a few blocks south of Alpine Park, to Riverside Park. Alpine Park hosts the city Halloween Festival, and the block just north of the park is where the annual Salida Thriller dance is held.
The Thriller dance is a hallmark of F Street on Salida. From roughly 5:30 until 8 p.m., volunteer dancers – ahem, volunteer zombies – perform a two-minute version of the Thriller dance every fifteen(ish) minutes to a gathered crowd of hundreds of F Street Halloween-goers.
Things stay pretty tame in the early evening. Folks are enjoying the festival atmosphere, but not enjoying it too much. The Alpine Park festival has a beer and wine tent, but for the most part people behave while the kids are around. There’s enough room to move around and enjoy the creativity and fun people inject into their costumes. Salida folks save the wildin’ out for parties at the Vic, Office Bar, or High Side, later in the evening.
Salida folks come to play on Halloween. Kids, parents, young adults. They bring it. Check out the photos below.
