What to Know
- Saturday, Oct. 28
- The celebration includes a daytime festival with music and a costume contest; the parade begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall
- Free
"Homespun" and "Halloween" don't exactly sound the same, but they look quite similar, and, in certain magical instances, they feel almost identical, too.
That is because some special Halloween events started as homespun hometown happenings, and, even as the decades have passed, and more people have come to enjoy the fun, the parties have kept that community character and joyful outlook.
Anaheim is not a small town, it's true, but the city does possess that small-town spirit, thanks partly to residents' devotion to beloved traditions like the Anaheim Fall Festival and Parade.
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How beloved-y is this bash, a day-into-night festivity that usually takes place on the Saturday before Halloween? The haunt-happy hullabaloo is marking 100 amazing years in 2023.
Things won't be too drastically different, of course, at the event, which revels and rolls on Oct. 28, and that's the way fans love it.
They want to cheer for Andy Anaheim, the parade's enduring and ant-tastic mascot, and they want to wow over the parade's well-known flying saucer, Space Girl, the top-hatted spider on wheels, Grumpy Tree, and other quaint touchstones of the decades-old delight.
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But odes to the celebration's 100th year will be all around, and the grand marshal? Talk about welcoming a titan of fanciful family entertainment: Sid Krofft of Sid & Marty Krofft will be performing the honors.
Another ode can be found at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, which is route-adjacent: An exhibit spotlighting the "exuberant and visually spectacular" event. That's on view through Nov. 5, so stop by in the days following the festival and parade to check it out (but do peruse the museum's times and ticket prices first).
And, of course, the Halloween Tree, that orange-bright icon that stands tall in the heart of Anaheim each October, will be full of jack-o'lantern-style glow on the evening of the parade. Disneyland is the sponsor of the 2023 tree, which is just one of many connections that the event has with its world-famous neighbor.
Take a look back now at some sweet parade favorites, then plan to be there at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 to behold the wonder for yourself. Happy 100th, Anaheim Fall Festival and Halloween Parade!
