Goons, goblins, ghosts and more will haunt the streets of Jacksonville for two nights as the city celebrates Halloween.
Trick-or-treating is one of the most highly-anticipated events of the year for local kids and ensuring everyone’s safety is essential for a fun-filled weekend.
WLDS-WEAI News spoke with Jacksonville Police Lieutenant Shawn Walker, who says local trick-or-treating is allowed on Sunday, October 30th and Monday, October 31st, between 6 and 9 p.m.
“That is for anybody who has not yet reached their thirteenth birthday. By the ordinance, the children are supposed to go no more than five blocks from their residence. It’s meant to be fun, they should have fun, but be safe doing so. Normally it goes very smoothly,” Walker explains.
Walker reminds children and parents of a few safety tips to remember throughout the evening.
“We certainly encourage parents and guardians to accompany children while they are trick-or-treating. Inspect the candy or any treats that they get and throw away anything that may be suspect. Obviously with a lot of foot traffic at that time of the night, it’s going to be dark, they need to be cautious when crossing the road. Make sure that they keep themselves visible to traffic and yield to oncoming traffic, because that is going to be pretty difficult for the people inside the cars to see,” says Walker.
Walker says typically there are very few incidents on Halloween, but to be safe, Jacksonville Police will be patrolling more than usual for those two nights.
Dates and times for trick-or-treating in South Jacksonville are the same as in Jacksonville, on the 30th and 31st from 6 to 9 p.m.
Also getting involved in the Halloween fun will be all 20 athletic teams from Illinois College. Over the two nights of local trick-or-treating, IC is sending out groups of athletes to collect canned food items or money to be donated to the Jacksonville Area Food Pantry.
If you have any questions regarding Halloween activities or trick-or-treating times in your area, contact your local law enforcement for further information.