What a joy to be able to return to the chaos that is Heddington Halloween after three long years. Although we had hundreds of visitors in 2021, I did not run the event then due to the pandemic as it wasn’t yet safe to do so. This year, I chose another ‘classic’ Halloween theme in the Addams Family, with a portrait that took I’d say 20 hours longer to paint than anticipated. It was finished at 3:30 in the morning of October 31st, with City TV’s Breakfast Television arriving at 6:00 am to set up live interviews at 7:00.  Needless to say, I was running on fumes but it all worked out well, especially when the cameraman was able to help me get the poster up on the front lawn. Gomez, as a pumpkin, and Cousin It graced the front porch as about 700 children came trick or treating, notwithstanding the pouring rain (again…sigh). 

We had beautiful face painting and a fabulous DJ for the night, as the kids and their families had such a great post-pandemic night.   CTV and Global were on hand with further press coverage for the event, with 680 News airing some wonderful interviews the weekend before. An estimated 4 million viewers, readers and listeners tuned in this year. We raised over $2,300 for SickKids, with the event total now reaching over $27,000. For all of this, I have to do a huge shout-out to my fabulous neighbours on Heddington, 25 of which had my displays on their lawns for this year’s event.   Without their help, Heddington Halloween could not have happened. 

Next year, I’m thinking of going ‘simpler’ (I say that every year) and getting it done beforehand (also a yearly fantasy) so that I can truly enjoy the event itself without being sleep deprived. I’ve settled on Ghostbusters for Halloween 2023 and I hope to see many of you dressed to theme! If anyone has  a line on a king-sized inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, do let me know……