Starkville’s Parks and Recreation Department will host its annual Hail-Oween festival this evening at the Starkville Sportsplex.
Hail-Oween is the department’s Halloween festival and is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
The festival will include a Halloween egg hunt, which will begin for 4-year-olds at 5:30 p.m. on the Cadence Field. Another egg hunt will begin for 5- to 7-year-olds at 5:40 at the M&F Field, and a third will start at 5:50 p.m. for 8- to 11-year-olds at the KFK Field.
Starkville Parks and Recreation Director Gerry Logan said the department is looking forward to holding the event, which will include various other activities.
“We’re excited to host this event again this year,” Logan said. “We’ve expanded the activities offered to include more bounce houses, a game truck and food vendors.”
Logan also said SPRD will provide shuttle services from J.L. King Park for those who don’t have transportation to the Sportsplex. The first shuttle will pick up at J.L. King Park at 5 p.m. and the last shuttle will drop off at 8 p.m.
Starkville Parks and Recreation Programming Supervisor Lisa Cox said in a press release that the department is also encouraging people to bring cans of food to the United Way trunk-or-treat booth. United Way is seeking to gather 15 tons of food to help stock food pantries for the coming holiday season and winter months.
“This event is open to anyone who’d like to come,” Cox said. “We hope that this will be a great opportunity for the kids of Starkville to have some fun for Halloween.”
Logan said last year’s Hail-Oween festival drew about 1,000 people, and Starkville Parks and Recreation is expecting that many or more this year.
“This is just a great opportunity to bring folks together,” Logan said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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