Welcome to the Halloween Capital of the World
Anoka, Minnesota
Who would have thought that a small town in Minnesota would be named the Halloween Capital of the World? Anoka, Minnesota, a town with a population of approximately 17,000, took on that title in 1920 after hosting one of the first Halloween parades.
This celebration of Halloween began as a way to encourage children to avoid Halloween pranks and tricks and celebrate in a more appropriate, socially accepted way. It began on November 1, 1919 when citizens of Anoka woke up in the morning to pranks of epic proportions at the hands of some of the local youth. As the sun rose, community members were greeted by wagons parked precariously on rooftops, overturned outhouses, and cows roaming freely throughout downtown and inside the halls of the county jails. To prevent a similar debacle happening in the following years, the Halloween parade was born. By the 1930s, the festivities had expanded as had the attendance at the parades, as over 2,000 costumed children marched down Main Street and over 20,000 spectators lined the streets to partake in the festivities. In 1937, an ambitious 12-year-old named Harold Blair donned a sweater embellished with a Halloween Capital insignia and carried with him to Washington D.C. a proclamation naming Anoka the Halloween Capital of the World. This decades long celebration has occurred every year since, pausing only in 1942 and 1943 during World War II.
The festivities during the Halloween season include activities like pillow fights, a kangaroo court, firework displays, royalty coronations, concerts, dances, window painting contests, house decorating contests, celebrity appearances, costume contests, style shows, races, and, in the 1960s, a snake dance that took long lines of participants in and out of area businesses and homes. There are also two different parades, one involving the children of the town donned in their Halloween contests, and the big parade they have on the afternoon the day before Halloween. They also have a Light up the Night Parade where the lights on Main Street are turned down low to showcase one-of-a-kind floats with lights.
This year, Anoka will be celebrating their 101st year as the Halloween Capital of the World. Even though Halloween only happens once a year, this town enjoys it every day of the year, including having a giant pumpkin painted in a roundabout and a gift shop with a small museum that is open year-round and dedicated to sharing the history of how Anoka earned its coveted moniker. To view the events and see more about the history of Anoka, Minnesota, you can visit their website at https://anokahalloween.com. Although Halloween is celebrated just about everywhere, if the residents of Anoka have anything to say about it, nobody does Halloween quite like they do.
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