How To Organize A Drive-and-Wave Halloween Parade

We are currently in the middle of a pandemic and not being able to see our friends, some neighbors, and family the way we used to. I would have never thought we would not be able to go to our playdates, dance classes, birthday parties, or even some local parks to meet new friends to play with.

Now that we are five months (WOW!) into the pandemic, I am seeing a pattern that things are not going to change anytime soon and this is our new normal. With Sweet T, wanting to play more and experience more, I am thinking of fun, social-distancing ideas for us to enjoy so that this year is not a total waste.

Since most of us have been stuck in the house for most of the year and our kids cannot bear another minute inside the house during, yet another holiday, I have decided to prepare our neighborhood for a Halloween Parade!

How to organize a spooky halloween parade in your neighborhood

What is a Halloween Parade?

What exactly is a Halloween Parade? To be honest, I knew some people would view a Halloween Parade in so many different ways. With this idea, I got so many other ideas that could work for social-distancing while still enjoying the holiday.

The first idea for a Halloween Parade was like any other celebratory parade (think homecoming parade) with cars and kids walking through the street. Since that approach could be dangerous (with the littles) and also murky with the 6-feet-apart rule, this would not be ideal for the time we are in.

The second idea (which will be featured in this post) was to organize a drive-and-wave parade! If you have been on social media and noticed the at-home celebrations going, you may have come across a few posts where parents are giving their kids a Birthday parade. The idea of a Halloween Parade is the same aspect, but a bit more decorative and super fun for the kids and family to watch.

Halloween 2020 Halloween Parade Social Distancing Toddler Fun Neighborhood HOA ideas

Halloween Parade for Your Neighborhood

The one thing we love about Halloween is the fun and creative costumes! Since the goal is to social distance, how fun would it be if you and your neighbors decorated your vehicles for a spook-taculous parade?!

We know those homes who go all out with their Halloween displays that look like a haunted house and decorated to the fullest of spooky decor. Although those are fun to look at and what we expect, Halloween is an interactive holiday and much better celebrated with other children, neighbors and friends.

How to Organize Participants for a Halloween Parade

Now that we have an idea of what type of parade we will be organizing, here’s how to get your neighbors involved on the spooky fun. Check out this quick to-do list to organize a Halloween Parade with your neighbors:

Create a poll for the neighbors on NextDoor or your local Facebook group asking if they would like to participate in a Halloween parade.
Create a survey where a max number of drivers can choose a theme or if neighbors would rather volunteer. Encourage and remind the participants and neighbors to shop at Party City for all things Halloween!
Pick a date, time, and location for drivers to meet for the Halloween parade and make sure it is acceptable with the drivers. Be sure to also ask for suggestions of dates and locations to make things run smoothly.
Make a flyer to announce to neighbors they will be voting for the best vehicle.
Create a voting link for onlookers to rate the vehicles with the best Halloween decorations. During the evening up until the parade, take some time to put flyers in each neighbor’s mailbox asking them to participate. Make sure to place the link on the flyer as well.
Hire a photographer and videographer to capture the creativity of each vehicle for this fun new way to celebrate Halloween. The videographer could even live stream the drivers on Facebook for others to watch!
Send weekly announcements to remind neighbors to be outside to wave and participate. Voters and kids will be dressed up in their costumes for added fun.

My Drive-and-Wave Halloween Decor

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do for my theme and I decided to do the Creepy Crawly Spider Theme! Super simple and fun Halloween theme idea that Sweet T helped out with as well. I bought all the materials from none other than Party City, which is the best Halloween store, in my opinion.

Here’s what I got from Party City:

Giant Spider Webs (Bought 9 bags but only used 4 bags)
7-foot Hairy Spider
Gray Creepy Cloth

Shopping Tip: If you consider yourself an uncreative person, come up with a theme, re-imagine it and think of 3 important pieces you know you will need. Then go to your local Party City (or shop online) and walk through every single aisle. You never know what can support your creation!

Honestly, the spider webbing intimidated me. I was not sure how many bags I needed that would give the vision I wanted. But it turned out great. The key to making the webbing look even is to continuously stretch it out. The more you stretch it out the better it will look. See the difference below: