Even on an unseasonably warm and muggy night, hundreds of local witches cast spells to make Friday nights fun.
Main Street Hanford hosted the annual Witches Night Out event. The event promotes local downtown businesses while providing a spooky Halloween-themed evening.
“It’s so much fun to check out all the hats and outfits. They’re all different. Just watching the women having fun with their friends is a fun night out,” said an employee at Emma’s Bridal Shop at 121. said Janie Lucio. W. 7th St. “It’s great what Hanford is doing.”
Emma’s Bridal was attending the event in its second year after opening in early 2021. Lucio said it was a good turnout for business as it brought in new people who might not normally visit the shop.
About 30 businesses joined trails like Yellow Brick Road, taking ticket holders downtown for goodies, prizes, and drink refills. About 1,200 tickets for the increasingly popular event sold out in minutes earlier this month.
The evening started in front of the Old Courthouse. There the ticket holder lined up to receive a goodie bag and his map of the event. This map listed each participating business and its location.
Natasha Thompson queued up with her friends around 6 p.m. and said, “I’m a big fan and I’m sure you’ll have a great time. We’re here to rule the chaos.”
Witches and wizards made their way through downtown in costumes to celebrate the spooky season.
Parts of Irwin, Seventh and Doughty Street were closed for live music, food trucks and beer gardens for this year’s event. The afterparty kicked off at 8pm at Seventh Steet with music from Bazmati.
On the other side of the Strip, a band called the Exes played in front of a Volkswagen bus parked on Irwin Street, functioning as a full-featured sound machine.
“We’re going to do something creepy [stuff]” guitarist Fernando said to the Wizard audience.
Mike and Kim McMahon attended every Witch’s Night Out.
“The only year we didn’t go was because of the pandemic,” said Kim when they skipped a year.
Kim dressed as Sarah Sanderson and Mike as Billy Butcherson, characters from Disney’s cult classic “Hocus Pocus.”
The witch costumes worn by nearly everyone in attendance ranged from traditional green-skinned breeds to folklore, pagan, cute, scary, sexy, and everything in between.
The event certainly appealed to an adult audience, but the little witches were also able to be seen enjoying the celebrations all night long. enjoyed the festival.
Oliva said she loves spooky themed treats. Sophia, she said, likes to walk around and see fun outfits.
