Most Louisiana natives don’t expect to hear “throw me something, mister” uttered in October. Baton Rouge’s 10/31 Consortium, a group of Halloween enthusiasts, is here to challenge that status quo.
After a successful venture with last year’s first Halloween Parade, 10/31 Consortium has decided to continue the new tradition of throwing a Halloween-themed parade for Red Stick residents.
Kelley Criscoe Stein, founding president of 10/31 Consortium, said the parade has grown since last year’s festivities.
“Our route is twice as long, which is awesome,” Stein beamed. “We also have Edwin Edwards as our Grand Marshall, and we also have more units. Last year we had 21, and this year we have 30.”
The parade’s starting point is in front of the award-winning haunted house, The 13th Gate. The parade will then roll through downtown, crossing Convention Street, Third Street along with other downtown roads and will end on Laurel Street where it meets River Road, Stein said.
Stein said the floats for the Halloween rumpus aren’t the traditional Mardi Gras trailers people imagine when they hear the word “parade.” Instead, they are closer to the truck floats exhibited by St. Patrick’s Day parades.
Stein said the theme for this year’s spooky spectacle will be Boo on the Bayou: A Red Stick Apocalypse. She said she and her crew will be decorating their float with the subtheme “disco apocalypto,” essentially disco-dancing zombies.
Jessica Edwards, fundraising chair for 10/31 Consortium, said this is her second year riding in the parade. She said she’s most excited about the extended route of the parade and hopes to see a good turn out.
Edwards said events like this are important because “Halloween is the most creative holiday. I enjoy making things, and you get to dress up yourself along with decorating your surroundings.”
Jacob Newsom, a new 10/31 Consortium member, said this parade is good for the Baton Rouge community because it allows an outlet for families to participate in a Halloween activity when trick-or-treating isn’t always an option.
Stein stressed that while this event is light-hearted fun, it also benefits a charitable cause — the food bank.
“The food bank is the first unit in the parade, and they take non-perishable donations straight from the crowd,” Stein said. “It’s a real harvest. Last year, we got 1,600 pounds of food, and obviously, that’s going to grow every year.”
The parade members, in turn, give back to the crowd. Stein said they will be throwing the usual parade goodies like beads and cups, but will also toss distinctly festive toys like rubber body parts.
Stein said she and 10/31 Consortium also advocate building strong, engaged communities and host trick-or-treating events in low-income areas.
“One of the things we want to do is work with lower-income neighborhoods to help them develop trick-or-treat events for the kids, mainly because a lot of it has to do with the crime rate in Baton Rouge,” Stein said. “There’s nothing that will scare off crime faster than an active and engaged neighborhood.”
She said the trick-or-treat program is a blueprint for communities to base other events off of and become more involved.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. Saturday. Food donations are highly encouraged.
Decorations wait on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 to be hung on the side on 10/31 Consortium's float. The 10/31 Consortium will be participating in the Baton Rouge Halloween Parade on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 with the their theme of their float being disco apocalypto.
