In Louisiana, it doesn’t have to be Mardi Gras for parades to roll.
Baton Rouge’s first ever Halloween parade will run this Saturday from Laurel Street to River Road downtown at 2 p.m.
The parade is organized by a nonprofit organization of Halloween enthusiasts, the 10/31 Consortium.
Jennifer Chick, co-captain of the parade, said the event will feature 21 units, including floats and specialty vehicles. One of the specialty vehicles will be a horse-drawn hearse from The 13th Gate haunted house.
Chick said the parade’s grand marshal will be a mummy riding in a convertible.
The first unit in the parade will be from the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, which will have volunteers walking alongside the float to collect non-perishable food items. Chick said parade-goers are encouraged to bring food to donate.
“We wanted to include the food bank because the idea of harvest is what Halloween’s all about,” she said.
The 10/31 Consortium expects a large crowd for the parade because of the other events going on downtown Saturday, like the Red Stick Rally and the Louisiana Book Festival, Chick said.
“[The 10/31 Consortium founder] had this grand idea of Baton Rouge being a destination place for Halloween because we have the No. 3 haunted house in the country, the film festival, the Halloween ball and several other things,” she said. “We’re hoping one day we can organize everything together for a huge Halloween