Local churches are celebrating the Halloween season with festivals, “trunk or treats” and other events throughout the month of October.
Many events have the goal of creating a safe place for children to come and have fun and play games during the Halloween season and to come together as a community.
For example, a trunk-or-treat event is an event for children and adults. Cars are decorated in the Halloween spirit and treated like houses for kids to come up, get free candy and trunk-or-treat in their Halloween costumes.
First Presbyterian Church of Newhall shared the following verse from the book of Psalm to show what reaching out to the community during this holiday means to them:
“A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore…” (Psalm 133:1-3).
First Presbyterian Church of Newhall
First Presbyterian Church of Newhall is scheduled to host its annual trunk or treat Oct. 20 from 4-6 p.m.
“We love to have the opportunity to open our doors to members of the community,” said Eric Clardy, elder of the church’s children’s ministry committee. “The children and parents get involved by decorating their trunks and dressing in costumes.”
All are welcome to the event. There will be food, games, a costume contest and more.
The free event will be held at the church, located at 24317 Newhall Ave.
For more information, call the church office at (661) 259-0555.
Christ Lutheran Church
Christ Lutheran Church in Valencia will host its annual Harvest Festival to celebrate fall Oct. 20 from 5-8 p.m.
“We are really excited to open up our campus and get the community involved,” said Esther Siegen, family and children’s ministry director.
The church has put on the harvest festival for 20 years. This year’s event will feature a pumpkin carving contest, pie eating contest, a chili-cook off, petting zoo, game booths and more.
Winners of the pie-eating contest will receive pies from the local business The Pie Tin.
The church partners with the preschool on its campus, inviting families and the community to enter the chili cook-off. Awards are presented in multiple categories.
The free event encourages family-friendly costumes — nothing too scary, Siegen said. There will be a mechanical bull for attendees to enjoy.
Teens and young adult ministry and Bible studies put together the game booths. “It is all run by us,” Siegen said. “We go out and serve others in the community. We love doing that.”
The event will be at the church located at 25816 Tournament Road and the brand new fellowship center will also be open.
For more information on the festival, visit the church’s calendar at www.clcscv.org.
Newhall Church of the Nazarene
Newhall Church of the Nazarene is scheduled to host its family fall festival Oct. 24.
Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. by the Taco Guy and trunk or treat, games and raffles will begin at 7:30 p.m.
The event is $5 per person or $20 per family of four or more for dinner only, and everything else is free, according to the church’s Facebook page.
For more information on the event, call the church at (661) 259-5272 or email [email protected].
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Parish
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Parish in Santa Clarita is hosting its trunk or treat event on Oct. 26.
The event is scheduled to take place in the church’s parking lot at 22508 Copper Hill Drive.
Car decorating is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., with the treats expected be handed out starting at 6:30 p.m.
“Don’t forget to come in costume and decorate the cars,” the church said on its website.
For more information on the trunk or treat event, call the church at (661) 296-3180.
Real Life Church
Real Life Church is scheduled to host its annual Halloween event Oct. 27 at the Valencia campus.
The event is scheduled 3-8 p.m. at 23841 Newhall Ranch Road.
Guests will be able to enjoy two trunk-or-treat lines filled with candy and interactive booths, an indoor, interactive magic show, food vendors, petting zoo, hay maze, games at the park, bounce houses and more.
All attendees must have a ticket to the event. Tickets are free for adults 18 and up and $3 each for children 17 and under.
Costumes are encouraged, but for safety reasons, only children 10 years of age and under will be allowed to wear a mask with their costume, the church said in their Facebook event.
For tickets and more information, visit rlc.ticketleap.com/halloween/.
Santa Clarita United Methodist Church
Santa Clarita United Methodist Church is scheduled to host its eighth annual Trunk-or-Treat event Oct. 28 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
The event will be located at the church’s campus on 26640 Bouquet Canyon Road.
It is designed to be a safe, fun activity for families. Children of all ages can trick-or-treat from trunk to trunk in a lineup of cars in the parking lot, grab a free hot dog and go through the box maze.
The parking lot will be closed to traffic to ensure safety.
“At Santa Clarita United Methodist Church we value supporting families in finding ways to connect, have fun and share quality time together,” the church said on its Facebook page.
For more information call the church at (661) 297-3783.
Elevate Church
Elevate Church will take over Main Street in Newhall on Halloween for its Family Thrill Night event.
The free event is scheduled Oct. 31 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the church’s location, 24346 Main St.
The event will feature live music, food trucks, candy, a car show, costume contest, games and more.
For more information on the event, call the church at (661) 259-4781 or email [email protected].
The Village Church
The Village Church is scheduled to host its Harvest Festival on Oct. 31.
From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the church invites the community to a safe and fun alternative to trick or treating.
The event will feature candy, food, prizes and more.
For more information call the church at (661) 259-5845 or email [email protected].