ATHENS, Ohio – Athens’ Halloween Block Party turns 50 this year. What began as a rowdy and illegal takeover of Court Street has evolved into a city-sanctioned, all-day event featuring kids’ activities, trick or treat, the Honey for the Heart parade, and live music.
This year’s event took place on Oct. 26 from 1 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
Origins
According to an Athens News article from the 40th Halloween, the event began in 1974. The front page of the Nov. 1, 1974, edition of The Post shows a photograph of a crowd — some in costume, some not — surrounding a truck.
“Last night’s full moon brought out all the crazies who took time off from their revelry to stop a Baskin-Robbins tractor-trailer and halted traffic on Court Street in front of the courthouse,” the caption reads. “Athens County sheriff’s deputies mingled with the crowd and blocked of traffic on Court Street as the costumed students took over the street for close to two hours around midnight.”
By the 1980s and 1990s, Athens Halloween had become a major event, featuring live music, elaborate costumes and a vibrant block party atmosphere. At its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, the crowds were as large as 30-40,000 attendees, according to previous lead organizer Jonathan Holmberg and ANews estimates.
Swelling crowds led to increasing numbers of arrests. Arrest numbers rose from 15 in 1976 to a peak of 318 in 1997. The celebration also has a history of destruction and crime, including fires, broken windows, damaged storefronts, vandalism and excess waste. In 1985, a Halloween fire caused $350,000 of damage to the Ohio University Peden Stadium, and in 1984, forewarnings of a mass murderer dressed as Lil’ Bo Peep terrorized students.
Artist Kevin Morgan, whose t-shirt designs have become synonymous with Halloween in Athens, released his first t-shirt in 1982. For 10 years, he was a member of the Clean and Safe Halloween Committee, which formed in 1984 to manage the event.
“Besides the printing and distribution of a flier informing visitors about the dos and don’ts, portable toilets, and clean-up after the party, the committee sponsored a children’s costume party and provided live entertainment,” the Athens News’ 2019 retrospective states.
Holmberg led the committee from 1988 until 2019.
“[I] organized in one capacity or another for 30 years,” Holmberg said in a Facebook message. “My favorite thing about the Halloween bash was standing up in front of 30,000 people making announcements and then walking from one end of town to the other overwhelmed by the size of the crowd.”
The city of Athens had approved closing the street in 1977 and 1978, but that acceptance disappeared in the 1980s. Finally, in 1990, the city bowed to the inevitable; it has officially recognized the party since then.
“In the early years, the city and Ohio University both opposed the street party, but as time passed, they finally came over to the reality that thousands of students and their friends would take over the street no matter what the city did, so it made more sense to prepare for it than to pretend like it wasn’t going to happen,” former Athens News editor Terry Smith said.
After a two-year hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic, the party resumed in 2022. The crowds are smaller these days, and so are the numbers of arrests. But Athens Halloween lead organizer Brandon Thompson still expects large crowds, especially if the weather continues to be pleasant.
“It’s definitely several thousand people coming uptown and partying,” Thompson said. “Maybe 2-3,000 people there to just rock it out, especially if the weather is great.”
This year’s Halloween
Halloween in 2024 looks very different from 1974, in part because of the city’s involvement, Thompson said.
“I think the administration and the City of Athens have welcomed Halloween in a different way this year,” Thompson said. “A lot of the people who used to party at Halloween now have kids at OU, so it’s a different experience than when they were going uptown and having a good time.”
Early Halloweens were plagued by mountains of trash left behind by revelers and a heavy police presence. Thompson said that this year’s event shouldn’t leave any more trash on the street than a normal weekend.
“Once the stages are down after the music at 12:30, they usually come through with blowers to pick up everything,” he said. “That’s one of the things that makes Halloween difficult is that there is so much overtime because there are so many people helping staff and deal with everything like cleaning up.”
This year, the police presence will be lighter than previous years, something Thompson attributes to increased safety precautions.
“The city is actually spending less on safety as far as mounted patrol people and out of town police officers. We used to spend somewhere upwards of 50-60k just on law enforcement,” he said. “Over the years we’ve been able to curtail that. We have to divert some of that [law enforcement] funding to invest in making this more community-minded.”
The city’s Department of Arts, Parks and Recreation planned the day’s family-friendly elements, which include a petting zoo, a costume parade, a bouldering wall, face painting, games and activities sponsored by local organizations and of course, trick or treating.
The Honey for the Heart parade — a Halloween staple since 2012 — will begin at 5 p.m. The parade, sponsored by Passion Works, features colorful and fantastic puppets and costumes hand-crafted by Passion Works artists and volunteers.
“The Honey for the Heart parade is one of the coolest things,” Thompson said. “I always tell people, if you’ve never gone, it’s kind of like Mardi Gras, you’ve gotta see it.”
The parade is the transition from daytime to evening activities, which Thompson organized. He’s assembled a lineup of local musicians and DJs who will entertain the crowd from 5:45 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The headliner is HellHaw, a heavy metal band, but partiers will hear everything from electronica to ‘80s covers.
“There’s a lot of different music,” Thompson said. “This group of people for Halloween is not just about rock and roll; they want to also listen to other music, and I think we reflect that in the stage lineups we’ve had over the years.”
Thompson himself, in his DJ B-Funk persona, will be one of those spinning tunes. He first DJ’d at the block party in 2010.
“I was super, super scared, because growing up, the Block Party had always been live music, you know, rock and roll, and guitars, and drums, and so we’re, by definition, a niche style of music,” he said. “I remember I played this song Up and Down by Vanga Boys, and everybody was just bouncing around like they were little kids. It was magical, I remember it like it was yesterday.”
The stage and music are supported by sales of Morgan’s t-shirts. This year’s design features two tangoing skeletons over a stark black background.
“I try and do something unique every year that appeals to my middle age group and students alike,” Morgan said. “Most of my designs include skeletons, though I’ve veered from that time to time. I also try and incorporate Uptown Athens, the Courthouse, and street scene.”
Morgan said Athens Halloween is an opportunity to support our local businesses while celebrating something light-hearted and fun.
“It has become an Athens tradition which is good for Athens’ economy — it literally helps our local businesses make it through the winter when sales may be slow,” he said. “It’s not the devil, it’s a guy in a devil costume having some fun.”
Holmberg agrees.
“What makes Halloween special is the town itself has a history of weird occurrences, so it’s just a natural fit for Athens and Halloween,” he said.
Thompson believes Athens Halloween should be a source of regional pride.
“We should feel proud about having this amazing event that started here 50 years ago,” he said.
