Halloween on Franklin Street
When I first realised that we would be in USA on the 31st of October, I already started looking forward to, what I consider, the epitome of American culture: Halloween.
Judging only from stereotypes, I see Halloween as a candy-fuelled children’s party where groups go trick-or-treating at traditional American-style homes, enthusiastically decorated with skeletons, fake spiderwebs and hand-carved pumpkins. I honestly believed that it would be mostly children that would enjoy Halloween’s festivities and my inner-child was a bit sad to be 10 years too late to the party.
But oh how I was wrong. I did not expect to be planning 5 different costumes in preparation for what many UNC students call ‘Halloweek’. There were plenty of parties, events and gatherings that we went to- even before the night of Halloween! The CBS GLOBErs took advantage of this and we also held a lovely evening of pumpkin carving so we could decorate our dorm rooms for the occasion.
On the day of Halloween, the well-prepared put on their costumes and make-up, and the others, myself included, pulled together a last minute outfit. We all rushed over to Franklin Street, which was closed down for 2 hours, so that no cars could pass through. That means hundreds of Chapel Hill residents- children, teenagers and even grandparents- gathered to celebrate Halloween and show-off their costumes!
It was an amazing atmosphere- you had to be there in order to fully understand it. When you met another person dressed in a costume from the same fictional world as you, there was a shriek of excitement and lots of photos taken. Or when you saw a well-executed costume, you could see strangers complimenting them and asking for a photo. Overall, it was just a wonderful event that really brought the community together and I feel so lucky to have experienced it first-hand. It was for sure one of the highlights of our time in Chapel Hill so far.
