Chinatown celebrates Halloween—in community and in costume
This year’s Chinatown Halloween Festival marked a special milestone, celebrating 10 years of community solidarity and Halloween fun. Families and friends gathered on Waverly to enjoy this much-loved annual event, which brought together children, local residents, visitors, and merchants for a day of fun.
We can’t thank enough the 65 volunteers from Job Readiness for English Language Learners (JRELL), Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program (MYEEP), Transition Opportunities and Programs for Success (TOPS), and Youth for Community Engagement (YCE) who added to the festive spirit by helping with the scary room, pumpkin patch, pumpkin painting, carnival games, and balloon twisting. Their passion for community service helped make the day extra-memorable.
Local businesses showed enthusiastic support, with more than 30 merchants participating in giving out stamp cards that awarded prizes to those who shopped locally. Congratulations to the top stamp card prize winners—Winnie L., Yuk King and Zi Kein—who each received a $100 gift card. A special thank you goes out to those merchants who also contributed prizes for the stamp cards—Golden King Vietnamese Restaurant, Jinshan Cafe, and Miss T.
The festival featured a scary and fun-filled costume contest, with the Wong Family winning Best Family Costume. Hawk Zhu and Ava Lee took home the Cutest Baby Costume awards, while Zoe Lee and Junqiang Jiang placed for Best Children’s Costume.
This past weekend’s Halloween event was the last of this year’s four Waverly community celebrations, but don’t worry—we’ll be back in April 2025 for Springtime Festival, more fun, and more happy memories.
