Athens’ Block Party is back for the second year since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students from Ohio University and other campuses came to celebrate its Halloween festivities.
Friday
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Halloween weekend kicked off Friday night with OU students past and present flooding the streets in their best costumes.
The main attraction of Halloween weekend was the Athens Block Party, which took place Saturday, but there were plenty of parties and places to be Friday night.
Many students headed to Mill Street and Congress Street to go to house parties while the bar scene looked desolate.
Mitchell Bury is a bouncer at The Pub, located at 39 N. Court St., and even though the bars looked dull at 7:30 p.m., he said he believed the crowd would pick up late in the night.
“We’re going to try to keep it under control, but it’s going to get a little rowdy out here,” Bury said.
Students during Halloween weekend tend to make their costumes for each day of the festivities or only have one costume for the weekend to save some money.
Madisyn Newport, a sophomore studying retail fashion merchandise, was with a group who made their own Hooters waitress costumes and said they had just ironed on the Hooters logo shortly before going out for the night.
“My plan tonight is to go to these frat parties, have a grand time, maybe hit up the bars later,” Newport said.
Owen Vucetic, a junior studying marketing, said he drew the idea for his costume and then made, altered and colored each part.
Vucetic said he bought everything and made his glasses for the costume.
Jenna Coates, a senior studying marketing, was Daphne from Scooby-Doo and her friends went as the rest of the gang; they all bought all of their costumes on Amazon.
Most students at OU typically look forward to Halloween weekend, but some believe the weekend is not as grand as it is made out to be.
Coates said Halloween weekend is overrated, and the weekend is not as fun as it used to be.
“It’s hyped up, it’s hyped up for sure,” Coates said. “I think it's not as lit as it used to be.”
While Halloween weekend may have changed over the years, many students take advantage of a weekend made to let loose and have a good time.
“Have fun, It’s Halloween, have fun.” Benjamin Baylor, a sophomore studying education, said.
Once the festivities have died down Baylor, who dressed as Walter White from "Breaking Bad," said he was excited to grab some pizza from Goodfellas.
11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Court Street was bustling with college students decked out in Halloween costumes Friday. Members from Scooby-Doo, giant alcohol bottles and Disney characters were seen lining up on sidewalks to socialize.
Olivia Higley, a junior studying education, said she likes Halloween at OU because she can walk around and see everyone having fun.
“(I like) seeing what everyone is dressed up as even if like we go out or not,“ said Higley. "Just kind of walking on campus is fun just because we get to see what everyone is."
Elizabeth Gibbs, a senior studying communications, and her friend Mackenzie Howard, a senior visiting from the University of Cincinnati, decided to wear Lighting McQueen and Mater costumes from the animated movie “Cars."
The two friends decided to DIY the costumes out of Amazon boxes and other craft materials after having no luck trying to purchase costumes.
“We decided we needed to be a little extra, and they only make the Lightning McQueen and Mater costumes for toddlers,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs said her favorite part of OU Halloween is the creativity of the costumes.
“You have people that really take it seriously and want to have a good time and really dress up, and then you have people that kind of go halfway,” Gibbs said. “I love seeing the diversity in everybody’s outfits.”
A group of students sat on the steps of the Athens County Courthouse to rest from activities on Court Street.
Denajah Smith sat on the steps dressed as Velma from Scooby-Doo this year with some of her friends who go to OU.
Smith is a freshman from the University of Cincinnati and is visiting her friend. Although Smith is looking forward to partying, she’s unsure of her plans for the weekend.
“We’re chillin', eating pancakes,” Smith said from her place on the steps.
The group of friends had gotten the free pancakes from the H2O Church tent that was handing them out to students near where the group was sitting.
Some people believe the full moon before Halloween means the veil to talk to spirits is the thinnest, allowing for easy communication. October Reno is one of those people.
Reno, a sophomore studying creative writing, was doing tarot card readings for passersby on the street.
Reno said the cards are used to guide people through tricky moments in their lives.
Saturday
Noon to 2 p.m.
Saturday's Halloween events kicked off at noon with vendors and volunteers set up for Athens Arts, Parks and Recreation Department’s Halloween family activities.
Families and children were welcomed by businesses to trick-or-treat and entertain various activities on Court Street.
After a successful double rooftop feature Thursday, the Athena Cinema hosted an arts and crafts for the kids uptown block party.
“During the kid's uptown block party we are doing spider-web sun catchers,” Phoenix LaCombe, director at the Athena Cinema, said. “We have staff in here helping with the crafts and it’s going to be a fun day.”
Before families arrived, volunteers set up tables with fun activities for students and families.
“We have a bunch of family-friendly activities uptown on Court Street between Union and Washington from 1 to 4 p.m.,” Nicole Albers, specialist with the Arts, Parks and Recreation Department, said. “We have a magician coming, we have a bouldering trailer, arts and crafts, pumpkin decorating, bobbing for donuts, a sensory table.”
The Athens County Public Library had a table set up with free books, tote bags and candy.
To make the early events happen, Court Street had to be blocked off to make room for the fun activities.
“We have to close the street very, very early to facilitate all the things that happen throughout the day and we wanted to provide more opportunities for people to experience Halloween uptown and make it a friendlier event for families,” Andrew Chiki, Deputy Service Safety director, said.
Many students were with their parents and wandering about to see the activities.
“We’re just walking around Court Street seeing what's going on,” Ty Carpenter, a freshman studying journalism, said.
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For some, this year has been a return to routine after the pandemic shut down Halloween festivities for a few years; students lined the streets once again in costume to experience the year’s busiest weekend on campus.
The Super Mario Bros., the Puppet from "Five Nights at Freddy’s," Curious George and other such characters crowded Court Street while Pitbull’s “Fireball” played at the main intersection.
Jared Hamant, a fifth-year studying history and global studies, said he and his friends planned to get food and possibly hit up the Smiling Skull Saloon for a show.
Hamant said he remembered there being a lot more people present and partying during his first year.
“Obviously pre-COVID was quite a different experience in terms of how many people there are, at least so far,” Hamant said. “But the night just started out, so it should still be a good night.”
However, Turner Burton, a senior studying music production, said this is the busiest year he’s seen.
“I arrived in the Covid year, so we didn’t have one my freshman year, didn’t have one my sophomore year,“ Burton said. "I was also an RA sophomore year so I didn’t get to see much Halloween. Then, last year, this was about as busy as it got. And we’re only like an hour or two in at this point, so this is definitely the busiest I’ve ever seen it.”
Though the night was still young, many students were preparing to leave for or were already on their way to parties, as well as crowding restaurants.
Garrett Hurr, a freshman studying business, was one such student experiencing Halloween in Athens for the first time. He said he was going to frequent parties for the remainder of the weekend.
“It’s pretty good, I’ve heard it’s a little crazy around this time but it’s been fun so far,” Hurr said. “Last night was a really fun night, I’m hoping tonight lives up to expectations.”
Hannah Paczko, a freshman studying nursing, alongside her friend, Maeve Galla, a freshman studying business, had different opinions about Halloween weekend. They said the first night of festivities didn’t quite live up to the hype.
“Last night was a bust, it was not good,” Paczko said. “There was nothing to do. And homecoming weekend was really tragic, so we’re hoping tonight is better.”
Midnight to 2 a.m.
As the block party’s music festivities started to end around midnight, people started shifting to the bars, resulting in long lines on the sidewalk of Court Street. There was a wide variety of characters roaming the streets, like Barbie, Walter White, Mario Bros and many more.
Around 1 a.m. restaurants started to get increasingly more busy. Some restaurants started putting bouncers outside the business to limit the amount of people going in and out of the restaurant.
Eden Andrews, a senior studying nursing, said she saw an arrest happen in front of her.
Andrews said a man asked her and her boyfriend what they thought would happen if he opened an alcoholic beverage on the street. The man opened the drink and was quickly confronted by the local police. The man tried to flee the scene by running away but the cop “tackled” him. The man then “attacked” the cop but was stopped and arrested by another cop.
However, Andrew didn’t let the wildness of the arrest put a damper on her night.
“I've done a ton of fun (stuff),“ said Andrews. "I've been out to parties (and) been out to bars hanging with all my friends but (the arrest) is definitely the most interesting thing I've seen in all three Halloweens I've had here so I love it."
At 2 a.m. the large crowds settled down a bit and the police officers opened the streets back up to cars. There were large crowds of people walking down Court Street to go back home.
“Come to OU if you want to have a great time and get a good degree … and see some crazy (stuff),” Andrews said.
