This year, on Wednesday, Oct 22nd, was the 100th annual New Brighton Halloween Parade. The parade lasted about an hour, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and featured marching bands from many different schools in Beaver County, various local dance groups, Boy and Girl scout troops, floats and firetrucks from the New Brighton and Pulaski Township fire departments. The parade followed the length of 3rd Ave. in downtown New Brighton from 15th St. to Townsend Park.
The New Brighton Halloween Parade is one of the largest parades in Beaver County. It features performances from various high schools throughout the county, like Central Valley, Beaver Falls, New Brighton and Freedom. The marching band, per tradition, played “Thriller,” originally sang by Michael Jackson. Other groups brought speakers, and they played similar well-known Halloween songs, like the “Ghostbusters” theme and the “Monster Mash.” Sports teams and clubs threw candy to the audience.
During the parade, the marching bands dressed up in different Halloween costumes. While there is not a common theme amongst the entire band, most of the Big Red Marching Band chose to dress up in group costumes with their sectionmates. The band staff wore costumes of characters from the Pixar movie “Monsters Inc.” The clarinet section dressed like “Toy Story,” percussion were clowns, the front units were “My Little Pony” characters, trumpets wore “Incredibles” costumes, the saxophone and mellophone players wore “Star Wars” costumes and the majorettes dressed as the “Wizard of Oz.”
Other popular costumes were the “Lorax,” various animals, the “Smurfs” and pirates. Individuals could register to walk in the parade with their costumes, and many of the kids in the crowd dressed up in their own Halloween costumes.
“It was really exciting. I absolutely loved it, except for the cold temperature,” Kimberly Streb (9) said. “The biggest takeaway from the night would be all the kids and parents pointing out different costumes. It was all just really fun and exciting.”