Zombies growl fiercely, sauntering from one bar to the next during a downtown pub crawl. An animated skeleton ambles across a tightrope strung between two tables at a costume ball. Joggers don blow-up dinosaur suits—while hauling a hefty pumpkin along the whole 5K route.
This is just a slice of the sort of scenes that play out at the annual Fifolet Halloween Festival. The four-day affair is organized by local nonprofit 10/31 Consortium. This year, costumers are invited to interpret the theme “They Walk Among Us” across six events. “They” could refer to wicked witches, Victorian vampires—or even a clan of flat-earthers, 10/31 Consortium co-founder Kelley Stein says with a laugh.
And on the Saturday before Halloween, parade floats shaped like monstrous Frankensteins, supernatural flying saucers, plank-outfitted pirate ships and even an eerie ice cream truck glide through the streets of downtown. A ceremonial zombie wedding unfolded at last year’s event, with an officiant renewing one couple’s vows atop a mobile chapel.
As the organization’s most well-attended event, the Fifolet Halloween Parade draws about 35,000 spectators. Children can snatch full-size Kit Kats and Hershey’s bars, hand-painted skulls, plush animals, shriek-inducing faux cockroaches and other on-theme trinkets. The parade phased out plastic beads in 2022.
Attendees can hop between the route and other events happening downtown that day, including the Fifolet Market and Fifolet 5K. The following day, the Fifolet Awards Brunch will crown the winners of titles like “Best Float Decor,” “Best Dance Troupe” and “Best Sucking Up to the Judges.”
Fifolet Halloween Parade participants show off some of their favorite costumes.
The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank will push grocery carts along the route to pile with nonperishable donations.
“We are the only parade where you give back to the parade as it goes on,” says Stein, who co-founded 10/31 Consortium with Corey Tullier and Jamie Schexnayder. “Everything we do is for a greater purpose.”
Since its 2010 launch, the organization has given free costumes to thousands of children across four parishes. On Halloween night, it supports neighborhoods through candy and costume donations, traffic mitigation and pedestrian safety assistance.
“At one of our first costume giveaways years and years ago, we said doors would open at 10 a.m. We had done very little advertising for it, and we didn’t know what to expect,” Stein recalls. “When we got there at 9 a.m. to set up, people were waiting in line. There was a mom who had driven from New Orleans. She said the gas was cheaper than buying costumes for three kids.”
Halloween is often a favorite holiday for children, but Stein says 10/31 is always thinking about the kids who can’t participate. She imagines costume day at school, where elated youngsters can show off their outfits—and how it might feel for someone who doesn’t have something to wear. The goal is to make the festivities accessible to every child who wants to participate.
“Trick-or-treat is the one time of the year it is socially acceptable to knock on your neighbor’s door,” Stein says. “We don’t interact with our neighbors anymore. … We don’t chat over the fence; we chat on social media. … Community events strengthen neighborhoods. When you watch these kids grow up—that builds a strong, safe neighborhood.”
