Halloween and Christmas festivities are returning to downtown one year after the COVID-19 Grinch shutdown most events.
The always popular Trunk-O-Treat will be held 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 30 on Fourth Street at Noel Heritage Plaza, Downtown Odessa Inc.’s Event Coordinator Alexa Moulakis said.
“We’re super excited to be back,” Moulakis said, who noted the event will feature plenty of children’s games, food trucks, music and a free movie in the park at 8 p.m. All activities are free to the public and businesses are encouraged to participate in the annual trunk/tent decorating contest.
Due to COVID last year, event planners had to be creative and design activities that practiced social distancing, Moulakis said. One pleasant result was the creation of a scavenger hunt that invited the public to visit downtown businesses where they could rack up points and compete for prizes.
The response was so overwhelmingly positive, organizers decided to bring the event back for an encore, Moulakis said.
Downtown businesses that want to be included as a scavenger hunt destination must register with Downtown Odessa Inc. by contacting Moulakis at 432-335-4682 or [email protected]. The cost of participating is $100 per business. Public participation is free, but in order to obtain scavenger hunt clues, participants must download the app ‘eventzee.’
Also making a welcome return will be the popular Parade of Lights, scheduled for Dec. 4, which annually attracts 40,000 to 50,000 people, Moulakis said. The parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at 23rd Street on Andrews Highway and travel south on Andrews Highway, where it will turn west on Third Street to Medical Center Hospital parking lot for de-staging. To register for the parade, visit tinyurl.com/2vwfsbtw.
