A Thriller Night: City of Whiting grooves into the Halloween spirit at Wickedly Whiting

The City of Whiting set the tone for Halloween with its two-day celebration of Wickedly Whiting, the Whiting-Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce’s annual Halloween festival. This year’s event kicked off on Friday, October 2, and concluded on Saturday, October 3.

Celebrating the spooky season has become an annual tradition for the Whiting community. This event features scary activities, performances from mysterious characters, and costumes galore.

“This event is a mix of everything. We have costume contests in the morning on Saturday, we have contests for all ages, and then at night we have a more spooky side of things. We also have entertainment over here at the stage such as the witches dance. We also have fire performers and illusionists, so we’re trying some different things this year,” said Victoria Harper, a chair member of Wickedly Whiting.

Wickedly Whiting is one of the most versatile events that the city hosts annually. The scene was set throughout the venue, with broken down cars for decoration and unique shows on display throughout the festival.

This event is also a reflection of how the Whiting community teams up with local vendors to organize products, games, activities, and one-of-a-kind attractions.

“The craft vendors and partners all have such creative, cool artwork. It is so fun to be shopping and looking at it. It just makes it mystical and magical. They do an amazing job,” said Rebecca Kelly, an attendee of the event.

With the City of Whiting hosting Wickedly Whiting weeks ahead of Halloween, the hope is that this will build momentum early for the scariest day of the year.

“Whiting loves Halloween. I get at least 500 trick-or-treaters at my house, so this sets the tone for the beginning of fall. Everyone loves Halloween here, so they get to wear their costumes more than once. But this is the place to be for the Halloween season. It’s an amazing festival, and we love it here,” said Kelly.

This year’s event had a “Tombstone Tales” graveyard theme. Not only was this a free, family-friendly opportunity, but it also helped drive more traffic to the businesses on 119th Street, which is where the event was held. Many of these downtown businesses even decorated their storefronts for the Halloween spirit.

“It brings people in from all over the place, so they can see all the shops and amazing things Whiting has to offer. It brings everybody in,” Kelly said.

Characters from the Super Mario franchise and Marvel Universe, along with a series of witches, clowns, and werewolves, made their way to Wickedly Whiting this year. With a couple weeks to go before Halloween, the Whiting community is not wasting any time to recognize the haunted holiday.

“I hope people enjoy what this has to offer and that they see that it’s an awesome event. It’s a good vibe, and it has something to do with the whole family to start off the Halloween season,” said Harper.

For more information on the City of Whiting, you can visit whitingindiana.com