Cranbury families will experience another year of frights and scares through the arts council’s Halloween festival.
On Oct. 19, the festival on the Cranbury School’s blacktop will also have a “Nightmare Off Main Street Trail of Scares” in the west property of the Cranbury Brook Preserve.
“We only started this two years ago. We had planned to have a festival like this for awhile before we actually started organizing it,” said Noel Kinney, president of the Cranbury Arts Council. “We all just thought this would be a great community event that brings people together.”
The Arts Council was unable to hold its festival last year due to a storm that took place on the day.
Kinney said the last time the arts council had organized the event, they had 300 people walk the Trail of Scares.
People can create a scene on the trail as part of a contest that awards a first prize of $100 to the top winning scene.
“The board will vote on each scene and decide which is the scariest or most creative,” Kinney said.
The evening event will be filled with music, line dancing, food trucks, booths, and various contests that include mummy wrapping from 5-9 p.m.
“Everyone enjoys the band and the line dancing. There is something for everyone at this event,” Kinney said.
There is a new addition to the festival: two mobile escape rooms. Escape rooms feature clues and puzzles with a different theme. During the festival each of the escape rooms will timed for 15 minutes per group.
“One is called Immunity Quest and the other is called Wizards Academy,” Kinney said.
There is a $5 admission fee for each of the escape rooms and the Trail of Scares, according to arts council officials.
The proceeds raised during the festival go toward the arts council’s scholarships for the summer camp and theater program, student awards and community programming.
“We really want the community to come together with this free event. People really have a good time and come in costumes. We have so many people ranging from all ages participating in this event,” Kinney said.
For more information about the festival, volunteering or advanced tickets, visit www.cranburyartscouncil.org.
