Full Notification

Halloween 2020 will look different from every other year before. While some families may be looking to give their children a return to a sense of normalcy, others may be looking for alternatives to traditional trick-or-treating.

The New Castle Police Department recommends residents of our community participate in the lower or medium-risk Halloween activities outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and avoid their outlined high-risk activities.

Lower-risk activities:

• Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them
• Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends
• Decorating your house, apartment, or living space
• Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance
• Having a virtual Halloween costume contest
• Having a Halloween movie night with people you live with
• Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house

• Participating in one-way trick-or-treating where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (such as at the end of a driveway or the edge of a yard)
• Having a small group, outdoor, open-air costume parade where people are distanced more than 6 feet apart
• Attending a costume party held outdoors where protective masks are used and people can remain more than 6 feet apart
• Going to an open-air, one-way, walk-through haunted forest where appropriate mask use is enforced, and people can remain more than 6 feet apart
• Visiting pumpkin patches or orchards where people use hand sanitizer before touching pumpkins or picking apples, wearing masks is encouraged or enforced, and people can maintain social distancing
• Having an outdoor Halloween movie night with local family friends with people spaced at least 6 feet apart

• Traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door
• Having trunk-or-treat where treats are handed out from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots
• Attending crowded costume parties held indoors
• Going to an indoor haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming
• Going on hayrides or tractor rides with people who are not in your household
• Using alcohol and drugs which can cloud judgment and increase risky behaviors
• Traveling to a rural fall festival that is not in your community

• Stay home if you are sick or in a high-risk Group
• If you are preparing goodie bags, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after preparing the bags
• Bring hand sanitizer and practice not touching your face.
• Make your cloth mask part of your costume - be sure that your vision is not obstructed in any way
• Wear a costume you can walk in – comfortable footwear and nothing that drags on the ground
• Encourage your children to hold off on eating candy until you get home, and make sure they wash their hands for at least 20 seconds first
• Do not travel to a different neighborhood to trick or treat
• If there’s already a group of kids at a house, wait until they leave before approaching
• Don’t linger at any one house for more than a few minutes
• Work one side of the street at a time, crossing only at corners and crosswalks.  Stay out of the roadway! Visit fewer homes than usual, sticking to those you know

• There may be fewer children out and about this year, but that does not mean there won’t be any trick-or-treaters.  Be vigilant in scanning far ahead, watching attentively for children running from house to house
• Take it a little slower than usual in residential areas or try to avoid those areas altogether
• Obey all traffic signs and signals
• Avoid driving distractions, even after traditional trick-or-treat hours.  Older children and teens may be out without supervision
• If you’re attending an adult Halloween party where alcohol is being served, be sure to have a designated driver