Haunt in the Park returning to Shelburne this weekend

October 28, 2021 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For almost three decades, the Little family has brought Halloween spirit to the Shelburne community with their haunted house, and now they’re back stronger than ever.

After cancelling the annual Haunt in the Park last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the attraction has returned to Fiddle Park for three nights of scares and screams.

“We’re really happy to be back. What may have started out as a small family haunt has grown to something the community looks forward to year-round and has become a part of the tapestry of Shelburne. We are incredibly proud and honoured to be the ones that have brought it to this point,” said Carola Little.

Making the events return to the community after a year of cancellations, Little said Haunt in the Park feels bigger than ever before, with new layouts, ideas, characters, and all around community support.

“The community has come out in a way that we’ve never seen before. The amount of support, sponsorship, and enthusiasm has been second to none,” said Little.

A Halloween fixture in the community for almost three decades, the Haunt in the Park event originally began in 1993 with Bob and Sue Little and their three then-teenage children setting up a haunted house on the porch of their First Avenue home. Over the years the event grew, moving to different locations and eventually to Fiddle Park.

Little said it’s their goal to make Shelburne a destination for everything Halloween related.

Keeping up with their tradition to grow the Halloween attraction each year, the family will be introducing a new character to the haunted house, who can be found in the boiler room. They’ll also be making the return of their Character Walk, which was started last year as a way to continue the Halloween spirit despite the pandemic.

“As a family, with all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandkids, we have a really hard time saying we can’t do something, and that’s when we came up with the walk through town as our best solution,” said Little. “Because of the response and the positivity surrounding it, we wanted to try to see if we can continue to add that to our expanding haunt offerings.”

Through the Character Walk alone last year, the family collected more the 5,000 lbs of food donations and more than $1,500 in cash for the Shepherd’s Cupboard Food Bank.

The Little Family’s Haunt festivities are set to kick off on Friday, with the Character Walk through the streets of Shelburne from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., where they will be collecting food donations for the local food bank.

Those who are looking for less of a fright, will be able to walk through the haunted house at Fiddle Park during the daylight on Saturday from noon until 3 p.m., with the MiniBoo event. A costume contest sponsored by Apex Realty will also be held.

The Haunt in the Park and all the screams and terrors that come with it, will take place on Saturday and Sunday from
6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Admissions to all the events is free, with donations to the food back accepted.