Superheroes, Clowns, and Zombies Participated in Trick or Treat Contest at Winter Haven Saturday Market.
Superheroes. Super villains. Cave people. undead ballerinas and creepy puppets. All of these and more were some of the costumed characters who arrived at last week’s Winter Haven Saturday Market to participate in the annual Trick or Treat Contest.
Several hundred people dressed in costume and took selfies of themselves to upload to the event’s Facebook page last Saturday. The photos that received the most likes and comments were able to select one of the countless prizes at the prize table later that afternoon.
The top winner was Isabella McCaffery, a little girl dressed up as the children’s character Strawberry Shortcake. Her photo on Facebook received 147 likes and 11 shares.
She was one of the nearly 100 people who participated in the contest that day. In fact, so many people uploaded photos to the event’s Facebook page that it experienced technical difficulties, explained Sergio Cruz, event organizer.
“I am having trouble with Facebook today because I have uploaded so many pictures and videos that it is not allowing me to keep up,” Cruz said. “That is how busy and how wonderful this event is going on.”
This year’s event drew in a larger crowd than the previous year. Thousands of attendees arrived to peruse the nearly 100 vendors and participate in the day’s festivities including the costume contest.
“Yesterday was about three times bigger and larger in attendance than last year, probably 4,500 to 5,500 people attended without a doubt,” Cruz said. “The number of [attendees] is always much higher than the actual numbers on the event page, so if the event page had 3300 interested and going you figure the actual attendance was much higher.”
Cruz hopes that even more people attend next year and that the crowds continue for their upcoming Haven Holiday Market, to be hosted on Sat. Nov. 18 in Downtown Winter Haven.
“It is above expectations, it is much better than last year,” Cruz said. “Haven Holiday Market will be bigger. We sold out a month ago, but it is four times the size of this.”
For more information, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/WinterHavenSaturdayMarkets
Sergio Cruz was the most recent guest on the Chattin on the Ridge podcast, where he discussed the event and the upcoming Haven Holiday Market. Listen to it here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/IYBzfxRmiEb