Travel website Trips to Discover has named the 16 best Halloween events in the US, and an event in Oregon made the list. The honor goes to the month-long “Spirit of Halloweentown” celebration held each year in the Columbia River community of St. Helens, about 25 miles outside of Portland.
The event is inspired by the 1998 Disney Channel film Halloweentown, which was filmed on location in St Helens. The film starred Debbie Reynolds as a witch who teaches her 13-year-old granddaughter the family’s magical ways while saving the residents of Halloweentown. The film spawned three sequels and became a beloved Christmas TV classic.
READ MORE: “Halloweentown”: 9 reasons why the TV movie is still magical
Halloween fans filled the streets of Saint Helens for the 2019 Spirit of Halloweentown Parade.
Starting in mid-September, downtown St. Helens is transformed into “Halloweentown,” with a courthouse square full of spooky statues and a large jack-o-lantern sculpture (just like in the movie) lit up to kick off October. This year’s celebrations include a special tribute to the 25th anniversary of the film’s release.
And St Helens has another spooky claim to fame: it was one of the main filming locations in the vampire film Twilight. Although the film is set in a fictional Washington town, many of the locations, including the home of Kristen Stewart’s character Bella Swan, are actually in St. Helens. (And yes, you can stay there through Airbnb.) Over the years, some of the actors from the “Twilight” film series have appeared at “Spirit of Halloweentown” events.
Spirit of Halloweentown, a festival held throughout October in St. Helens, OR, began on the night of Saturday, October 1, 2016. The festival is a celebration of a 1998 Disney Channel film called “Halloweentown “. in St Helens. In the middle of the town square is a giant, lighted jack-o-lantern similar to the one in the film.
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The first Spirit of Halloweentown parade was organized in 1998 by the St. Helens Merchant’s Association, the Chamber of Commerce and local civic organizations to celebrate the film’s release. The event remained obscure for the next few years until Spirit of Halloweentown was revived as a one-day celebration by the City of St. Helens Tourism Committee. When the Tourism Committee disbanded, the City of St Helens took over management of the festival.
Actress Kimberly J. Brown, who played 13-year-old heroine Marnie in the Disney Channel film, appears on “Spirit of Halloweentown.”
In 2015, actress Kimberly J. Brown, who played 13-year-old heroine Marnie in the Disney Channel film, returned to host celebrations and greet fans, and the event went viral. The Spirit of Halloweentown is now bigger than ever and the town is hiring E2C Productions to organize the celebration.
The free Halloweentown parade begins at 6:30 p.m. on October 7, travels down Columbia Boulevard and ends at 7:30 p.m. in the downtown plaza where the Great Pumpkin will be lit
The weekend of October 21-22 marks the 25th anniversary of the original film. The actors who played Sophie, Dylan, Luke and Marnie are available for paid photos and autographs as well as special screenings of the film at the Columbia Theater, included in the film’s climax.
At the Spirit of Halloweentown, held in St Helens on Saturday evening, actors who appeared in the film Halloweentown, which inspired the festival, were on hand to pay tribute to co-star Debbie Reynolds, who died last year. Beth Nakamura LC
October 27th to 29th is “Witches Weekend” with a performance by paddleboard witches along the Columbia River. Children are invited to participate in the Little Trick or Treaters Parade beginning at 12:30 p.m. on October 28th at 1st and St. Helens Streets.
Every weekend throughout October there will be various street performers and vendors at the Spirit of Halloweentown. (Note that due to construction downtown, visitors are asked to pay to park at 1810 Old Portland Road and take a free shuttle downtown.) Find a full list of events and artist performances, as well as how to purchase, here of tickets to various meet & greets and haunted houses, parking passes and experiences can be found at spiritofhalloweentown.com.
READ MORE
- From pumpkins to ghouls: Halloween hangouts and other seasonal events in the Portland area for 2023
- Oregon cities celebrate their favorite places with these spooky events
– Samantha Swindler, [email protected], @editorswindler