With Halloween right around the corner, you might be wondering what fun and safe activities are being put on during the pandemic. Two family friendly safe events are occurring, and the best part is you don’t even need to get out of your car.

 In SOMO Village Santa Rosa, a drive-in movie event will feature “Paranorman” on Oct. 30 and “Casper” on Halloween night. In addition, The Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma will be hosting a “Halloluma” parade-like event from 12-3 p.m. on Halloween. 

The SOMO Village parking lot will open up at 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday night. Each movie will start once it is dark. They will also be passing out crafts for families to work on safely in their own car. Each child will receive a goodie bag filled with candy. When talking to Cindy Bagley, the Deputy Director of Community Services, she said that the movies were chosen because they wanted something new that many people had not seen before and they also wanted to show a classic so that the children could watch something that their parents grew up watching. 

This is a free event and is funded by Measure M – Parks for All. Reservations must be made in advance either online at www.rpcity.org/halloween or by calling the number 707-588-3456.

The City of Petaluma Parks and Recreation department will be hosting “Hallowluma,” a drive through parade-like event for groups of friends and families to participate in by decorating the outsides of their cars in Halloween decor. Goodie bags will be available for children under 12 for free. Masks will be required and everyone is to remain inside their cars. They are taking pre-registrations for 2,000 children so they encourage early sign-ups.

Mellissa Becker, principle of Meadow School, who is helping put on the event stated that, “A few nonprofits started throwing out ideas for a safe drive thru Halloween, and the team started meeting via Zoom to start putting it together.” One of those non-profits being The Fabulous Women, who put together fundraisers and do charity work in Petaluma. They “put out a request for candy donations, and our community responded with overwhelming support- over 8,000 pieces of candy have been dropped off to create little Halloween bags,” said Becker.

The event is supposed to be very safe and follow strict guidelines, participants will stay in their cars and must wear masks the whole time. “The Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds is providing security and cars will proceed in a steady stream until they reach a station of goodie bags. A masked individual with sanitized hands will pass goodies to each car,” said Becker. Allison Keaney, the CEO of the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds and Event Center, stated that the fairgrounds staff has assisted with a number of events dealing with COVID-19 precautions within the past few months such as drive in movies, drive through fair food, and evacuations. 

Halloween may look a little different this year, but it can still be a memorable, safe event for families and friends to enjoy.