Easley's Children's Fall Festival Oct. 31

Easley will be celebrating the Halloween and the coming of fall with a special children's festival.

The festival will be held on Halloween night in Old Market Square. October 31 falls on a Wednesday this year.

The festival starts at 4pm and will run until 8pm, according to Scott Buckhiester with Dunburk's Premier Events, which plans and manages city events.

“We'll have inflatables, we'll have a magician, and all sorts of games,” Buckhiester said. “There will be a big costume contest with four different age groups, infants to adults.”

Check out the music in the city's beautiful amphitheater during the event.

There will be a grand prize drawing for a flat screen TV. The drawing will benefit SHINE (Stopping Hunger in Nearby Easley).

“To enter the drawing, bring a non-perishable food item, which will be given to SHINE,” Buckhiester said. “Each item you bring gets you a ticket for the drawing.”

From 4:30 to 6:30, the Easley Downtown Merchants will be open for trick-or-treating, he said.

The Pickens County Fire Chiefs Association will have their Smokehouse at the festival, and the Greenville Road Warriors ice hockey team will be meeting and greeting fans.

“Their mascot, Slap Shot, is supposed to come out, too,” Buckhiester said.

While admission and all the events are completely free, food items will be available for purchase, he said.

“This is our fifth year of doing this,” Buckhiester said. “It keeps growing each year.”

For more information, visit easleyevents.com

There's lots of Halloween events leading up to Easley's main event.

In honor of Teen Read Week, a special "Thriller" event will be held at the Hampton Memorial Library in Easley. The theme of this year's Teen Read Week is “It Came from the Library,” which ties in perfectly with Halloween. 

All teens are invited to Thriller Night at the Hampton Memorial Library in Easley on Thursday, October 18 at 6pm. They'll learn, practice, and perform the infamous zombie dance from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

This program is free and open to all teens. For more information, call the library at 850-7077 or email reference@pickens.lib.sc.us.

The Easley Foothills Playhouse's new play “The Haunting” opens this Friday.

The play is based on stories by Charles Dickens, whose work is often populated by spirits. After all, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts in the classic “A Christmas Carol.”

“The Haunting” tells the story of two men exploring a library in a crumbling mansion located on a desolate moor. As the research goes on, strange events begin occurring. Who or what is trying to keep the secrets hidden?

Shows on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 begin at 8pm. Sunday Matinees will be held Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 at 3pm.

Special midnight shows will be held October 26-27.

See here for ticket information.

Check back with Easley Patch for more on this show.

The Fine Arts Center of Easley will hold a “Booville Bash,” a non-scary Halloween event from 4-6 pm on Friday, October 26.

The bash is a party for children ages 0-7 and will feature games, a costume contest, safe indoor trick-or-treating and storytelling with award-winning storyteller Erin Schultz.

Advance tickets for the Booville Bash are $5 or $7 at the door the day of the event. For more information, call or visit www.fineartscenterofeasley.com

The Fine Arts Center of Easley is located in West End Hall.

On Saturday, October 27, Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary will open its doors for a special Halloween Open House event.

They will be open with free admission between 11 am and 4 pm.  Special events include a (not-so-scary) Haunted Maze and a costume contest at 2:00 PM. Safe Haven’s Adventure Day will also have opportunities to touch (some of) the animals, food, raffles, silent auctions, games and Halloween themed crafts for the kids.  Mouth-watering barbeque is provided by Swine Em & Dine Em, a barbeque competition team.  This is the sanctuary’s largest fundraiser of the year to generate support for the animals. 

See our original story for more information and directions to Safe Haven.

And don't forget to enter our Nationwide search for the Best Halloween Costume in the country! Your costume could win you $5,000!