From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, the Downtown Mesa Association presents Haunting on Main, where families and kids can explore downtown Mesa and get individually wrapped treats from businesses and merchants. It’s a daytime pre-Halloween event that turns North MacDonald Street into a mini block-party full of trick-or-treating, arts and crafts, games, music and more.
Liz Hewat, DMA business and community engagement manager, said the event is fun for all ages.
“All the families will come down with lots of fun costumes and people will walk up and down Main Street trick-or-treating at businesses,” Hewat said. “And then at the Main Street and MacDonald Street intersection, we’ll have games and crafts and fun things for the kids to do.”
A wide range of businesses will be participating and handing out fun treats to kids. Some of the approximately 20 businesses that will be participating in Haunting on Main will be getting creative with what they hand out too.
“HeatSync Labs is a co-op maker space. They usually shy away from candy and hand out cute little 3D-printed things or laser-cut wood items,” Hewat said. “It depends, you might get a surprise and it might not just be candy. There’s a wide range of businesses that participate, and they like connecting with the community.”
Hewat said this event is very important for downtown Mesa.
Not only does it bring the community out of their homes and together, but it also provides a nice fall economic boost for businesses in downtown that struggle during the summer season.
“There’s no barrier to entry. You just have to come downtown and you get to participate in trick-or-treating or you get to play games and hang out,” Hewat said. “It’s also important for our businesses, they’re coming off the end of the summer. Summer is always rough for our businesses. So they’re welcoming the community and it’s a chance for everyone to reacquaint themselves with downtown Mesa.”
Overall, Hewat hopes that families take advantage of the opportunity of an extended Halloween and participate in Haunting on Main.
“It’s a chance for Halloween to get extended,” Hewat said. “Kids can go out on Saturday morning on the 25th, and then a week later they can trick-or-treat again on the 31st.”
After graduating from Arizona State University's Cronkite School in spring 2022, Connor Van Ligten spent a little over year as a reporter for WWL-TV in New Orleans before finding themselves back in Phoenix in October of 2023. Now back in the Valley and writing for the Mesa Independent and the Daily Independent, Connor is ready to tell meaningful stories and report on important civic issues facing Mesa. Connor is a big fan of the 49ers, Warriors, pro wrestling, anime, dogs and fighting video games.
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