Halloween Celebrated Throughout Area With Parades and Carnivals

Halloween festivities, featuring haunted houses, costume parades and contests, entertainment and carnival, game and food booths, will be offered to all ages Sunday through Thursday throughout the Southeast and Long Beach areas. Activities will take place in the following cities:

Cerritos--A Tiny Tot Haunted Island, featuring a costume contest and free candy and prizes, will be held for ages 3 to 5 from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Park, 18600 Bloomfield Ave. The contest will begin at 6 p.m. In addition, youths 11 years old and younger may visit the Halloween Carnival, including free game booths, prizes and candy, and Haunted Island from 6 to 8:30 p.m. A costume contest for ages 6 through adult will begin at 7 p.m.

Those 12 years old and younger may apply finishing touches to their costumes from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Cerritos Park East, 13234 E. 166th St.

Lakewood--Free community Halloween Carnivals will be held Thursday at the following parks: Biscailuz, 2601 Dollar St.; Bloomfield, 21420 S. Pioneer Blvd.; Bolivar, 3300 Del Amo Blvd.; Del Valle, 5939 Henrilee St; Mayfair, 5720 N. Clark Ave.; Palms, 12305 East 207th St., and San Martin, 5231 N. Ocana Ave. Carnival midways, including games, entertainment and food booths, will operate from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Game areas will be set aside for preschool children with contests to coincide with their interests and skill levels from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The featured event will be a costume parade beginning at 7:30 p.m. with ribbons awarded to children who are best outfitted. An additional highlight will be a haunted house, complete with eerie sounds, monsters, ghosts and extraterrestrial beings.

As an alternative to trick or treating, Cerritos Assembly church will sponsor a fall festival featuring free candy, games and prizes beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Artesia High School stadium, 12108 E. Del Amo Blvd., Lakewood. Singer/guitarist Dennis Agajanian and his group will entertain.

La Mirada--The La Mirada Mall Merchants Assn. and the City of La Mirada Community Services will sponsor a Halloween Monster Haunt with community groups providing a haunted house from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and carnival games and food booths from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the mall, Rosecrans Avenue and La Mirada Boulevard. A costume contest will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday with prizes being awarded for the funniest, spookiest, most original, cutest and best costumes.

Long Beach--The City of Long Beach Department of Parks and Recreation will sponsor Halloween festivals, featuring carnival rides, contests, costume parades and game booths, Tuesday through Thursday at several local parks. More than 2,000 persons are expected to attend the celebration from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday at El Dorado Park, 2800 Studebaker Road. Other highlights include a haunted house for all ages from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at Silverado Park, 1545 West 32nd St., a horror film series Tuesday through Thursday at 3:30 p.m. for ages 5 to 12 and at 6:30 p.m. for ages 18 or older at King Park, 1950 Lemon Ave., and a pumpkin carving test for ages 5 to 14 Wednesday at Cherry Park, 1901 East 45th St.

In addition, numerous activities will take place at the following locations: MacArthur Park, 1325 E. Anaheim St.; California Community Center, 1550 California Ave.; Houghton Park, 6301 Myrtle Ave., and Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave. Information may be obtained by calling the individual parks or the Department of Parks and Recreation at (213) 432-5931.

Favorite Halloween characters will spring to life as the “Walking Puppet Theatre” strolls through Shoreline Village, 419 Shoreline Village Drive, from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Children 10 years or younger will compete in a contest for most original, prettiest and ugliest costumes at 2:45 p.m. with prizes for all who enter. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Captain Truett’s Mask Parade--an old-fashioned family carnival featuring a haunted house, games, contests, prizes and food booths--will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Truett Memorial Baptist Church, 3435 San Anseline Ave.

Paramount--The Elderly Nutrition Program will hold a Halloween Party for senior citizens beginning at noon Thursday at Paramount Park, 14400 Paramount Blvd. Food, games and entertainment will be featured. All ages may attend a Halloween Carnival sponsored by the Department of Human Services beginning at 6 p.m. Festivities will include a costume contest.

Pico Rivera--”Halloween Happening” festivities, featuring entertainment, game and food booths and a costume contest for all ages, will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Smith Park, 6016 S. Rosemead Blvd. Families may bring their carved/decorated jack-o’-lanterns for display and judging. Gift certificates of $25, $50 and $75 will be awared to the top three. The traditional bonfire at 9 p.m. will conclude activities.

Whittier--The Pio Pico State Historic Park Volunteers Assn. will conduct trick or treating, games and a costume contest for children 12 years or younger from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the park, 6003 Pioneer Blvd. Children must be in costume and accompanied by an adult.

A Halloween Masquerade Party and Dance will be held for those 60 years of age or older from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Whittier Senior Citizens Center, 13225 Walnut St. Live music for dancing will be provided by “George’s Band” and refreshments will be served.

The Human Services Department, in conjunction with the Whittier Quad and the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, will sponsor a Halloween Fair from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Whittier Quad, 8434 Quadway.