Anoka, MN is not just any old city: it is the “Halloween Capital of the World”.  Many people know Anoka as their home or where they grew up, but Angie Eaton from the Anoka Board of Directors, says ““As a child I would come to Anoka all the time, shopping at Jensons for school clothes and as a teenager you know running around getting into trouble so Anoka has always felt like home to me.” Though she did not live in Anoka she still thought of it as home.

            Through coming to Anoka as a young adult, she has learned some of the history from Anoka’s past, “Anoka being the Halloween capital of the world, that started back in 1920, so in 1920 George Green, he was one of our civic leaders, suggested a celebration to reduce the mischievous activities of the children in town and the idea was adopted by the Anoka commercial and the Kiwanis club so some local organizations said yes let’s do this and they formed a committee. By the 1930s the festivities had expanded and so had the attendance of the parades, there were over 2,000 costumed children marching down main street,”

While learning this history we asked her about the events that Anoka does around Halloween, Eaton said “It’s a small organization but a big deal for our town, so I enjoy being a part of that.” Eaton also talked about the Anoka Parade, “And my other favorite is the Grand Day parade because it is so big and it is so incredible to get all those people into our little town to watch a parade. Last year it was incredible it was sunny and seventy we probably had sixty five thousand people that came to it, this year it was very cold it was very windy I was outside from nine A.M. to almost four P.M..” 

Many challenges come with cold weather, but many people are still attending these Anoka traditions, and these traditions have thrived for 140 years, and many years to come.