CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The night before Halloween, many Charlotte-area parents are making alternate plans for trick-or-treating. With a line of severe weather forecast to hit the region Thursday evening, trick-or-treating could be dangerous.
Some neighborhoods are postponing trick-or-treating to Friday night, many are going ahead as planned, and others are not sure what to do.
If it was the same rain that the Charlotte area saw Wednesday, there wouldn’t be an issue and trick-or-treating would go on as usual, just with some umbrellas. That's not the case, though.
The severe weather forecast for Thursday night presents a legitimate and serious safety risk for young trick-or-treaters.
"I think a lot of folks are pretty concerned," Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari said.
One quick look at social media shows neighborhood groups flooded with opinions about what to do with trick-or-treating. Some say it’s not worth the risk, while others say a little rain never hurt anyone.
It’s that mentality that has Bokhari worried.
"We’re not talking about a wet Halloween," Bokhari said. "We’re talking about the potential for lightning and severe weather that could put folks' lives at risk."
Bokhari says it’s not viable for the city to take action on trick-or-treating plans. Instead, he’s encouraging individual neighborhoods to come up with a plan and communicate.
"This isn’t about anything other than making sure our kids are safe," Bokhari said.
Residents of Huntintowne Farms in South Charlotte have already made the decision to postpone trick-or-treating in their neighborhood until Friday.
"It’s just a no-brainer to just post-pone this thing a day and celebrate on Friday instead of Thursday," resident Matthew Ridenhour said.
Matthew Ridenhour says the decision wasn’t just about safety.
"How can we maximize the fun? No one is going to have fun if we just cancel," Ridenhour said.
Those that are intent on having Halloween fun on October 31 can always go indoors.
Here's a list of some places in the Charlotte area offering indoor options for Halloween:
- Trick-or-Treat Scavenger Hunt at the Charlotte IKEA 2-7 p.m.
- Trick-or-treating and costume contest at Bass Pro Shops & Cabela's Concord Mills and Fort Mill
- Free photos, free crafts, ring toss and trick-or-treating from 4-8 p.m.
- Costume parade at 6 p.m.
- Mall-O-Ween at Northlake Mall 5-7 p.m.
- Kids 10 and under invited to trick-or-treat mall-wide
- No full facial masks or toy weapons
- Hall-OH-Ween Halloween Party at Optimist Hall in Charlotte 6-8 p.m.
- Trick-or-treating through the halls, costume contest, photo ops
- Trick-or-treat at Concord Mills mall 6-8 p.m.
- Costume contest and Monster Mash at Fort Mill YMCA 5-7 p.m.
- Rock Hill Galleria mall trick-or-treating 4-6:30 p.m.
- Costume contest at 6 p.m.
