Up Front
IN SEASON
IF YOU BUILD IT … Halloween Town expecting visitors close to home
Story and Photos by Dana Martin
B
akersfield families have limited choices when it comes to entertainment, especially in finding fun, affordable activities close to home. This October, Bakersfield Halloween Town will change all that. “This is a family community, and we wanted to create something fun for families to do to celebrate the season,” said Mike Wilbur, the co-creator of Bakersfield Halloween Town. Halloween Town first opened two years ago at the Kern County Museum and makes its muchanticipated return this season on the northwest side of town. “This is home,” said Wilbur of the attraction’s change of location. “We started (Talladega Frights) in the Rosedale area seven years ago, moved to Pioneer Village in 2013, but after two years there we discovered that the community prefers when we can spread out more.” By “spreading out,” Wilbur is referring to the sprawling 23-acre lot on which Halloween Town calls home for the next two years, alongside its more famous neighbor, Talladega Frights Haunted Attraction. Wilbur believes that by bringing the attraction back to the northwest and adding a harvest-festival-type element, Bakersfield residents will be able to enjoy fall activities close to home. “You won’t have to drive 30 minutes out of town to go on a hayride or pick a pumpkin,” he said. A fun, family friendly (non24
Bakersfield Life Magazine
October 2015
scary) hayride is just one attraction the creators plan to add to the value of each ticket. Other activities included in the $12 price are pumpkin cannons; a super slide; corn maze; kids’ play area with bounce houses, a rock wall, corn seed box, and face painting; and the brandnew Spooky Cinema. “Remember when you were a kid and looked forward to the Halloween cartoons? That’s an idea of what you’ll be able to watch in our cinema,” said Wilbur. Halloween Town will be dotted with the same houses used at last year’s Christmas Town, only these houses have been snapped up by sponsors eager to decorate them for the Halloween season. Local businesses adopt each house to make it especially spooky or festive for the children who will trick-ortreat there later in the month. Wilbur says other fall attractions in the valley have incorporated this element. “It’s trick-or-treating, but a whole lot more,” he said. “You get all of our regular activities, too.”
On Oct. 30 and 31, Trick-orTreat Town will be included in the same $12 admission to Halloween Town and will allow children under 12 a chance to trick-or-treat local businesses, while also participating in all other attractions. Halloween Town, creators say, is a labor of love designed to create a warm and inviting holiday atmosphere close to home – one in which they hope will be a Bakersfield tradition for years to come.