VAN BUREN, Ark. — Halloween celebrations are looking a little different this year in our area, but quite a few towns are coming up with COVID-19 safe celebrations.
Halloween on Main brings in thousands of people to downtown Van Buren each year. But this year, because of COVID-19, the famous Zombie Crawl had to be canceled. Businesses on Main Street still wanted to make the holiday fun for their community so they came up with a social distancing safe scavenger hunt.
"I didn't want Halloween to just disappear, I didn't want Halloween to be canceled," said Dodson.
Lindsey Dodson is not only a business owner on Main Street but a mom. For her family, Halloween on Main is a favorite holiday tradition, and the thought of it being completely canceled made her sad for the community.
“I didn’t want my kids to miss out,” said Dodson.
Dodson and other businesses on Main Street came up with the idea of the scavenger hunt.
To keep things safe and socially distanced you can find a scavenger hunt list on the Old Town Van Buren Facebook page and a list of stores participating.
Once you get the list you can get your search on. When you find the items, you take a picture and share them on social media to be entered for one of the prizes. It's an event that has been a hit in the community.
They’re still able to dress up have fun be safe and celebrate Halloween,” said Dodson.
Ricky Bond owns the antique store Willy Nilly on Main Street. He says although Halloween looks a little different year after a hard year it means a lot to see a kickoff to the holiday season especially during such a hard year.
“It’s an uplifting way to kick off the holiday season. That’s what we always look forward to here on the street. We always look so forward to it so this is bringing a new light on a bad situation making everyone feel good, merchants and customers,” said Bond.
The Halloween scavenger hunt on Main will continue until 5 p.m. Friday and then go again Saturday (Oct. 31) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Along with Van Buren's event, there are quite a few other socially distanced Halloween events going on this weekend.