By Mareska Chettiar, Photography Editor

On Saturday, Oct. 21, T/E residents and Upper Main Line YMCA members gathered at UMLY’s Artisan Village for its annual Great Halloween Festival. The event was open to all and featured multiple Halloween-themed activities, including a haunted house and inflatable bouncy house. Five cottages in the village hosted regularly-offered UMLY programs, like its STEM lab, industrial arts studio and woodworking shop.

“This is a great festival for not only the community, but our local families to come and celebrate with the community and just have a little bit of fun,” said Hugh Algeo, chair of the UMLY Board of Advisors. “It’s also a good opportunity to volunteer and get to see some of your neighbours in a context that you don’t normally get to see them.”

YMCA volunteers offered free pumpkins to all children attending, many of whom were dressed up in various Halloween costumes, and attendees could grab food from food trucks around the site. The pavilion hosted various entertainers throughout the evening, including dancers, magicians and clowns. 

Volunteers from KEY Club and other Conestoga clubs helped host games such as Monster Knock Down, Graveyard Golf and Mummy Bowling. 

UMLY plans to hold its next event, Turkey Tribe, on Nov. 11 from 9-10:30 a.m., followed by its Christmas Festival on Dec. 9. 

Mareska Chettiar can be reached at [email protected].