Halloween Family Picnic

Come join us for a family pot-luck, trick-or-treating, pinata bashing, sticky doughnut eating, apple bobbing, face painting, costume parade and more. Most activities will be held from 11am-2:30pm on Saturday, October 31st at Hakushima Kyuken-cho park.
The park is just outside the city center between Hakushima and Ushita. (In the case of heavy rain, it will be held on Saturday the 7th).
The whole day offers lots of fun to be had for kids of all ages.

This is an event coordinated by volunteer parents and which includes us at gethiroshima. If you want to volunteer to help set up an activity or dress-up and be one of the costumed parents handing out candy for trick or treating or want to donate something for the possible charity raffle, please contact me joy@gethiroshima.com, or through the feedback button at the bottom of the page.

Clouds and light rain will not put us off, but if it is rainy heavily or stormy, it will be postponed until Saturday, November 7th at the same time and place.

Family Halloween in Hiroshima- a little history
It started in 2003 with a costumed fun run and kid's party at Hiroshima Castle, then in 2004 we held a kid's party in Molly Mallone's back room, 2005 and 2006 we tried the event outdoors again at the Park in Hakushima and that venue was so popular that this year again, we will be holding the kid's Halloween party in the Hakushima park once again.

• Potluck- bring a salad, main dish, dessert or other dish to share in the potluck your own plates and cutlery too (dishes should be big enough for your own family to eat as a general rule).
  You might win a prize if you make something really halloween-like :-)
• Onegai Please bring: Folding tables and ground mats, your own drinks, plates and cutlery for your family. If you could also bring a small garbage bag to carry your own trash home with you it would be a HUGE help!
• Trick or Treating: Please bring a bucket, bag or carrier for your child to collect their goodies in from trick or treating and other activities during the day.
• Volunteers:
  Want to help? If you have a great idea for a game or activity that you would like to do, please drop me a line- it is always nice to get new activities and new enthusiastic parents involved.
  
• Donating candy: If possible, please bring some sweets or small toys to add to the pot for trick-or-treating that helps provide a nice variety of goodies and makes sure there is enough to go around for all the kids.
There will be a collection box on hand too with a suggested donation of ¥300 per child to help cover the costs of putting on this event. The bag of candy donation adds to the mix and helps us keep the costs down while making sure there are enough treats to go around.
• See pictures from previous years: 2005 Kid's Halloween Party in the Hakushima Kyukencho Park. Scary Faces Blog from the 2006 Halloween event. Also, 2007 Halloween Family Picnic Pix on FLickr.
• Come by public transport (bus, streetcar and Astram (both to Hakushima) stations are not far from the park, also bicycle or walk if possible.
  There is no parking available at the park, but there are a couple of 100 yen parking lots nearby. Please do not use the Daiki parking or along the road in front of the park (expensive fines & we don't want to irritate local residents) :-)
Information about where to get halloween treats and costumes at the HiroshimaOyako Parenting blog Also useful to bring: a light jacket in case the weather changes, blanket or blue sheet (something to sit on), drinks and sunscreen for the kids (it has always been hot in the past) and wet wipes (lots of sticky hands).

Last Onegai Please ask your kids to say "please", "thank you" as well as "trick-or-treat" for the event- it makes all the difference and helps everyone have a lot more fun!