Kingston, Ontario. celebrates the Halloween festivities for the first time since the pandemic began – Kingston | The Canadian News

The spooky scares and yummy treats are an exciting change for trick-or-treating doers who, after last year’s cancellations, were looking forward to a return to the Halloween holiday.

The Halloween fun started early Sunday with a candy-filled corn maze at Fruition Berry Farm to mark the closing day of their fall season.

“We started doing this last year during COVID because a lot of people couldn’t go out trick or treating or whatever their circumstance was,” says Christine Paul of Fruition Berry Farm. “We got all of our staff to dress up and we were handing out candy on the farm in the maze, in a good outdoor and socially detached environment. So we decided to do it again this year and everyone is dressed up and we still have a lot of pumpkins and we’re having a little fun. “

And the weather didn’t stop the festivities.

“It’s a bit more rainy this year, but we’re still trying to wear our rubber boots under our costumes,” says Paul.

With safety precautions in place and the province’s green light, Sunday fun offers a change from last year.

“I think we are doing well this year, yes. We are all taking our precautions and, well, they are very excited to get out this year, ”says Shannon, a mother of three, who did not share her last name. “We got lost last year, unfortunately, of course.”

While the pandemic may have spooked Halloween plans last year, Corbin Gilles-Stoness is excited to resume his annual Halloween Yard Haunt for the fifth year.

“I really like the atmosphere and seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they pass by or come looking for candy,” he says. “Some of them are too scared to go in, but yeah, they love it.”

Gilles-Stoness spent an hour putting together his garden display and says he has planned security protocols in tradition using single-row lines and non-contact treat bowls.