Cupertino Parks and Recreation hosted its annual Monster Mash Parade for children aged 12 and under at the Quinlan Community Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. For the first hour, children participated in a variety of Halloween themed games, such as Witch Hat Ring Toss, Creepy Can Crash, Pumpkin Putt and Pin the Eye on the Monster. In addition to expressing their creativity through their costumes, children were able to participate in activities such as making sugar skull masks to celebrate the Day of the Dead and Halloween.
Most participants chose to wear costumes inspired by TV show characters, video game characters or their favorite animals, and displayed them during the costume parade that started at 7 p.m. Kennedy Middle School students Avril Wang and Selina Xu and elementary school student Priscilla Peng coordinated their costumes as their favorite characters from the gacha game Genshin Impact: Klee, Ayaka and Keqing. Some parents, including attendee Jennifer Chang, choose to coordinate their costumes with their children. Chang and her toddler Nolan Chang decided to dress up as black cats, inspired by Nolan’s love for cats.
“This is his first time trick-or-treating,” Chang said. “He’s just so cute, and I love watching him waddle around. He sees himself in the mirror, and he thinks he’s cute too.”
This annual tradition is close to many residents in the Cupertino community according to Tammy Suzuki, and believes this tradition allows children to express their creativity, all while enjoying the Halloween festivities with family and friends.
“I love this park, and it’s very family friendly. I love that they close it up so it’s safe for children,” Chang said. “So I’m definitely gonna come next year!”
