The annual Halloween “Spooktacular!” event at the Magical Bridge Playground Oct. 10 saw the accessible park haunted by ghosts, patrolled by dinosaurs and presided over by princesses as costumed community members came together for an afternoon of singing, dancing and activities.
Organized by Morgan Hill Recreation Coordinator Chiquy Mejia, the event invited residents of all ages to participate in two hours of Halloween fun, with activities including karaoke, face painting, balloon animals, a raffle and a community dance led by Mejia and the Chiqlets Dance Team.
“We started this event five years ago, in 2022, when we opened the park,” Mejia said. “We created this event with a purpose to celebrate Halloween, and a community dance together to get not just kids (but also) adults together. All ages, all abilities.”
Chiquy founded the Chiqlets dance team in 2012 before stepping aside in 2022. The group and founder reunited Oct. 10 to lead the afternoon of community dancing to classic Halloween bops including “Thriller,” “This Is Halloween,” and the theme songs for “Ghost Busters” and “The Addams Family.”
The dance was also attended by several local nonprofits and other organizations including Sacred Heart Community Service, Pacific Clinics, South County H.E.A.L.S. and Valley Health Plan, which offered resource tables at the event and contributed items to the raffle.
“The resource tables, they bring a gift to contribute to the event,” Mejia said. “Everybody who comes through the main entrance is given a ticket, and then we do that raffle. It’s not mandatory, it’s optional.”
The city contributed a souvenir gift basket, while one group offered a $25 Starbucks gift card, and another contributed an Uno card game set.
Mejia said this year’s attendance was a bit lower than previous years due to other competing Halloween events in the area. “There’s around seven other events in the community happening, so there’s a lot of overlap,” she said.
The afternoon of entertainment concluded with a parade within the park, with costumed attendees invited to follow Mejia, elevated on stilts and adorned with silken fans, in a procession around the playground to the delight of their family members.
The Magical Bridge Playground, located in the middle of the Community Park on West Edmundson Avenue, was built through a partnership between the city, county and the Magical Bridge Foundation.
The park, which opened in 2022, was designed to be accessible to visitors of all ages and abilities.
