By Trinity Kinslow
Where do parents in Ward 3 take their families to celebrate Halloween?
Fall Frolic at Glen Echo Park is a popular event for residents in the upper-northwest quadrant.
Families enter Glen Echo Park to enjoy Fall Frolic for the day.
Courtesy Trinity Kinslow
“It’s probably one of the closest parks to our home in Potomac Heights,” said Mayumi Ridenhour, who attended with her family. “We knew other people would be dressed up and we could showcase our costumes. We have friends in town and I wanted them to see another part of the city.”
The park is 10 minutes outside the District limits, neighboring Chevy Chase Village, Friendship Heights, and American University.
“We heard about it from some neighbors that come every year,” said Justin Ridenhour, husband of Mayumi Ridenhour. “Everyone in our neighborhood loves this park because of the events and art classes.”
The Fall Frolic is one of the many events held at the historic art-centered park. Families gathered in costume to play, perform, and do arts and crafts to celebrate the Halloween season.
“We do it every year,” said Katey Boerner, CEO of Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc. “Kids can explore the park, go to the different studios, and get candy.”
The park is home to 13 art studios ranging from stone carving to glass blowing. Each of the studios passed out candy to children who visited the live exhibitions.
In a live glass-blowing exhibition, children were able to pick up lollipops as the artists handled the molten glass. In the pottery barn, kids trick-or-treated by picking candy out of handmade bowls and vases.
Children dressed in costumes frolic through the park, leaving parents behind in pursuit of candy.
Photo by Trinity Kinslow
Events like Fall Frolic generate sales for the artists at the park, Boerner said.
“We have two different theaters, a puppet theater, and a children’s theater,” she said. “They’re able to get their ticket sales for all the fall and winter shows coming up. We also get a lot a visitors to the art gallery that generate art sales.”
Vendors at the pottery barn sold pottery for five dollars a pound, with a separate table for $1 pieces.
A pottery barn volunteer said the sale is one of their most popular of the year, fundraising money for classes and supplies.
Art was not the only thing on display at the Fall Frolic. Halfway through the event, a Halloween costume contest was held at the center stage.
A costume parade travels through Glen Echo Park.
Photo by Trinity Kinslow
The contest was split into three categories: the scariest, which was won by a Wednesday Adams character, the most creative, which was won by “kidnapped kid,” and the best group costume, which was won by two boys dressed as the “Jackson Two.”
“I really liked Dorothy,” said Dora Rosaldie, a volunteer with Glen Echo Park. “I saw a couple of kids dressed as transformers. That hit home because I love Bumblebee.”
Family group costumes were a range of different coordinating characters, including two different families dressed as an ensemble of Super Mario Bros. Characters.
“My kids wear something matching every year,” Mayumi Ridenhour said. “This year they had just finished watching Super Mario Bros. so that’s what they decided on. Then, we realized our friends were coming for Halloween, and we figured we would do a family costume since we’d never done one.”
Boerner said she hopes to see the activities expand in the years to come. .
“I’d like to see more competitive pumpkin carving and more creative arts events as a part of it but I don’t know if we want it to grow,” she said. “We like it the way it is.”