Last night was the annual Pacana Pumpkin Walk, an event that originated in 2019 and has been drawing large crowds of Halloween-loving residents each year who want to show off their spooky costumes and grab as much candy as they can trick-or-treating through the different booths.

According to the city’s spokesperson Monica Williams, attendance estimates are in the thousands. She noted it was exactly what the city hoped for.  

“We obviously think it was a fantastic turnout,” Williams said. “This is a cherished tradition in our community that we’re very happy that people are still coming out for.”  

Williams added the event has grown both in popularity and attendance each year. 

This year there were 100 vendors who registered for the event, including InMaricopa, and each of them were asked to bring a minimum of 75 pounds of candy to hand out to the those in attendance. InMaricopa handed out 40 Halloween-sized bags of candy.

That means there were at the very least 7,500 pounds of candy deposited into plastic jack-o-lanterns and pillowcases at the pumpkin walk last night, enough confectionary to give even the Hulk a stomachache.

Williams gave a shoutout to the sponsor of the event, Christ Church of the Valley, which not only brought extra candy for ill-supplied vendors but also allowed people to use their parking lot for overflow space.

More cars overflowed into the nearby Saddleback Elementary School parking lots, with the city running a shuttle service from there to the festival all night.

“Without the support of the residents and local businesses, this community event would not be possible,” Williams said.

Gallery by Bryan Mordt: