Yahoo Finance 6 fun things to do on P.E.I. the weekend of Oct. 24-25 and beyond
It's the weekend before Halloween — do you have your costume figured out yet?
There are some fun events happening on P.E.I. catering to spooky, autumnal or even Christmas moods.
Here's a sampling.
Summerside Craft Trail
Take part in the Summerside Craft Trail 2020 Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's an outdoor, physically distanced craft fair. Rain date is Nov. 1.
Explore Summerside is partnering with Evermoore Brewing on the "COVID-friendly" event. It will be held behind the brewery (the former train station, and library) and the Loyalist Country Inn, using the existing two trails of the Confederation Trail and the city trail that run parallel to each other.
The idea is to bring people into the city to shop and dine, and so vendors who normally participate in the huge Three Oaks Christmas Craft Fair, which was cancelled due to COVID-19, will have a place to sell their wares.
There's something magical about being with others and witnessing a moving picture . — Cheryl Wagner, Charlottetown Film Festival
"We're going to be supporting small business operators in the city who normally participate in the craft fair — a lot of these persons have been working, especially through COVID, at home on their products and didn't have a place to be able to sell them," said Rose Dennis, Explore Summerside's executive director.
There are 45 vendor tables, live entertainment, a photo booth and more. Organizers are strongly recommending fairgoers wear masks. There is no entrance fee, but donations are welcome.
For details check out Explore Summerside's Facebook page.
Charlottetown Film Festival
The sixth annual Charlottetown Film Festival began Friday and runs until Sunday.
It's a hybrid in-person/online event featuring film screenings from P.E.I. and across the Atlantic region, plus industry seminars on topics such as how to get your film recognized internationally and tips for performing with puppets.
The festival's founder and executive director Cheryl Wagner said fewer films were created this year due to COVID — they were in post-production when the lockdown happened in the spring.
Opening night, Susan Rodgers' feature film Still the Water will be screened. Up to 30 people can attend live screenings at City Cinema in downtown Charlottetown, and patrons can also buy digital passes for $25 to stream all the festival offerings online.
"There's something magical about being with others and witnessing a moving picture — we're moved by it, and it's something to share and talk about," Wagner said.
Tickets and info available on the festival's Facebook page.
Gravedigger Ghost Tours
Join the gravedigger as he leads you through a spooky ghost tour of historic Charlottetown, with stories of unsolved murders, ghostly hauntings and executions, and learn of the superstitious beliefs of Islanders past.
The tours began Thursday and continue Saturday, then again next Thursday and Friday Oct. 29 and 30.
The tours are presented in partnership with Upstreet Craft Brewing. More on the event's Facebook page here.
Tickets are $18.25 each and can be found on the Confederation Centre's website here. Masks are recommended and patrons must physically distance.
Free Halloween events in Charlottetown
Families are invited to the Beach Grove Nature Trail behind the Beach Grove Home on Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon for the annual Great Pumpkin Walk.
The event will look a bit different this year — each family will be able to pick out a complimentary pumpkin, while supplies last, to carve at home. Families are encouraged to go for a self-guided walk along the lovely Beach Grove Nature Trail or a trail of their choosing.
The parks and recreation department also has a new initiative called Halloween BOOket-List Bingo. This family game includes a variety of Halloween-themed activities including carving a pumpkin, picking out a Halloween costume or making a craft.
Children are invited to venture through the "friendly" haunted forest behind the Victoria Park baseball clubhouse and present their completed bingo cards to staff on Saturday between 6 and 8 p.m. Kids who trade in a completed card will receive a treat bag, while supplies last. Download bingo cards at charlottetown.ca under Events & Initiatives or pick one up at city hall.
Mission Pawsible
Islanders and their dogs will be able to participate in a fundraising scavenger hunt in downtown Charlottetown Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
Teams of up to four people will solve puzzles set up through downtown Charlottetown, on a four-and-a-half kilometre route. There will be surprises at each location for the dogs!
Registration at cancer.ca/missionpawsible is $25 and includes a $10 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society with $10 tax receipt. There are great prizes for the top three teams. More info on the event's Facebook page.
Book launch: Broken Crayons
Saturday at Beaconsfield Carriage House in Charlottetown, Patsy Dingwell will launch her very first book Broken Crayons, published by P.E.I.'s Acorn Press.
It's a true story from her work twinning P.E.I. schools with those in Kenya with the group Farmers Helping Farmers. A teacher from P.E.I. went to a school in Kenya and handed out packages of crayons, and was surprised to see the students breaking the crayons — that's all we can say without giving away the story.
To facilitate COVID-19 physical distancing, there will be two times to attend the launch: 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Can't make it? There will be a virtual launch Oct. 28, where people can also meet the book's illustrator.
Dingwell is donating all royalties from the book to school twinning projects in Kenya.
More details on the Farmers Helping Farmers website.
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