Families flock to Midway Village in Rockford as All Hallows’ Eve tradition returns

ROCKFORD — Hundreds of families filled the Midway Village Museum grounds on Saturday to trick-or-treat at the doors of its charming Victorian Village.

The museum’s annual All Hallows’ Eve event returned to its in-person tradition after last year’s affair was a traffic-jammed drive-thru because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s exciting for us to come back out and have our event in the traditional way,” said Patrick O’Keefe, executive director of Midway Village Museum. “The families really seem to be enjoying it.”

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All Hallows’ Eve is one of the museum’s most popular events, with as many as 5,000 people estimated to attend. Children and their families could visit each building to get candy from costumed characters.

“We’ve had a lot of parents dressing up and getting into the spirit of Halloween,” O’Keefe said. “We had fantastic weather today, which really makes our event a great fall day for the family to be out.”

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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.