WACO, Texas (KXXV) — For more than 20 years, thousands of families have flocked to Colcord Avenue in North Waco on Halloween night for trick-or-treating and a full Halloween experience. But this year, the beloved tradition faces uncertainty as neighbors say they will no longer pay the city to close the street.
- The Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association will not pay the $500 upfront fee required by the city to close Colcord Avenue for Halloween this year
- Despite the funding dispute, thousands of families are still expected to come to Colcord Avenue for Halloween, but the street may remain open to traffic, raising safety concerns for children.
- The beloved North Waco Halloween celebration, which has grown beyond trick-or-treating to include music and food trucks, now faces an uncertain future as the city referred responsibility back to the neighborhood association.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"We love it that people come to the north side of Waco more than anywhere else, thousands come to our street to have a celebration, that makes me so happy," Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association Treasurer, Barbara Bridgewater said.
The annual Halloween celebration on Colcord Avenue has grown beyond simple trick-or-treating into a community-wide event.
"Other families decide, not only are we going to do candy, we're going to do music, last year we had a taco truck come over," Bridgewater said.
For years, neighbors like Bridgewater took on the financial responsibility to maintain the tradition. About 10 years ago, the Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association requested the city close the street for children's safety.
"As a neighborhood association, we're allowed to ask, free of charge, for the city to close down for an event that we were doing, and so we did that for a couple of years," Bridgewater said.
However, in recent years, the city informed the neighborhood association that police officers, trash cans and insurance would be required to close Colcord Avenue. The city later offered the association a grant to cover those costs, but Sanger Heights would need to pay $500 upfront to receive that grant.
When 25 News reporter Dominique Leh spoke with Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association President Rory Partin in October 2024, he explained the price tag for the whole event is just over $10,000, and the city grant of $7,500 would help pay for blocking off streets, police and medical personnel.
This year, the neighborhood association collectively agreed they would not be applying for the grant.
"We as a neighborhood association said we can't pay for any of that, it's not really our event, we're just trying to help," Bridgewater said. "It still seems a little odd that the city can't decide to block the street."
While Bridgewater remains uncertain whether the city will close the street for safety, she knows families will come regardless.
"They're coming, it doesn't matter what we do, they're coming," Bridgewater said.
"Waco, we don't know if you would like to do something yourselves, for the sake of the children?" Bridgewater said.
25 News Reporter Dominique Leh reached out to the city of Waco, asking if they had plans to close the street for children's safety, but they referred Leh back to the Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association.
Previous coverage of the event can be found here.
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