Thousands return to Halloween on Hanover: ‘We’re all proud to live on Hanover'

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) -Warm weather, free candy and elaborate decorations brought thousands of trick-or-treaters back to Hanover Avenue in Richmond this Halloween.

The street is known for its extravagant decorations and for blocking off part of the road from traffic so that kids can safely participate in Halloween festivities. The tradition goes back decades, though it had to be scaled back during the pandemic.

Now, only one part of the stretch is formally closed to cars, though enthusiasm for the holiday still reaches all parts of the neighborhood.

“We have to pay permits, we have actually have to have police officers available on site that we have to make sure we’re covered for, and so, there’s an application process,” neighbor Daniel Duval said.

Duval says one of his neighbors handles the permitting so the tradition can continue for the kids. He admits it can be a lot of work but says it is worth it for the kids.

“I bought 20 bags at Costco,” neighbor Hannah Sadjak said. ”The cart was filled up, and everyone was laughing at me at the checkout line, but I think it was about 100 pounds of candy.”

Sadjak moved to the area in 2019 from out of the state. She says she was unaware of the tradition at first, but it became the cherry on top of the home she and her husband fell in love with.

“We’re all proud to live on Hanover and take part in it,” Sadjak said.

Each house gets to choose its theme, from spooky decorations to funny ones. Julie Dalton has turned her home into a fairy garden in the past few years, and she always recruits her college friends to come down from Northern Virginia to help.

“We kind of came up with this idea and tried to come up with something that was not scary for the kids,” Dalton said. “We add each year a little bit. This year, we have the butterflies that actually move and light up and stuff like that.”

Dalton expects even more kids to come by this year since Richmond Public Schools is off and because of the unseasonable warm temperatures. She’s excited to see the tradition return in full force.

“The weather is going to be glorious. There’s no school tomorrow, so I can imagine we’re going to run out with 3,000 pieces of candy,” she said.