Every year, Berkeley celebrates Halloween with many traditions including  a Lower Division costume parade, a pumpkin pie sale organized by the Berkeley Pipe and Drum Corps and the opportunity for students to dress in costume. When asked  about his favorite Berkeley Halloween tradition, Ronnie Williams, Upper Division Dean,  said “I like seeing everyone dressed up in different costumes, it brings out the silly side in people that you may not usually see and everyone always seems happy.”

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Alex Livingstone

Seniors Rachel Slakter, Kendall Caputo, Olivia Hoffman, and Laura Towell dressed up as the Cheetah Girls.

     Although students who have attended Berkeley for many years are accustomed  to these celebrations, students who previously attended other schools are pleasantly surprised by these fun traditions. . New to Berkeley this year, Stephanie Corn ’19 says that at her old school “ [we]didn’t do anything special for Halloween[…] dressing up for Halloween at [Berkeley] was very cool and it was really fun to watch all the little kids with their costumes. It’s also nice to get a break from dress code.”

     Berkeley lifer Katlyn Duncan ’16, on the other hand, reflected on her memories as a Lower Division student  in the parade: “It was kind of scary, you would look up and see all these people bigger than you.” As for her fondest memories from Halloween at Berkeley, “My favorite year was my tenth grade year  [because] I think I just had a cool costume. This year some of my favorite costumes in the Lower Division were the Donald Trump ones, but the little kids are all cute in their costumes.” added Duncan. This year an estimated fourteen “Harry Potter” costumes, six  “Frozen” characters and numerous princesses appeared in the parade. After the parade, in a unique twist, the Lower Division students performed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance on the Mound.

     Meanwhile in Middle and Upper Division, group costumes were popular. Some of these ensembles  included multiple Care Bears, three blind mice, and even the characters from the movie “Mean Girls.” The  cross-country team  also dressed up together as firefighters and dalmatians.  Along with the chance to wear costumes at school, Upper Division students were also able to purchase  pumpkin pie from the Pipe and Drum Corps’ fundraising sale. This year’s sale was a resounding success– the Pipe and Drum Corps sold approximately 100  pies and plans to the tradition  next year. Overall,another Berkeley Halloween can be counted as a success and students are already looking forward to next year’s celebration.