First Downey Festival Brings Out the 'Classic' in Halloween

It's not uncommon for Westwood to be abuzz with activity during the autumn months.

From the annual event to the in November, there are plenty of small community festivals to go around. (Things will be even busier next season with ). 

But this year marks a first for folks over at the , which will be hosting its first ever on Sunday. 

While it's the first event of its kind for the school, the idea and theme of it originate from a classic annual Halloween party the students engage in.

"The Downey School, historically, has always done a Halloween party, where the fifth graders would put on a haunted house," said Chandana Gopal, Secretary for the Downey School Parent-Teacher Organization. "Given that we do it every year, we figured, why not go bigger?"

The event kicks off Sunday with a Halloween parade from 12 to 1 p.m., followed by the Downey Fall Festival from 1 to 4. The parade is a traditional component to the new festival. 

"We keep the Halloween theme and costume parade," Gopal said. "The rest is the fall festival and pumpkin decorating. We have a lot of gift basket items and a silent auction."

The event itself will feature Barn Babies, a moon bounce, an obstacle course, cookie decorating, face painting, nail painting, a bean bag toss, pumpkin painting and a pocket person. Downey fifth graders will also create a haunted house, which they do every year as part of the traditional Halloween party. 

A bake sale, book fair, cotton candy and popcorn machines will also be on hand. 

Tickets for the event will be $10 to enter; all proceeds benefit the Downey PTO, which provides funding for enrichment activities in the school.