Trick-or-treating is for all at Oakville Treat Accessibly Halloween Village
Published October 13, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Trick-or-Treating should be everyone and one village here in Oakville is making sure of that this Halloween.
Treat Accessibly Halloween Villages has created a curb-side Accessible Trick-or-Treating experience so that any child of any ability can experience a traditional Halloween.
This year’s Oakville event is being held this Sunday (Oct. 15) on Viewmount Rd. from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Of notice, Viewmount Rd. will be closed from 1 to 5 p.m. during the Halloween party and Valhalla Crt. will be used as a drop off and pick-up street for participating children and parents.
The Treat Accessible Halloween Villages, which expanded across the country in 2022, allow children with disabilities and their families to experience an accessible trick-or-treating with each other and local neighbourhood kids.
“It’s also a party with DJs and costumed characters!” said organizers.
In 2023, with the help of Canadian Tire and local communities, Halloween Villages are planned in nine cities across Canada, including Oakville. The Halloween Villages are free to attend, though they do require pre-registration.
According to the charity organization, over 400,000 children in Canada and more than 4 million in the Unite States identify as having one or more disabilities.
“Disabilities that may prevent them from enjoying trick-or-treating with their siblings and other kids,” said the charity.
The grassroots movement was started in 2017 by the Padulo family (pictured below), who realized that with stairs in their Toronto home they had to change how they set up their trick-or-treating station to make it accessible for everyone.
“This meant that someone in their neighbourhood could not enjoy their treats as they used a wheelchair to get around,” said the charity on its website. “They changed where their station was located and thought: wouldn’t others also want to know how to make Halloween accessible and inclusive for all? And so, Treat Accessibly was founded.”
There are now over 100,000 homes across Canada supporting accessible trick-or-treating.
Villages are scheduled during the day in the weeks prior to Halloween to make it easier for parents and caregivers to plan and organize.
To register your child for the Oakville Treat Accessibly Halloween Village, visit here.
