Updated Friday, Oct. 26 to reflect the cancellation of the Deep River event.

While Halloween doesn’t officially arrive until Wednesday, Oct. 31, the tri-town area is cooking up an entire weekend of Halloween fun starting on Friday, Oct. 26 in Chester.

To start the festivities, children accompanied by an adult are invited to Chesterfields Health Care Center, 132 Main Street, Chester, at 5:30 p.m. for trick-or-treating with residents. From there the Children’s Costume Parade will be led into the center of town by the Chester Fife & Drum Corps.

In preparation for the event put on by the Chester Elementary School PTO, the downtown area will be shut down to traffic and transformed into a macabre Halloweentown Carnival scene. Guests of all ages are asked to bring their lively spirits and to dress in their most creative costumes for an evening of fun, which will include carnival games, a haunted cemetery, trick-or-treating, music from DJ Gary Torello of the Chester Rotary, and dancing. Scary Stories will be performed by Miss Judy inside at The Villager at designated times.

Tickets for carnival games, festive food, drinks, and spooky cupcakes will be sold (cash only). All proceeds will go to the PTO to be used for cultural arts programs throughout the year as well as mini-grants for teachers. Last year’s event raised more than $6,000 and the hope is to exceed that number this year.

“This is a great family-friendly event and we hope everyone comes out to support the PTO and have a great time,” said Chester PTO Co-Vice President Nicole Copeland, who is chairing the event. “We encourage young and old to dress up and join in.”

Those who want to be part of the costume contest are asked to meet in front of the DJ booth downtown immediately after the parade. Contestants will stroll around the flagpole to see who will be the three lucky winners for the night.

For the trick or treating portion of the evening, many of the Chester merchants will remain open to pass out treats and be open for business. For those looking for some spine-tingling frights, the haunted Laurel Hill Cemetery walking trail will be open from 6 to 8 p.m. The ghosts will be rising from their graves in search of new souls, so watch out! Tickets are $5 per person (cash only).

There is still time to be part of the haunting —to set up a cemetery scene, contact Copeland at 860-805-995 or nicole_copeland@yale.edu.

Chester center and Laurel Hill Cemetery will be closed to all vehicles. Parking is available at St. Joseph’s Church, the Chester Post Office, the former Key Bank, and the Maple and Water street parking lots.

In the event of rain, the festivities will be relocated to Chester Elementary School and will not be open to the public.

Deep River

Update: Due to forecasts of inclement weather , the planned Saturday, Oct. 27 Trunk or Treat event at Devitt Field has been canceled. For more information, call 860-526-6036 or e-mail parkandrec@deepriverct.us.

Essex

On Oct. 31, the famed annual Halloween Parade in downtown Essex will begin at 6 p.m. at the Post Office. The event is sponsored by the Essex Fire Department and the Griswold Inn. There will be hot dogs, popcorn, beer, and glow sticks given away in the parking lot of across from the Griswold Inn.