NEWBURYPORT — Hexes and potions and broomsticks were abound as witches and other spooky creatures filled downtown Newburyport Friday night for the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Witches Night Out.
“It was a great turnout. I heard from many different downtown business owners who are Chamber members that it was the best one in about 10 years, which is great,” Chamber President Nancy Caswell said.
She said nearly every business in the downtown area took part in the festivities.
“It was a good loop of town,” Caswell said.
Among the shops that participated was The Hive, located at 70 State St.
Having opened this March, owner Cate Adamopoulos said she was “thrilled” with how her first Witches Night Out went.
“We met a lot of new people, hopefully new customers. They all seemed very excited, especially about the flowers, but also about a new shop in Newburyport,” Adamopoulos said.
Charleston & Coco owner Rachel Carter said she always looks forward to the event, having taken part since arriving in the city four years ago.
“We definitely get more traffic with people actually purchasing and not just coming in for beverages,” Carter said.
She said she and her staff dressed up to get in the spirit.
“We had somebody walking out front on stilts who was spooky and drew people in. We just wanted to make upper State Street festive and fun, and attract people up the street, not just down the street,” Carter said.
Caswell said they also heard from many local inns full of incoming tourists for the event.
“It’s a win-win,” Caswell said.
In addition to the hundreds of witches filling the streets, Caswell said there were a number of other attractions.
“There were go-go dancers in the Design of Mine windows dressed as witches, and street musicians near Simply Sweet playing on the keyboard,” Caswell said.
Additionally she said at one point they had a flash mob break out.
“Dancers all dressed in skeleton uniforms who performed right in the middle of Market Square,” Caswell said.
Asked why the event is so important for the Chamber, she said business owners love it and the exposure it brings.
“Some people were smart enough to start rolling out some of their holiday inventory, so folks got to see what the offerings were,” Caswell said.
Looking to the rest of the holiday season, she said the next big push will be Port of Wonder “a holiday-driven month of celebrations including the Santa Parade.”
“We’re thinking about launching a Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus pub crawl in December, just to see people back out in costume after the Santa Parade,” Caswell said.