It was all fun and games at the YMCA’s Halloween party on Friday night as families came out to celebrate with hay rides, campfire stories, spooky arts and crafts, and other activities.

Children came dressed as chickens and witches, lizards and dragons and dinosaurs, with several beloved characters like Harry Potter and Spider Man thrown into the mix.

“It’s going well, we have a lot of people so far,” said Camp Director at the Dartmouth YMCA Eddie Rouxinol during the party. 

He added that for a free community event, there was plenty going on. 

“We have our haunted trails, we have our pumpkin painting. We have a bunch of different arts and crafts, our rock wall, our hay ride, some lawn games,” he said. “And a lot of awesome costumes as well.”

“It’s fun just walking around and greeting people,” said 13-year-old YMCA volunteer Julia Caron, who was dressed in a chicken costume. 

Caron and her friends from Dartmouth Middle School were helping out, running the crafts and the popcorn tables.

“I’m having a blast,” said Liza Muniz of New Bedford, who was helping her six-year-old Lunetta Areias Muniz put the finishing touches on a mummy craft.

“This is a last-minute thing. We didn’t even know this was happening, our other plans fell through. We checked Facebook real quick literally five minutes before we left the door.”

“I’m a cat and a witch,” Lunetta said, adding that her favorite part of the evening was climbing the rock wall. “I was almost to the top,” she said proudly.

“It’s a great event,” said Julian Juan, who brought his four-year-old son Julian Jr. dressed as Luigi from the Mario Brothers. 

Much to everyone’s delight, Julian met up with Milo Martin, also four, who was dressed as Mario ⁠— purely by accident.

“He’s liking seeing everybody in all the different costumes, and we’re about to jump on the hayride,” Julian Sr. added with a smile as Mario and Luigi chased each other across the lawn.