Charlotte Halloween Event Draws Over 600 Trick-or-Treaters

Recreation Director Gary Rogers donated and delivered candy to neighborhood households ahead of the Saturday event.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Philanthropy

Charlotte Halloween Event Draws Over 600 Trick-or-Treaters

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Charlotte held its Halloween trick-or-treating event on Saturday, October 31, drawing more than 600 attendees to two main streets in West Charlotte. Recreation Director Gary Rogers collected around 40 candy donations and delivered them door to door along Greenbush Road beforehand.

Why it matters

The event gave Charlotte families a organized, traffic-managed alternative to scattered trick-or-treating, with four people directing traffic at the Ferry and Greenbush roads intersection. Rogers is already considering how next year's event could be safer.

More than 600 people attended the event, with around 40 candy donations collected and four staff directing traffic at Ferry and Greenbush roads. The source does not give a precise household count or total candy volume distributed.

The players

Gary Rogers

Charlotte Recreation Director who collected and delivered candy donations and coordinated the event after relocating from Burlington more than a year ago.

The details

Rogers pulled two wagons of candy donations up and down Greenbush Road before the event, stopping at every household on the route to explain the event and offer candy. Trick-or-treaters walked along slowed, footway-like streets on the two main streets of West Charlotte, which organizers said was done in honor of a safer Halloween.

Spin Richardson moved to Greenbush and began giving out toothbrushes in 1974.
The Richardsons stopped giving out toothbrushes in 2015 after moving.
Rogers was surprised by the turnout last year while directing traffic at Ferry and Greenbush.
Charlotte held its Halloween trick-or-treating event on Saturday, October 31.

Community Programming

The event fits within Charlotte's municipal recreation programming, which organizes neighborhood-scale activities run by the city's Recreation Department. It extends that model into a coordinated, traffic-managed Halloween format rather than informal door-to-door trick-or-treating.

Families planning next year's Halloween in Charlotte can expect an organized trick-or-treating route with traffic staff and advance candy donations. Rogers is already working on ways to make the next event safer.

The takeaway

Coordinated neighborhood events with advance outreach and traffic management can make community Halloween celebrations safer for families. Residents interested in similar efforts can contact their local recreation department to get involved.