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    California Halloween Events and Festivals Take Tourists Off the Beaten Path

    By Sylvia Cochran | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Fri, Oct 14, 2011
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    Halloween in California is a big deal. Festivals, haunted houses, corn mazes and parties are just some of the happenings in the Golden State toward the end of October. Which off-the-beaten-path California Halloween events are worth a visit?

    Carmel: City Birthday Party & Halloween Parade

    This year marks the city's 95th birthday. Local officials, tourists and residents plan on celebrating on Oct. 29 with an 11 a.m. parade and a noon-time hot dog lunch. Since Carmel-by-the-Sea was incorporated on All Hallows Eve in 1916, the city has found creative ways of incorporating Halloween festivals in California with honoring its history. Everyone is invited to show up in costume and march along -- or watch the parade -- and enjoy a hot dog at Sunset Center.

    Solvang: Haunted House at the Solvang Festival Theater

    You know Solvang as the Danish village that time forgot; quaint architecture, great bakeries and small town living are near the coast of the Golden State. Halloween festivals in California have put the town on the map for the rest of tourists. The Solvang Festival Theater puts on an elaborately created haunted house from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 29, 30 and 31. A child-friendly Halloween Street Fair takes place on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

    Yountville: Halloween Harvest Festival

    The Napa Valley is usually associated with leisurely wine-tasting tours. Locale California Halloween celebrants know that Yountville hosts an annual harvest festival; 2011 is no exception. Visit the Yountville Community Center on Oct. 29 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and children enjoy a festive atmosphere with games and prizes. Parents and dentists rejoice at the fact that this is a candy-free event.

    San Jose: Flashlight Tours at the Winchester Mystery House

    For spooky Halloween events in California, look no further than San Jose's infamous Winchester House. Home of the late Sarah Winchester, heiress to the gun maker's fortune and associated bloody legacy, the building is a hodgepodge of stairwells, doors, windows, nooks and crannies. Famous for her séances -- during which she received architectural guidance for the continued add-ons to the mansion -- sightings of the departed and eerie cold spots to be felt while touring the venue, paranormal events have been reported with frequency. Halloween flashlight tours are a favorite among visitors.

    La Canada Flintridge: Harvest Festival at Descanso Gardens

    Child-centered Halloween festivals in California are not quite as common as haunted houses and scary venue tours. At Descanso Gardens, the harvest festival events on Oct. 22 and 23 are unabashedly kid-friendly. There are costume parades, puppet shows and a chuck wagon lunch. Come at 10:30 a.m. and stay until 3 p.m.

    Sylvia Cochran is a Los Angeles area resident with a firm finger on the pulse of California politics. Talk radio junkie, community volunteer and politically independent, she scrutinizes the good and the bad from both sides of the political aisle.

     

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