Kids, Adults Enjoy Halloween Fun As City Aims To Show Off South End Of Michigan Avenue
(CBS) -- Scary costumes and painted faces were all over south Michigan Avenue Saturday, culminating in the big parade.
The Halloween parade on Columbus Drive featured 4,000 people marching from Balbo to Monroe, following a Halloween Festival in the afternoon.
It was lots of fun for kids and adults alike, but organizers had another aim: to focus more attention on the south end of Michigan Avenue.
The Halloween Gathering Festival was set on what's called the Chicago Cultural Mile, home of the Art Institute and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This section of Michigan Avenue enriches the city, but is often overshadowed by the tony Mag Mile to the north.
"We want to make sure that people know where it is and don't feel that they need to refer to themselves as just off the Magnificent Mile or near Millennium Park," said Sharene Shariatzadeh. "The Cultural Mile deserves its own identity."
An identity stamped by artists. The pairing seems natural: creativity flourishes on Halloween as children use their imaginations to make costumes and the city's cultural institutions embrace the spirit of Halloween at the festival.
"Our goal was to really claim Halloween as the artists' holiday and celebrate Chicago's dynamic cultural community," said Shariatzadeh.
The Field Museum, Art Institute, Columbia College and Joffrey Ballet all participated in the Halloween Gathering along with musicians and poets.