Conway, South Carolina, changes its name every October for Halloween

Halloween in Conway, South Carolina, wasn’t always a big deal. But in the last three years, the holiday has become so massive that the city did something drastic: it changed its name to celebrate it.

For 11 months of the year, the city keeps its given name. But every October, by proclamation of the mayor, it “officially” becomes Halloween Town, South Carolina. He city ​​website changes, many local businesses exchange their signs and the city center is transformed into a Halloween wonderland.

“Obviously, it’s not legal,” explained June Wood, public information officer for the city of Conway. “People still receive their water bills from the city of Conway, but [changing our name] “It was a way to really differentiate ourselves as a Halloween destination.”

Conway’s decorations started out small. In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 buckets of trick-or-treating pumpkins on Main Street trees each October. But when residents and visitors started asking when the pumpkins would go up in 2021, the city had an “ah-ha” moment, according to Wood.

“We thought, ‘Wait a minute, people come here to take pictures.’ [with the pumpkins] and spending time in our downtown,'” he said. “We found that there are a lot of people who really love Halloween, so we realized ‘we might be onto something.'”

Since then, the city has doubled down on its Halloween spirit in a big way. Instead of 500 pumpkins scattered along Main Street, today you will find approximately 5,000, which take about two weeks to assemble.

“It’s quite an 18-wheeled pumpkin truck,” Wood said. “You won’t find an orange pumpkin [bucket] anywhere in South Carolina.”

In addition to pumpkins everywhere, the city also has several Halloween-themed installations and more than 200 events in October. Walk through the Tunnel of Bones made up of towering skeletons, a haunted Town Hall or the Witches’ Garden with spooky floating witch hats.

“Those areas in [our City of Halloween] map “They’re just big stopping points, but there are nice little things you’ll see along the way,” Wood said.

Events like Friday night outdoor movies showing classics like “Hocus Pocus,” Halloween markets, a skeleton disco and, of course, ghost tours and a haunted house dot the calendar throughout the month. There is also a skeleton orphanage where children can adopt a baby skeleton, complete with its birth certificate. According to Wood, nearly 50,000 baby skeletons were adopted last year.

And if you get married in October, the city will issue you a non-binding Halloween City marriage certificate.

“It’s very intentional that we give people something they can fall in love with whether there’s an event or not,” Wood said of the city’s efforts to live up to its Halloween City name. It’s spooky season to the max and worth a visit to immerse yourself in all things Halloween.