Who Actually Runs Halloween in the Old Northeast?

In 2018, Robin Van Vranken bought glow sticks in bulk on eBay for her family's first Halloween on 17th Avenue NE. She had a disco ball, a giant Frankenstein and big "Monster Mash" letters for the yard. That night the house gave out 4,000 glow sticks. "When I closed my eyes that night, I could still see trick-or-treaters coming at me," she told the Northeast Journal this September.

That house is now one of the places where the neighborhood's Halloween gets organized. The night draws a crowd from all over the Tampa Bay area, but no city festival puts it on. Neighbors close the streets, hire the police, buy the candy and build the displays, and they pay for all of it themselves. This year Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31, 2026. Here is how the night actually gets put together.

The bill that comes before the candy

For about five years, Bryan Van Vranken has filed the permits to close the street and hire the officers who staff it. Before him, the job belonged to Marcy and Joe Emerson, neighbors on the same block. Marcy had been the neighborhood association's community coordinator. The Emersons were closely tied to the corner of 17th Avenue and Cherry Street, "where the police sit, the cotton candy machines, all of it," Bryan Van Vranken told the Northeast Journal.

The street closure itself doesn't cost much, according to the same story. The police coverage is the real expense, roughly $1,500 to $2,000 each year. "We raise the money right here in the neighborhood. Everybody chips in," Van Vranken said, and he added that the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association now supports the closure too. On the night itself, Robin Van Vranken runs a volunteer team that handles traffic and feeds the helpers.

The City of St. Petersburg's own October 2026 events roundup lists Halloween programming at places like Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. The biggest trick-or-treat night in the Old Northeast gets organized one household and one permit at a time.

Why a neighborhood this size needs outside help

The Tampa Bay Times puts the Old Northeast's population at about 2,500 people. It also reported that most of the children trick-or-treating there don't live in the neighborhood, and some arrive by bus at the road closure at First Street NE and 18th Avenue NE. In 2023, HONNA's president estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people on Halloween night, according to the Northeast Journal's September/October 2023 issue. That crowd of children, parents and teens is two to nearly three times the neighborhood's population, and most of it packs onto a few blocks.

Households on those blocks gave the Times these numbers for 2024 and their plans for 2025:

The Times reported that residents expected more than 4,000 trick-or-treaters in 2025. That was a forecast made before the night, not a count. Even so, Greene's 6,500 visitors from 2024 shows that one house can see more children than the whole neighborhood has residents. Halloween in the Old Northeast is a neighborhood paying to welcome a city's worth of visitors. "Everybody's welcome here," Deal told the Times.

The displays that keep the crowd growing

Those visitors keep coming because the displays keep getting bigger, and residents treat the decorations as year-round projects. HONNA's 2024 contest results named winners in four categories:

• Halloweeniest Display: Debbie and Tom Ritschel's "Haunted Graveyard"
• Most Creative Display: Vicky and Manny Vilaret's "Game of Bones"
• Best Theme Display: Scott Greene's Jurassic Park
• Best Kids Display: Mikel Aguirrezabal's "Minions Lab"

That same post says the two October 2024 hurricanes didn't keep thousands of children away, and the closed blocks of 17th and 18th Avenues NE stayed at the center of the night.

Keeping a display going takes storage and repairs. Greene told the Times he built a separate section of his garage just for decorations and found a prop maker in Texas who builds for movie sets. The Van Vrankens keep their decorations in a garage with its own air-conditioning unit for the 11 months they're packed away. Ray Wolski spent weeks regluing and repainting Beetlejuice props that had worn down in the Florida heat. He told the Times that on Halloween night a professional impersonator trained at Universal Studios poses for photos in front of a hand-carved sandworm, and people wait about half a block for their turn.

Hay, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and sits on HONNA's board, told the Tampa Bay Times why new arrivals get a heads-up:

"When people buy houses up here, Realtors have to warn you. It's not just one pumpkin here or there. It's an experience."

Where the crowd actually goes

The busiest stretch has stayed in the same place for years. In 2025, the Times put the center of it mostly on 17th and 18th Avenues NE between Locust Street and Beach Drive. An I Love the Burg guide from October 2024 described the same two avenues from Walnut Street to First Street and gave a trick-or-treat window of 5 to 9 p.m. HONNA's 2023 guidance, published in the Northeast Journal, said side streets stay much quieter. It also said the 17th Avenue closure applied to motor traffic and not to golf carts, and it suggested a golf cart for families who wanted to walk less.

All of those details come from past years. As of October 12, HONNA's public pages haven't posted a 2026 closure map, hours, golf cart rules or contest entry details, and no Old Northeast-specific guidance from the city or police has appeared. If you live on the main blocks, plan around past patterns for now and check for updates as the date gets closer.

Two practical points come from residents. Wolski told the Times that foot traffic trampled his landscaping and it was still recovering a year later. He also starts buying candy as soon as it shows up at Costco or Sam's Club, one large bag per trip. Separately, the city's Old Northeast water main replacement project covers Beach Drive, Coffee Pot Boulevard, North Shore Drive and 16th Avenue NE from Walnut Street to Beach Drive. It doesn't include 17th or 18th Avenue. The city lists expected completion as spring 2027 but hasn't posted a street-by-street schedule for this fall.

The week the neighbors schedule around it

HONNA has turned the last days of October into a run of smaller neighborhood events. Several take place at Frank Hay and Steve Deal's home, inside the busiest stretch of the main night:

1. Saturday, October 17, 7:30 p.m.: Old Northeast Night at the Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium.
2. Thursday, October 29, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: the Share and Scare Ride, starting in the alley behind 116 18th Avenue NE. HONNA's listing doesn't describe the format.
3. Friday, October 30, 7:30 to 10 p.m.: the "Come as You Aren't" Halloween Porch Party at Hay and Deal's home, 116 18th Avenue NE.
4. Saturday, October 31: Halloween night on 17th and 18th Avenues NE.

HONNA lists a quarterly meeting on November 16 and a porch party on November 20. The Old Northeast Candlelight Tour of Homes follows on Sunday, December 6, from 3 to 8 p.m., with tickets expected to go on sale the first week of November.

If you've ever wondered how traditions like Halloween on 17th Avenue shape a block, from the porch parties to which streets fill up first, Nanette Counselman is glad to talk about the Old Northeast from a neighbor's point of view. Let's Connect.