Trinity Street Halloween Displays.

Trinity Street in Hastings-Sunrise is best known for its December light show, when neighbours compete to out-decorate one another for charity. What fewer people realise is that many of the same households start early. From the second half of October the porches along several blocks between Slocan Street and Boundary Road fill with carved pumpkins, skeletons climbing the railings, inflatable ghosts in the maples and orange string lights tracing the roof lines.

It is not an organised event, which is part of the appeal. You simply walk the street at dusk, when the lights come on and the autumn maples that line the boulevard still hold their yellow leaves, and see what people have done. Some houses go for whimsy, some for full haunted-house theatre, and the mix changes every year. Children love spotting the next display; adults enjoy the neighbourhood’s character houses and the view down toward the port and the mountains at the cross streets.

Because these are private homes, courtesy matters. Stay on the sidewalk, keep noise low once it is dark, do not block driveways and never step into a yard for a closer look. The families who decorate do it for the pleasure of passers-by, and that goodwill depends on visitors behaving well.

Practically, it is a twenty-minute stroll each way and completely free. Street parking is scarce, so walk up from Hastings Street or take transit. Displays peak in the last few days before Halloween and are weather dependent, so treat any single evening as a pleasant walk with a bonus rather than a guaranteed show.