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Halloween can be a fun and exciting time, particularly for youth.

Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation (WCCPR) offers an opportunity worth experiencing.

The WCCPR Halloween Festival will take place on October 21st and 22nd from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. at 15 Wheeler Avenue.

“If you haven’t been [there], it’s a great time,” said Jeff Lewis, the director at Winchester-Clark County Parks & Recreation. “If you’re in the teenage age, it’ll give you a run for your money.”

The festival was initially started several years ago by Thom and Roni Brown, who involved the whole family in creating a haunted house and more.

“They put all this together. They love Halloween and the spooky things, said April Stanfield, the program director for Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation. “Without them, that part of our Halloween festival wouldn’t be…We wouldn’t have a haunted house.”

“We work out there, and we can barely tell what room we’re in as we’re moving through it,” said Tiffany Fletcher, Assistant Program Director at Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation. “They’re very theatrical…They get it so transformed.”

Those attending yet not directly involved in the haunted house will still have plenty to enjoy.

Guests, including young ones, can use the perks of free inflatables in the gymnasium to engage in play or socialize by drinking cider, eating popcorn and additional snacks, and more.

Artistic individuals can even indulge in painting pumpkins, which can be taken home and displayed outdoors on Halloween day.

Perhaps most notably, a haunted swamp will also be featured.

Considering how WCCPR has its own pool, it’s less common for such a treat to be found at many additional locations.

“I don’t think that you can go anywhere else nearby and be able to get in a pool, jump on a little boat, and get scared by monsters,” Stanfield said. “That’s something that sets us out from the rest.”

Advantageously, WCCPR offers its Halloween Festival at an efficient price.

Tickets can be purchased at www.ccpr.recdesk.com for $8 and are only slightly more expensive at $10 for same-day purchases. Tickets for groups of 10 or more are $6 each, with a group ticket discount available at the front desk.

“I know Lexington right now is charging 30 [or] 35 dollars to go to theirs,” Lewis said. “I’ve had people say [that] ours is just as good.”

While last year’s event was limited in capacity, all who attend this year will get in.

The staff looks forward to reaching out to the community while offering a safe and positive environment.

“Our goal is for the community to come together and have a good time,” Stanfield said. “[The] kids will be tired by the end of the night. You pay a flat fee to walk in the door and expand all that energy.”

For adults, excitement over what’s to offer is just as easy to come by as well.

“I love the whole festival, but this is the only haunted house that I’ll go through,” Stanfield said.