Northland Horror's first event in Whangārei was sold-out. Photo / Supplied
Whangārei's young spooky enthusiasts have been trick or treating for Halloween while raising money for a local charity.
Local event company Northland Horror's first Halloween at Whareora Hall event on Sunday raised just under $2,000 for Heart Kids Northland.
Northland Horror owner Aaron Kerr said it was a sold-out event.
"We sold 150 tickets. The tickets were pretty much for the kids who wanted to do trick or treating, and we had families coming in to take photos or out of curiosity.
"There were around 300 people who came in throughout the day."
Kerr said all the Covid-19 health and safety protocols were in place with the Covid scanners, masks and hand sanitisers. They also had to limit the number of people during the event.
This was the first time Northland Horrors had gone out on its own. Last year, the company teamed up with Heads Up, helping them with their event.
"This year, I decided to do a charity event and give back to the community."
The general feedback was people really appreciated the event, said Kerr.
"The children have had a rough year because of Covid-19 lockdowns, and not being able to travel much during the holidays made it even worse.
"Many parents appreciated trick or treat and said children had something to look forward to during such a hard time.
"One of the parents made a comment that it was just the right amount of fun, and scary."
Kerr said he aimed to do one charity event a year, whether around Halloween or some other time during the year.
"I moved back up here from the South Island a couple of years ago. While I was there, I got involved with a charity company called Fear NZ. They put on horror events to raise money for local charities. I got involved with the acting side, building props and the organisational side of it.
"When I came back to Northland, I kind of looked around to see what options were available around Halloween and there weren't many. So I made my call then and there that this is what Whangārei is missing."
A volunteer army of six students from Whangārei Girls High helped out with the event.
All the other actors and staff who assisted the organisers were volunteers, said Kerr.
"Between me and my partner-in-crime Kelly-Marie Jelavich, we managed to organise.
"We also had people from Lion's Club, who got the barbecue going."
Kerr appreciated the sponsors who contributed towards the success of Trick or Treat.
"These companies and charities went out of their way to also make our day happen."
There is no need for people to be alone or hungry on Christmas Day with two free events.