Rain cancels parade but not trick-or-treating in downtown Glen Ellyn

The scariest feature of the annual Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce Halloween Festival & Parade was probably the steady, dreary rain, which washed out the parade portion of Saturday morning. But a resilient horde of umbrella-toting children and their parents still had a good time trick-or-treating at downtown businesses.

A parade of costumed children featuring The Glenbard West Drum Line was supposed to kick off the event at 10 a.m., but organizers called it off.

Glen Ellyn mom Cheri Taylor brought her two children and her camera to the festival. She was disappointed the parade was canceled but glad that local businesses were still passing out candy to everyone in costume.

"They're soaked to the bone, but the kids are still having fun," Taylor said.

The kids ranged from a few high schoolers in scary costumes to a cute infant flecked with fake blood and strapped to his mother in a baby carrier.

Many kids either held umbrellas or wore their heavy jackets over their costumes, in some cases making their outfits difficult to guess.

"Turnout has been surprisingly good considering the rain," said Kathy Cortesi, who passed out candy at Inland Bank at 520 Crescent St. "Their parents must have known they were going to get wet and they came prepared to just deal with it."

Many of the business employees who participated in the festival got in on the costumed fun. At the Jazz Salon & Spa, located within the Banyan Tree Mall at 485 Main St., the hairdressers wore vibrant yellow tops and hats with blue overalls to look like the title characters from the "Minions" movie.

On of Cortesi's colleagues at Inland Bank, Angelo Carcagno, passed out candy while dressed as Luigi, Mario's taller brother. Carcagno said the costume he saw the most was girls dressed as Queen Elsa from "Frozen." Many boys dressed up as one of the Avengers superheroes, including several Captain Americas, many Iron Men and one or two bow-and-arrow wielding Hawkeyes.