Athens community members march in the annual Wild Rumpus parade in Downtown Athens on Oct. 31. The Wild Rumpus, an Athens Halloween event will take place on Oct. 29 this year. “The Wild Rumpus is just a really big community activity for people who love to dress up for Halloween and just have fun and show some Halloween spirit,” Clarke Central High School junior Sydney Gregg said. Photo by Julie Alpaugh.
By LILY BRUCE-RITCHIE – Staff Writer
The Wild Rumpus is a Halloween event held in Downtown Athens. Several Clarke Central High School students take part in the event.
Every year since 2009, a costume parade called the Wild Rumpus has taken place in downtown Athens in late October. This Halloween-themed event is open to anyone of all ages and will take place on Oct. 29.
Senior Mara Bastow feels that events like the Wild Rumpus help to remind the Athens community of the town’s individuality in comparison to other areas.
“We just have so much campus life and college people here, so I think the Wild Rumpus is that traditional thing that we have here that people can always come back to in Athens,” Bastow said.
Community organizations such as Canopy Studio play a role with increasing student involvement. Bastow plans to perform in the Wild Rumpus parade as part of this organization.
“I’m going to be doing the big set up for Canopy at the Wild Rumpus actual parade and performing as a tiger girl with them so I’m super psyched about that,” Bastow said.
According to Bastow, the Wild Rumpus opens many volunteer opportunities for students as well as members of the Athens community through the events held prior to the parade itself.
“It’s like an all-night ordeal,” Bastow said. “Then the Monster Mash, if you ever went, if you’re a kid they have arts and crafts. They have a lot of kid friendly bands come in. You can even perform, too. You can ask to be a performer for the band and stuff. They’re just super open and super kid friendly in that capacity.”
Although the Wild Rumpus attracts a large portion of the Athens community, junior Sydney Gregg feels that the number of student participants is relatively low.
“I wouldn’t say a ton (of students participate) because it was pretty small last year considering how many people live in Athens,” Gregg said.
Gregg attributes the lack of student participation to students’ ages.
“I know that a lot of people my age aren’t really into the Halloween holiday anymore. They might find it childish at this age,” Gregg said.
Even though some CCHS students feel there is a lack of student involvement, students who are involved with the Wild Rumpus feel positively about the event.
“It’s cool because adults get way better costumes than kids, so (it’s) a lot more interesting seeing that than seeing a bunch of kids in their little store-bought costumes,” junior Charlotte Reynolds said. “It just kind of brings everybody together.”