Guide to Halloween celebrations on Thursday in the Rochester area

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Halloween has arrived. Several local organizations are holding family-friendly celebrations on Thursday evening with activities and plenty of candy.

Several local businesses will join Rise Up Rochester for a Trunk-or-Treat event that runs from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Tops parking lot on West Avenue. It will feature DJ Coco from Radio 105.5. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Thurston Road YMCA Neighborhood Center is holding a Halloween bash from 5 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Family Dollar on Thurston Road. The event will feature 20 local organizations including People’s Choice Kitchen, Wegmans, the Rochester Police Department, and the Rochester Fire Department. There will be a photo booth, costume contest, pumpkin painting, and games.

The Avenue Children’s Theatre Project is teaming up with the Lincoln Branch Library for a Halloween celebration. Aveoween runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lincoln Branch Library at 851 Joseph Ave. For the sixth year, the event will transform the library into a haunted wonderland of iconic characters, trick-or-treating, and enchanting storytelling.

In Irondequoit, the Somershire Drive neighborhood off St. Paul Boulevard goes all out for Halloween. Lawns are decorated with ghouls, skeletons, gravestones, and animatronics. Last year, the neighborhood got 3,500 trick-or-treaters. We spoke with one of the neighbors who decorates his lawn each year for Halloween.

Also on Halloween, kids 10 and under can get a free kids’ meal at local Applebees with their choice of a side and a drink. Participating locations include Greece, Perinton, Irondequoit, Gates, Webster, and Henrietta.