San Francisco residents, businesses prepare to welcome thousands for a Friday night Halloween

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — This year, Halloween falls on a Friday, so businesses are gearing up to welcome more customers.

Costumes and makeup are selling out fast, less than 24 hours before Halloween.

“We sell a lot of capes, a lot of makeup. I’m almost sold out of vampire teeth. I sold out of blood this morning. We have bunny ears,” said Terry Asten Bennett, Cliff’s Variety co-owner.

At Cliff’s Variety in San Francisco, Halloween is more than a holiday. It’s part of its history, going back to the late 1940s.

“My great grandfather started Halloween in the Castro. He would bring in a flatbed truck, and they would have pie-eating contests and a costume contest, and he made a 20-foot paper mache dinosaur,” Bennett said.

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For decades, the Castro was the place to be for Halloween, with tens of thousands of people on the streets. But a series of violent incidents led to a scaled-back Halloween. Now, business owners want to reimagine it.

“It’s a night market. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be safe. It will be on 18th Street. It won’t be nothing like the heyday of Halloween, but I don’t think anyone wants that back. That was scary and that was crowded. We want to be fun, we want to be festive, we want to be community,” Bennett said.

SFPD said there will be additional officers on patrol.

“The San Francisco Police Department has staffed appropriately for this fun holiday. We are going to have additional officers out on patrol, especially in areas that are more popular for this Halloween event,” said Officer Paulina Henderson.

Street closures for block parties and live entertainment are happening throughout the city, including at Belvedere Street, where residents have been decorating their homes for Halloween for decades.

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“Between ourselves and nextdoor neighbor, we buy our candy together to get it in bulk. We have 12,000 pieces of candy. We are ready. We expect a lot of kids,” said Belvedere Street resident, Laura Onopchenko.

Onopchenko’s theme is “Nightmare Before Christmas.”

“Today we have one more thing. We have one more Jack Skellington to attach to the eaves here, and then we have to set up everything inside,” Onopchenko said. “Halloween is our night. It’s our Super Bowl.”

On Halloween, Cliff’s Variety is having its pie-eating contest to bring that tradition back. Bennett said no one needs to sign up and everyone is welcome.

The Halloween festivities on Belvedere Street are set to begin at 4 p.m.