Halloween is the holiday that’s almost as much about community as it is about candy and costumes. Because many Halloween activities revolve around having fun with friends and family, it’s clear that this Halloween will be very different from those of past years. Tatler looked at how Lakesiders plan to get into the Halloween spirit, despite the challenges.

The CDC has published recommendations on safe holiday celebrations. Low-risk activities include decorating and carving pumpkins, watching movies with family, or attending virtual Halloween celebrations. Listed at a slightly higher risk is seeing small groups of friends outside, socially distanced. Trick-or-treating and indoor parties are noted to be the most risky activities.

While trick or treating and parties may not be happening this year, there are many other ways to have a fun time on Halloween. In the Tatler Poll, Lakeside students said that they plan to celebrate by buying candy, seeing friends outside from a safe distance, watching movies with family, and baking with a spooky theme.

Halloween celebrations at Lakeside don’t only happen outside of school. In previous years, students have worn their Halloween costumes on campus and showcased their costumes during the Halloween assembly and the costume contest. And not only do the students dress up, the teachers like to get in on the fun as well — Teachers from each department dress up in group costumes and compete against each other at the assembly, as well. While administrators and the assembly committee hadn’t yet made plans for Halloween traditions at the time of this article’s writing, Tatler Poll respondents gave some ideas for how they would like to celebrate with the Lakeside community: a Halloween assembly could still be hosted on Zoom, featuring a costume competition in which students send in pictures of their costumes, or the school could mail candy to students to provide a satisfactory replacement to trick-or-treating.

Celebrating Halloween safely is just the latest challenge that the pandemic has brought us. With a little bit of creativity, this Halloween can still be spectacular, even if you have to celebrate it on a screen.