When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween.

Witches, wizards, and ghoulish creatures will all soon be seen wandering the streets of downtown Port Townsend for the first-ever Witches Walk Spooktackular at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15.

“We’re hoping to make this an annual thing,” said event organizer Carmen Bitzer.

Bitzer had a hand in the Zombie Crawls of previous years, the last of which took place in 2019.

“The following year we were going to do the Witches Walk and then the pandemic hit, so everything just kind of went on hold,” Bitzer said.

Bitzer credits Dana Danley with the idea to switch away from the undead.

“We were thinking that if we were going to collect candy and do a big event, we don’t want to also sit for three to four hours of zombie make-up,” Bitzer said. “It would take us about three to four hours to get our entire group ready, so she came up with the Witches Walk.”

Starting at Haller Fountain, the organizers have put together a spooky skit to kick things off before they walk down to Quimper Mercantile and creep their way down to Pope Marine Park.

Along the way, organizers will be awarding ribbons to the witchlings and young wizards and once everyone has reached the park, a panel of judges will decide who has the best hat, best broom, and who is the best dressed witch and wizard in categories for both adults and kids.

On top of all of those accolades, Bitzer has additional Spooktackular medals to make sure all are included.

“I don’t want any kids walking away without anything,” she said.

To facilitate the fun, the group is looking for donations, particularly in the form of candy and pumpkins. Local businesses Glitz This Customs, ShawnDLite Soapery, Necessary Force Fitness, and Satch Works Auto Repair have already helped along with individual residents to get 131 pounds of candy in the coffers, but the organizers are hoping to get to 200 pounds by the start of the event.

“We’re looking for anybody, maybe the farms, or somebody that wants to donate some pumpkins. We’ve got two trucks in our magic council that’ll pick anything up,” Bitzer said.

While all ages are encouraged to attend, the intent more than anything is to offer the youth a fun event to look forward to.

“I think it’s important to do community stuff for the kids and try to get things going, especially now,” Bitzer said. “The kids have lost so much.”

For those interested in donating candy for the event, Satch Works has offered its locations in both Port Townsend and Port Haldock as designated candy drop-off areas. More information about the event can be found at tinyurl.com/spooktackular.