Next year the witches of Blind River will thrill crowds when they sweep through Blind River.
Council gave its approval to a request by dance organizer Kristy Blanchet to close off the parade route in the downtown core to traffic with the witches dancing through the downtown core from 9 am to 3 pm on October 15. It will be the group’s sixth year of putting on the popular event.
This year saw witches make a clean sweep of Blind River’s business area descending on the downtown twice and setting a spell on the large crowd that came to watch. Meanwhile, vendors set up shop along the route which was decorated with Halloween displays and games for children to play.
The dance is fashioned after a popular German witches dance event held in that country each year. Blanchet said the Blind River Witches Dance was set up by her and two friends after seeing a similar event on YouTube and has grown with more witches and more spectators taking part each year.
Deputy Mayor Paul Summers was among the witches who took part in the dance.
“It was a great day we had this year,” she said. “We plan on having things bigger and better next year.”
They started out with nine witches and now have 28 witches. The organizers are hoping to expand with more witches next year. Blanchet said there are also plans for a Warlock Dance as she has been approached by two men expressing interest in joining in on the festivities.