Thousands of students from N.C. State and other area universities celebrated Halloween Wednesday by attending the first ever Haunted Hillsborough Hike, according to Cpt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police.
“It was flooded [with people] from the parking spaces to the front glass windows of the store,” Allan Lovette, owner of Melvin’s on Hillsborough Street and an organizer of the hike, said. “It was packed to where you couldn’t even get through up and down the street.”
Barnwell said more students attended the Haunted Hillsborough Hike than other hikes on the street throughout the year, and he thought it will continue to grow in the future.
According to Lovette, the 13 business participants in the hike plan to conduct the event next year because of its success.
The businesses extended their hours until 2 a.m. to accommodate students in the hike, and some of the stores on the street stayed until 5 a.m. to clean, Lovette said.
He said he wants to expand the hike for the future.
“We want to give students the opportunity to do additional events during Halloween,” Lovette said. “Maybe [we could] add a carnival.”
The upcoming construction on Hillsborough Street, which will close the street through next Halloween, will not change the plans for the new tradition, according to Lovette. He said he feels the blocked streets from traffic will increase the amount of festivity.
Katie Bryan, a junior in textile and apparel management, said she had a great time at the hike dressed as Poison Ivy from the Batman comics, but traffic was a problem.
“It would have been nice if the roads were blocked and only the bus could run on it,” Bryan said.
A charter bus, which the University rented for the night, provided transportation for students to several local apartment complexes and campus residences, according to Lovette.
Bryan said the hike was what she expected.
“[There were] lots of people staying in town with awesome costumes and long lines in the bars,” Bryan said. “It was amazing.”
According to Lovette, the large crowds were a pleasant surprise. He said the planning for the hike started two weeks ago, and credited Facebook with much of the publicity.
“Why should students have to go to other universities when they could be right here?” Lovette said.
Bryan said the location of the hike was unique and memorable.
“It was great seeing everybody here instead of Chapel Hill,” Bryan said.