by Patch Staff

The Grant Park Conservancy is hosting a kids' costume parade and lantern parade Oct. 27.

The kids' costume parade starts at 5 p.m., followed by picnics at the gazebo in the park at 6:30 p.m., and then the lantern parade at 7:30 p.m.

Lanterns need to be made and now is a good time to get started.
Participants are encouraged to bring blankets for the lawn and families also are urged to bring a picnic dinner.

While there will be a grill and hot dogs at the gazebo, it will be on a "first come first served" basis with about 300 frankfurters.

The lantern parade route is a about a mile long but there is a half-mile, "family fall-out" route for those who don't want to do the entire course. Click here to view the map.

Separately, the Grant Park Parents' Network is hosting a scarecrow contest for the neighborhood's best scarecrow.

There are cash prizes of $75, $50, and $25 for the top three vote getters in the contest on GPPN's contest page on Facebook. (You will need to "like" the page in order to vote.)

There is a $5 entry fee and contestants have all of October to enter and vie for one of the top three winners' spots.