Halloween on Franklin Streetとは 意味・読み方・使い方

Halloween on Franklin Street is a yearly tradition in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that encompasses a massive gathering on Franklin Street, the cultural hub of the town. The Halloween celebration began in the early 1980’s as a considerably smaller event, involving Chapel Hill residents and college students from The University of North Carolina. Attendees of the event dress up in creative Halloween costumes and walk up and down Franklin Street celebrating the holiday. Since its beginnings, the event has grown in size every year. Although not sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill, the celebration has become an attraction for visitors from across the South. Between the years 2004 and 2007 it was estimated that about 80,000 people converged on Franklin Street for the event while Chapel Hill is estimated to have a population of only 54,492 as listed in the 2007 Census Bureau, evidence of the vast numbers of people who make the trip to Chapel Hill to attend. Because of the size of the celebration, the Town of Chapel Hill closes Franklin Street to all vehicular traffic and prohibits parking anywhere near downtown. Along with the big crowds come safety issues with some of the biggest concerns being alcohol poisoning and gang-related violence. To deal with these issues hundreds of police officers patrol the downtown area throughout the entire night. In 2007, approximately 400 police officers were deployed to Franklin Street to ensure that nothing got out of hand. In 2008 the Town of Chapel Hill implemented new measures to attempt to cut down on the size of the Halloween celebration in an action dubbed “Homegrown Halloween” to reduce the crowd size and discourage people from out of town to come to Chapel Hill.. The shuttle service that had formerly transported people from Park and ride lots to Franklin Street was shut down and the results of Chapel Hill’s efforts showed when only about 35,000 people showed up for the event..