By Rita Raccoon, consumer and oddities correspondent

Anniston is turning Halloween around for Neewollah on Noble—the holiday spelled in reverse and set loose on two downtown blocks. The city’s annual street celebration is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, from noon to 4 p.m. on Noble Street.

The plan gives the afternoon a lively mix: costume contests for adults, children, and pets; a treat walk; a kids zone; vendors; food trucks; and live music. The University of Alabama’s Parenting Assistance Line lists the festival along Noble Street between 10th and 12th streets, while Alabama’s official travel site describes the event as free.

A holiday with its letters facing the other way

Neewollah makes a tidy invitation: bring a costume, follow the candy trail, and let the pets enter the fashion desk. With categories spanning people and pets, the contest lineup gives Anniston’s neighbors a reason to make the whole block part of the celebration.

Rita has entered the event name in her notebook twice—once forwards and once backwards—because a reporter respects a story that arrives with its own mirror trick. Her field advice is simple: reach Noble Street ready for costumes, community booths, and an afternoon that puts Halloween in reverse order.

Event details: Saturday, October 24, 2026, noon–4 p.m.; Noble Street between 10th and 12th streets, downtown Anniston, Alabama. The event listing describes admission as free.

Sources: City of Anniston: Neewollah on Noble; Alabama Tourism: Neewollah on Noble; University of Alabama Parenting Assistance Line: Neewollah on Noble.

Rita Raccoon has added a quest journal to her Saturday field kit. On Oct. 24, historic downtown Sanford, Florida, will become the setting for Enchanted Knights: Dungeons of Downtown, a Renaissance festival built around armored demonstrations, local makers, live performers and games that invite visitors into the story.

The city lists the free event for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and says parking is free, too. Its schedule includes live stage shows, community contests, local artists and artisans, a scavenger hunt, the Pub Quest and Sidequest Shopping, where shoppers can earn free art prints.

A tabletop story takes to the streets

Central Florida Public Media reports that Enchanted Knights began as a tabletop role-playing game. Adam Brown, co-owner of Wizards and Lizards Studios and the event’s creative mind, developed the festivals so people could play through stories and puzzles in person. Visitors can follow quests, gather clues and turn in their journals for prizes.

That community focus is part of the design. Brown told the public radio newsroom that he wants the festival to give people a welcoming place to spend time together. The day’s program pairs those interactive adventures with local artisans, roaming performers and the Orlando Rogue Knights’ armored demonstrations.

Rita’s event brief

Rita’s pencil is ready for the main quest, the side quests and the important civic question of how many tomatoes a festival can responsibly aim at a dunk tank. The City of Sanford and the event organizers list tomato throwing among the day’s activities, alongside games, food and live entertainment.

Enchanted Knights: Dungeons of Downtown is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in downtown Sanford. The City of Sanford lists free admission and parking, with costumes encouraged.

Rita Raccoon covers consumer curiosities and oddities for Hilarious News.

By Rita Raccoon, consumer and oddities correspondent

DAVIS, Calif. — Rita Raccoon has added one important item to her Halloween riding checklist: a helmet that stays put when the bicycle is headed for the undead.

Davis’ Zombie Bike Parade returns on Saturday, Oct. 31, with costumed riders setting off from Community Park for a route just under five miles to Mace Ranch Park and back. The parade runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; the wider, free festival welcomes all ages at Community Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The official route has a wonderfully compact set of zombie qualifications: arrive looking the part, stay on the bike for the ride, and say “brains” at both ends. Rita has reviewed the plan and considers that a strong balance of safety, stamina and clear communications.

A parade with a community-sized purpose

The festival is produced by Davis Odd Fellows Lodge No. 169, The Bike Campaign and Davis Bike Club, with NorCal Trykers as its beneficiary. NorCal Trykers describes its mission as providing custom adaptive tricycles to children with disabilities, supporting mobility and independence. Organizers say the festival has raised more than $50,000 and helped provide 42 custom trikes since 2019.

That gives the Halloween spectacle a practical finish line: a community celebration helps more children experience the freedom of riding. Rita’s notebook has given the fundraiser a gold star and reserved the next page for any particularly expressive bike bells.

More than a ride

Community Park will host more than 35 entertainment stations, including music, arts and crafts, festival games, and local group demonstrations. The schedule also lists a BMX stunt show at the parade’s halfway point and a skydiving finale at 2:30 p.m., weather permitting. Admission is free, and people can enjoy the park festival on foot, wheels, or with a stroller.

Rita’s final pre-ride note is simple: test the costume on the bike, keep loose fabric clear of the pedals and chain, and bring a helmet. The route has a destination at either end, the volunteers have the crossing-guard assignment, and the parade has supplied its own closing phrase. Davis’ Halloween calendar is looking very well organized for a gathering of zombies.

Event details: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at Community Park, 1405 F Street, Davis, California. The official bike parade runs 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. along a route just under five miles round trip.

Sources: The Zombie Bike Parade route and event details; the festival press kit; the festival’s history and mission; NorCal Trykers’ mission.

By Buster Barkley, lead reporter

Hot Springs National Park put a famously simple beverage under bright festival lights on Oct. 10: spring water. The park’s annual Water Festival invited visitors to taste spring water, then vote in a new tasting competition. This was a serious civic duty performed with small cups.

The free event ran from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Arlington Lawn near Bathhouse Row. Alongside the tasting table, the program featured music, science demonstrations, craft activities, interactive booths, and conversations with the rangers, scientists, volunteers, and partner organizations who help care for the area’s water and watersheds.

The festival’s star ingredient is unusually well credentialed. The National Park Service says Hot Springs National Park protects 143°F, non-volcanic thermal waters, as well as cold-water spring systems and waterways within park boundaries. Its festival information described the day as a celebration of the watersheds that support the Ouachita Mountain region.

For this reporter, the competition carried a useful reminder: water can be both a community story and the reason the community has a story to tell. Park visitors could learn from conservation partners while casting a vote for the spring water that won their palate. Buster’s notebook records the experience as “clear, composed, and unexpectedly competitive.”

The National Park Service listed the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Mystic Ozark, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Friends of Hot Springs National Park among the organizations highlighted at the festival. Their presence gave the day an easy formula: a glass of water, a local watershed, and plenty of people ready to talk about both.

Water tasting is rarely invited to share a stage with music and science demonstrations. Hot Springs gave it a microphone anyway, and the town’s springs showed up ready for their close-up.

Sources: National Park Service festival release; National Park Service event record.

Camp Washington, Cincinnati, has a new neighborhood race with a very specific uniform: cow-inspired attire. The Camp Washington Business Association’s inaugural Cattle Drive: Moo Mile is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with a one-kilometer route through the neighborhood.

Participants are encouraged to run or walk in cow-themed outfits. The organizer says the route will start at Rhinegeist Brewery’s Spring Grove facility, pass the American Sign Museum and neighborhood landmarks, and finish at Valley Park, where the Camp Washington State Fair continues with food, music, games and awards.

A race with a local legend in its backstory

The event draws on the story of Cincinnati Freedom, a cow who escaped from a Camp Washington slaughterhouse in 2002 and was later taken to Farm Sanctuary in New York. WCPO’s account of the local legend and Farm Sanctuary’s history both place the escape in 2002; the Moo Mile organizer’s event page lists 2006.

For the race, that history becomes a community gathering: neighbors can share the story, add a pair of ears or cow-print spots to their outfit, and follow a route through the place that remembers it. The organizer describes the Moo Mile as the kickoff to the Camp Washington State Fair and hopes it will grow into an annual tradition.

Rita Raccoon’s desk note: a neighborhood history lesson with a costume prize and a finish line has excellent range. The race starts Saturday at 10:30 a.m.; the published registration page lists a one-kilometer course through Camp Washington.

Event details: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, 10:30 a.m.–noon; Camp Washington, Cincinnati. The organizer’s event page has route and participation information.

Sources: Camp Washington Cattle Drive: Moo Mile; Camp Washington Cattle Drive registration; WCPO, “Runaway cow escapes slaughterhouse and becomes worldwide symbol of freedom”; Farm Sanctuary, “Cincinnati Freedom: The Legendary Slaughterhouse Escape Artist”.