AddamsFest: Westfield Celebrates Charles Addams

03/11/2026

Before they were Broadway’s favorite spooky family, they were the imagination of Westfield’s own Charles Addams.🖤

Now, Roosevelt Intermediate School students are bringing that hometown legacy to the stage in The Addams Family — and we couldn’t love it more. *Snap snap* 🫰🫰

Roosevelt Intermediate School Presents: The Addams Family Musical young@part March 12-14th. Order tickets at: https://wpsvpa.booktix.com/dept/RIST

01/07/2026

Charles Addams was born on this date in 1912 here in Westfield, NJ, where we look forward to celebrating his artistic and cultural legacy each year through AddamsFest!

If you can’t wait until October to find out more about Addams’ ties to Westfield, don’t miss the Charles Addams Heritage Trail Self-Guided Tour at bit.ly/addams-tour-selfguided.

11/05/2025

🕸️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝!

As the days get darker and the moon fades on another unforgettable October, a huge and heartfelt thank you from all of us at Team AddamsFest for making this year’s festival one for the books.

Our Femme Fatale theme celebrated the powerful, mysterious women of Charles Addams’ world. But more than that, it reminded us of what AddamsFest is all about: honoring something uniquely ours in Westfield — the enduring spirit of Addams — and sharing it with everyone who loves the delightfully different.

You came from near and far, new faces and familiar ones, Pugsleys and Grandmamas, to celebrate the art, humor, and heart that Charles Addams gave to the world — and that Westfield proudly keeps alive:

🖤 You explored the Femme Fatale: Morticia & More exhibit, where bold new art met timeless Addams wit.
🖤 You turned our downtown into a gallery of imagination with Wicked Windows that made every stroll a spooky delight.
🖤 You haunted your houses, raised a goblet at the Masquerade Ball, partied hard at Charlie’s Ale Garden, and eagerly sampled the seasonal sips to become a Wednesday Night Crawler.
🖤 You took in the history of the Charles Addams Heritage Trail, explored the Addams lore of the Burial Grounds of the Presbyterian Church, and maxed out the energy all along Quimby Street during Family Fun day.

So to our artists, businesses, visitors, and neighbors, thank you! You are the heartbeat of AddamsFest.

To our many volunteers across all of our events, we couldn’t do this without you! A very special thanks to the incredible members of “The Family,” who gave many hours throughout the month to delight our attendees by channeling their inner Morticia (Lisa Black), Gomez (John Isgro), Lurch (Jeff Forbes), Uncle Fester (Marty Silverman), Grandmama (Pam Brotherton Keller), and Wednesday (Kayla Marcus).

And as we begin dreaming up next year’s mischief (you know we’ve already started — we can’t help ourselves), we can’t wait to welcome all things proudly offbeat in year nine.

See you next October, AddamsFesters — same spooky time, same wonderfully weird place!🖤

10/31/2025

🧟‍♂️🏠 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅. 🕸🏆

Meet this year’s Haunt Your House winners — Westfield’s most frightfully fabulous decorators!

Haunts By Day
1️⃣ First Place: House D4 - 32 Tamaques Way
2️⃣ Second Place: House D15 - 462 Mountain Avenue
3️⃣ Third Place: House D7 - 711 Summit Avenue

Haunts By Night
1️⃣ First Place: House N17 - 561 First Street
2️⃣ Second Place: House N20 - 711 Crescent Parkway
3️⃣ Third Place: House N18 - 110 West Dudley Avenue

A big thank you to everyone who went all out to give our town its eerie glow this season — your creativity and spooky spirit make AddamsFest come alive each October. 💀

And a special shoutout to our returning Haunt Your House sponsor, The Mavins Group, for helping us celebrate Westfield’s most wickedly wonderful homes! 🖤

10/30/2025

🕯️ The sky’s gone gray, the wind’s gone wicked — the perfect backdrop for a little Addams-style mischief… minus the mayhem.

Load up your Wednesdays and Pugsleys, stay dry, and take a twilight drive through town to admire the Haunt Your House entries before the clock strikes 10 p.m. and the contest closes for another year! 🕰️

It’s Westfield’s twist on Mischief Night — mysterious, macabre, and perfectly well-behaved. 💀

🖤Sponsored by The Mavins Group
🧟‍♀️Voting booth link: addamsfest.com/haunt-your-house-voting-booth

10/30/2025

Thanks to Yahoo News and TravelHost for featuring AddamsFest (and all things Westfield!) in this write-up!

I have loved the Addams Family since I was a little girl. I watched them in black and white on the original show. I tuned in for the rarely seen 1973 cartoon, I loved the ’90s versions, and even gave Netflix's Wednesday a shot as a full-grown adult. You would think that I’d know the house that ....

10/28/2025

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚!🍸

We love all things Wednesday, and what better night to wrap up spooky season?

Join us on October 29 for 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍 — a casual bar crawl through Downtown Westfield! Stop by any of the participating spots between 6–10 PM to enjoy seasonal cocktails, Addams Family-style surprises, and a night full of fun — no tickets needed, just come as you are and crawl at your own pace.

Use the crawl map as a guide or make your own path. Along the way, look out for character photo ops, street magicians, tarot readings, caricatures, and more hauntingly fun encounters.

🍸 Participating Bars:
𝟏𝟔 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 • 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧 • 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐨’𝐬 • 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚 & 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 • 𝐀𝐤𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞 • 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨.

10/22/2025

The spirits are waiting for another round of Wednesday Night Crawlers, tonight from 6:00 - 10:00! Rally your crew and discover seasonal sips featuring exclusive Femme Fatale–inspired cocktails and mocktails at participating bars and restaurants.

And don’t forget: Wednesday’s Final Crawl haunts downtown on October 29, with a few wicked surprises in store to close out the month in true AddamsFest style. 👻

10/21/2025

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋-𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 👣
Our October weather is stunning -- don't miss these Addams-inspired stops in Westfield through the rest of the month!

🏠𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒅𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒐𝒏𝒅
Our favorite seasonal waterfront house is back! Don't miss it on your next stroll through gorgeous Mindowaskin Park!

🪟𝑾𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅
We've had some very busy artists around town over the last few weeks creating their Wicked Windows! From beginners to professionals, we're so grateful for everyone's time and volunteerism to bring this year's Femme Fatale theme to life. Thanks also go out to our local businesses for eagerly agreeing to include their windows, and to Jean Marie Morgan, Westfield, NJ Area Real Estate for sponsoring!

🎨𝑨𝒅𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒔-𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒔
The Westfield Public Arts Commission unveiled the Central Avenue Mural Gallery in October, 2021. These murals showcase the work of local artists on both sides of the underpass on Central Avenue, providing a bright and colorful backdrop to revive and reimagine this public space. One entire span of the underpass features the theme Inspired by Addams, creating an indelible mark not just on the walls of the underpass, but on Westfield’s history.

🧙‍♀️𝑩𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑
Your ride awaits! Get into a wicked state of mind with the Be Witched Selfie Stop on the corner of Quimby and Elm! This interactive sculpture, complete with a broom for your witchiest instincts, is inspired by the original Bewitched statue in Salem, Massachusetts. Huge thanks to Erin Ben-Hayon Realtor for sponsoring once again!

10/20/2025

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲?!

We hear that some Wednesdays and Pugsleys are off from school on Monday (Happy Diwali!!!) -- may we suggest a day or evening of haunt viewing and voting?

The online voting booth is open at addamsfest.com/haunt-your-house-voting-booth, along with the driving guide and maps for both the daytime and nighttime entries.

🧟‍♂️ Can't make it to every house in person? We have pictures available on our website at addamsfest.com/daytime-homes and addamsfest.com/nighttime-homes.

Tag us here or on Instagram so we can share photos of your picks!
Special thanks to The Mavins Group for sponsoring once again! 🏠☠️🧙

10/18/2025

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 -- 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝟓:𝟎𝟎 - 𝟏𝟏:𝟎𝟎!

Here's all the info you need about the big event!

🚗𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡
Location: The Westfield Armory (500 Rahway Avenue)

Parking: The Westfield High School parking lot will be open, and you may also use any legally designated street parking. There will be no parking in the Armory lot.

Uber/Lyft: We will have a designated drop off/pick up point in Section C of the Westfield High School parking lot (off of Rahway Avenue). There will be signage to indicate the area.

Event entry: Please enter through the rear of the Armory. You must have the following items -- no exceptions:
✔️ Your ticket (digital or printed)
✔️ Your photo ID with proof of age

Accessibility details: The main entry point of the event (in the rear of the Armory) is accessible, as are two of the portable restrooms in the rear parking lot. Note that guests with disabilities can be dropped off in the Armory lot, where you will be redirected to available parking.

Re-entry: You may leave and re-enter the event with a valid wristband and your photo ID.

🎟 𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗦
Change of plans for your ticket holders? Don't sweat it. No need to notify us if you intend to transfer a ticket -- this can be done on-site with a photo ID showing proof of age.

🎸 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘-𝗨𝗣
Get ready for a full night of fabulous entertainment!

5:00 - Doors open (house music)
5:45 - Paper Lanterns
6:45 - Kolor Blynd Band
7:45 - Twilight Disciples
8:45 - Saved by the 90s

🍺 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗦 (𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗦)
Once again, Harvest Restaurant Group will be pouring the beverages -- including beer, wine, cider, and hard seltzers. In addition, we will have food trucks on-site offering grab & go food for purchase.

🎪 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗚
Don't miss the mechanical Jack O' Lantern ride, Giant Beer Pong, and the Game Trailer! Special thanks to Westfield Pediatric Dental Group for their sponsorship of the game area festivities.

On your way out, be sure to grab your souvenir AddamsFest cup, generously provided by Atlantic Health, while supplies last.

💳 𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗗𝗦
Please bring both cash and credit! Harvest will accept both, although some food vendors only accept cash.

Charlie's Ale Garden is sponsored in part by Atlantic Health and Almost Home.

See you there!