A scarecrow contest, Halloween costume contest, and a block dance party with trick-or-treating will add to Wiscasset’s October fun, as the town expands its fall traditions with help from the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce.

Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Director Todd Souza said the block party will happen right after the annual Halloween parade, Oct. 31. The party will shut down Federal Street between Hooper and Lincoln streets, will be free to attend, and will have a deejay playing Halloween-themed and other music. The expanded event will be called “A Nightmare on Federal Street,”  Souza said in an interview Sept. 15 at Wiscasset Community Center.

Lineup for the parade is at 4 p.m. at Wiscasset Elementary School. The parade starts at 4:30 p.m., heading down Federal, then Washington, Hodge and Union streets in the loop back to Federal, Souza said.

The party runs from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will have a costume contest in age groups and a family category, Souza said. Also new to the event is trick–or-treating. Chamber Board Chairman Monique McRae said the chamber’s role will be “talking up” the event to businesses, encouraging them to have tables for giving away trinkets, candy or other items. Chamber member Brad Sevaldson, who co-owns BIRCH with Greg Uthoff, is looking forward to their business and others from the village having the chance to host trick-or-treaters, who won’t have traffic to negotiate as they would downtown.

The parade and party cap a series of events that get under way Oct. 15, with the department’s annual scarecrow festival from noon to 4 p.m. at the municipal building, officials said.

 As usual, festival-goers will get to make scarecrows and check out vehicles in a touch-a-truck portion of the event, parks and recreation officials said.

The recent, permanent closure of the Route One driveway at the municipal building — in connection with the new sidewalks and traffic lights at the Route 27 intersection — has freed up more space for the festival, parks and recreation’s facility and programs manager Bob Macdonald said. And this year, expect an added attraction: tractors from the Maine Antique Tractors Association, Macdonald said. “I’m thrilled. They called about using a room (at the center) for a meeting, and I said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in doing a little partnering?”

The association will get to use the room for only a maintenance fee and will have a display at the festival, Macdonald said, adding that in some subsequent year, he’d like to add a tractor pull.

During the week that follows the festival, the chamber will hold a scarecrow contest in the village and along Route One. For $15, businesses and organizations enter the contest and get a metal pole to mount their scarecrows on, McRae said. Judges will award first, second and third place. Businesses or groups outside the village or off Route One can enter also, and will get a spot at either Ames True Value or Wiscasset Ford, McRae said. Both businesses are donating the use of space near the road for the scarecrows to be displayed, she said.

The contest idea sprang from a November 2015 chamber brainstorming session to get a signature event in Wiscasset. Members discussed a 2016 start and then adding tie-in events gradually, over the years, rather than starting big and then trying to sustain it.

Gradual growth is still the plan, McRae said. She sees potential with the Halloween theme. “This could be a nice little niche, that we could really take off from.”

Souza’s enthusiasm and his welcoming attitude toward the chamber have been important, Sevaldson said. “We didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes” with the contest’s scarecrow theme, he said.

Chamber and town officials expressed their mutual appreciation for the collaboration on events. “I love it, because we’re always trying to do more, and make something a better event,” Souza said. “And a chamber is about helping businesses, but this chamber also seems to have a great community spirit, and is a great resource. So they’ve been great about partnering with us. That’s what community is.”

The town will also hold its Halloween Raven Egg Hunt again this year. It’s set for Oct. 28 at the community center, department staff said. The decorated walk participants travel to get to the hunt site will feature a longer route, Souza said.