VALLEY – The end of October can be an exciting time for most children and for some adults.

Halloween is all about costumes, eating candy and hoping there’s a treat instead of a trick when knocking on a person’s door. However, parents often desire a safe space for young children to trick-or-treat instead of venturing into an unknown neighborhood and asking a stranger for pieces of candy.

That alternative can be found at Wednesday’s Fall Festival at the Valley Sportsplex. According to Valley Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Blount, the festival will run from 6 to 8 p.m. ET at the baseball fields.

Blount said several merchants, civic groups and churches will have booths set up to interact with children and parents. The kids won’t be able just to grab a piece of candy because they’ll have to participate in a carnival-style game. There are no losers at the festival because no matter how they do, a piece of candy will be awarded.

“We want the groups to make sure there is something to do so the kids aren’t just walking to each booth and getting candy and spend five minutes walking around,” Blount said.

Outside of the carnival games and candy, Blount said Valley First Baptist Church will bring a few inflatables, so children can jump around for another feature of the festival.

She said the annual festival provides a safer alternative for children and parents because there are a few places in the city that aren’t trick-or-treating friendly.

“It’s just safer,” Blount said. “There just aren’t a lot of good areas for kids to go trick-or-treating so this is a really nice alternative.”

Some towns have officially set trick-or-treating hours. Valley Police Chief Tommy Weldon says the hours in Valley are the same times as the festival — 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Lafayette Police Chief George Rampey said official hours are 5 to 8 p.m. CT.  West Point Police Chief Donald Britt said his city’s official hours are from 6 to 8 p.m. ET.

Other towns will have an increased police presence to ensure safety while more people will be on the streets. Captain Richard Casner of the Lanett Police Department said the city doesn’t set times and the city will allow “parents to be parents.”

“We will have an increased number of officers in the neighborhoods to try and keep the traffic slowed down and keep everybody as safe as possible,” Casner said.