Everyone from tiny tots to ghoulish grandmas and grandpas will get a chance to show of their best Halloween attire at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival Costume Contest. The contest will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, at Half Moon Bay Library parking lot, located at 620 Correas Street in Half Moon Bay.

The contest is divided into five age categories (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-adult) as well as a category for pairs and another for larger groups. A panel of local judges rates each costume on creativity, attention to detail and presentation, and quality.

The competition can be intense but it’s all in good fun, says Lynn Bauman, the contest organizer, aka “Autumn Fairy Queen.” “Every year I’m amazed to see the costumes people show up in and the effort they put into their imaginative themes and designs,” she said.

Bauman remembers many ingeniously creative costumes from past festivals, like a group that came dressed as different types of seafood or the boy that showed up as a laundry basket, with a pair of underwear on his head. “Some people just throw something together spur of the moment, but there are many others you can tell significant time was spent conceiving and finishing their costume.”

The first, second and third place winners of each category will win a special prize donated by local merchants. The first place winners from each category will compete for the grand prize, a $25 gift certificate for Cunha’s Country Grocery.

But no contestant will go home empty handed. “We always make sure that everyone gets a ribbon, just for participating,” said Bauman. “That ribbon means the world to those little kids.”

The contest will wrap up at noon, just in time for the Great Pumpkin Parade down Main Street. All costume contest entrants are welcome to march in the parade. “It’s just one of those great small town events –– there’s nothing quite like it,” said Bauman.