Join the Central Children’s Department on Thursday, October 26 from 3:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. (rain date: Friday, October 27) for our yearly Costume Parade!

Bookmark the event on the Free Library's website event page or on Facebook.

The Central Children's Costume Parade is an annual Fall event started many years ago by a former LEAP After School Leader. In the past, children and their caregivers gathered at Parkway Central Library and paraded through the historic building, receiving candy and treats from many different subject departments.

Central Children's Department didn't want to lose the tradition when we opened back up during the pandemic, so we decided to pivot outside and have departments set up stations on the sidewalk surrounding 1901 Vine Street. The response from staff was overwhelmingly positive; everyone was eager to dress themselves up and decorate book carts and other accessories to display their goodies! Our new tradition of hosting the Costume Parade outdoors allows library workers without public-facing workspaces (such as Information Technology, Security, Materials Management, and more) the chance to join in on the fun, too!

The parade brings families from Center City and throughout Philadelphia for a fun time with lots of treats, and folks look forward to interacting with Book Bot, Central Children’s homemade candy-delivering robot! We hope you’ll enjoy the assortment of photos from years past:

Would you like to support the Central Children's Department’s Costume Parade and other children’s programming throughout the year? Donate here!