In 1980, Allan Jones was 27 and living at 150 Centenary Avenue. He put on stilts and a black gown and turned family stories from his mother and grandmother into a character. Tall Betsy made her first appearance at Johnston Park and then moved to the Jones home on Centenary. The stories behind her are older than anyone telling them. The Chattanoogan found a Chattanooga Daily Times account dated Sept. 27, 1894, describing a tall woman dressed in black seen on Cleveland's streets. The Times Free Press dates the lore to at least 1893.
A few years later, the Cleveland Police Department started a downtown Halloween party as a safe alternative to trick-or-treating. So Cleveland ended up with two traditions pulling in opposite directions. One gathers families into a fenced-off square downtown. The other sends thousands of people door to door down one residential street. Neither replaced the other. On Saturday, Oct. 31, both happen in the same evening hours a short walk apart, and the order you do them in decides how much of each you see.
The Party That Was Built as the Alternative
MainStreet Cleveland now organizes the Downtown Halloween Block Party. This is the 39th year, running 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday. The police department that started it still has a hand in it. The 2026 sponsor list in the Cleveland Daily Banner names the City of Cleveland Police Department as a Gold sponsor and the Bradley County Sheriff's Office as a Silver sponsor. During the party's 32nd year, Local 3 News reported that the event depends on many sponsors and more than 200 first responders and volunteers.
MainStreet Cleveland estimated 16,000 people at the 36th party, held in 2023. The Cleveland Daily Banner put 2024 at about 15,000.
When rain threatened during that 32nd year, executive director Sharon Marr told Local 3 News:
"In the 32 years, it's never been canceled. We've never discussed moving it."
That same report said organizers did talk about postponing that year. They decided against it because a weekend date would cost them a lot of attendees and security. This year nobody has to decide. Halloween lands on a Saturday by itself.
How One Porch Became the County's Other Halloween
Local 3 described Centenary Avenue as "just a little way down the road" from the block party. In the same report, resident Jim Park credited his friend Allan Jones and the Tall Betsy idea with starting the street's tradition. Here's how it grew:
- 1980. Jones starts appearing as Tall Betsy, first at Johnston Park and then at 150 Centenary.
- May 24, 1989. Tennessee Senate Joint Resolution 358 names Tall Betsy Bradley County's official Halloween goblin. Its text describes Centenary residents handing out treats and opening their homes as "spook houses."
- 1993. The Jones family counts 11,201 pieces of bubble gum handed out at their house.
- 1998. Tall Betsy retires after a Halloween crowd reported at 25,000.
- Mid-2010s. Bailey Jones takes over the role. Accounts differ on the year: a 2022 report says 2013 and 2025 publicity says 2014. The revived character appears at the downtown block party through 2015.
- 2016. Tall Betsy returns to the Centenary courtyard for the first time since 1998.
The 1993 count makes a useful comparison. One house on Centenary handed out 11,201 pieces of gum that night. On Saturday, Oct. 31, Mars Wrigley's Treat Street sponsorship covers 10,000 bags of candy for the whole downtown event. The single-porch scale hasn't faded either. In the same Local 3 report from the block party's 32nd year, Jim Park said he had 10,000 to 12,000 pieces of candy ready for his own yard, which he had decorated as the "Centenary Cemetery." He said the largest crowd on Centenary he could verify was about 10,000 people. Tall Betsy publicity has claimed crowds as large as 30,000.
Treat Street and Centenary Want the Same Hour
The two traditions run at about the same time on the same night. Treat Street opens at 6 p.m. on Church Street, in front of the Police Services Center, and gives children a large grocery bag of candy. Last year, Tall Betsy's appearance was set for sunset, 6:46 p.m., at 150 Centenary Ave. NW, with trick-or-treating on the avenue right after. Appearances are announced on tallbetsy.com, so check there for this year's plans before you head out.
Last year's timing leaves room to do both if you keep the downtown portion early. Here's the downtown lineup for Saturday from the Cleveland Daily Banner, with the Centenary timing from 2025 at the end for reference.
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 5 p.m. | Block party opens | Downtown district |
| 5:30 p.m. | Tyson Leamon, a Riceville native and Nashville singer-songwriter | Downtown stage |
| 6 p.m. | Treat Street opens | Church Street, in front of the Police Services Center |
| 6:30 p.m. | Mix 104.1 and Mix TV Costume Contest, infants through adults | Fun Stage at the Post Office Annex |
| 7:30 p.m. | KP & the Classics, playing hits from the 1970s through the 1990s | Downtown stage |
| 10 p.m. | Block party ends | Downtown district |
| Sunset, per 2025 timing | Tall Betsy tradition, then trick-or-treating | Centenary Avenue |
Families with young children face the tightest overlap. The costume contest starts at 6:30. Last year's sunset start on Centenary came only 16 minutes later. If you want both, one order that fits the schedule looks like this:
- Arrive downtown for Tyson Leamon's 5:30 set and get in line before Treat Street opens at 6.
- Stay for the 6:30 costume contest if someone in your group entered. Winners in each category get trophies and candy.
- Walk to Centenary Avenue for trick-or-treating.
- Head back downtown for KP & the Classics at 7:30 if anyone still has energy. The party runs until 10.
Older kids and adults can do it the other way around. The headline set doesn't start until 7:30, and food vendors run for the full five hours. The menu includes barbecue ribs, grilled chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs and funnel cakes, plus bounce houses and games for kids.
The Square Is Set Before the Party Starts
The 2026 event area covers Church, Ocoee and Broad streets, plus First and Second streets. MainStreet's vendor agreement puts the 10-by-10-foot booths on or near Courthouse Square. Vendors set up from noon to 4 p.m., and their vehicles have to be out of the venue by 4. So the booths go up on those streets during the afternoon, well before the 5 p.m. start. Before you decide where to park downtown or near Centenary, check the Cleveland Police Department for any traffic notices.
If you'd rather wait out the 5 p.m. rush, the timing works in your favor. Treat Street doesn't open until 6, the contest is at 6:30, and the bigger band plays at 7:30. The early part of the evening is mostly food, games and the first set. MainStreet's event page notes that the schedule is subject to change, so check it the morning of.
The block party's board president, Brittany Katz, called it in the Banner "a great community tradition that showcases the creativity and spirit of our residents." On Centenary, the people who live on the street carry that tradition themselves. Both are open on Saturday, Oct. 31, a short walk apart.
If this is your first Halloween in Cleveland, or you have family visiting who've never seen Centenary Avenue on Oct. 31, I'm glad to share what I know about getting around downtown that night. Jim Swafford works with buyers and sellers across Bradley County and the surrounding counties, and part of that work is knowing nights like this one. Let's Connect.
