Throughout the month of October, Westfield is hosting the second annual AddamsFest. The festival is held to commemorate Charles Addams, the creator of the beloved Addams Family, who hailed from Westfield.

The festival debuted last year, ushered in by Mayor Shelley Brindle as part of her initiative to revamp Downtown. The festival was a tremendous success, with over 12,000 people in attendance.

“It certainly exceeded all expectations,” Mayor Brindle said in an inter- view with Hi’s Eye. “What was most surprising, I think, is that everything sold out. There’s an unbelievable appetite for this type of community engagement.”

While the festival was a success last year, the AddamsFest committee, led by Councilwoman Dawn Mackey, is determined to keep adding exciting activities to improve the experience each year. Several new attractions have been added to this year’s festival, as Mayor Brindle outlined.

“This year, we have Gomez’s Dynamite Model Railway at the train station,” Brindle explained. “This [past] weekend [was] the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the big Family Fun Zones. [This] weekend is going to be the beer garden and the ‘trunk or treat.’”

Overall, this year’s AddamsFest promises to be better than ever. Mayor Brindle emphasized how the event has something that the entire family can enjoy: “That’s what I think is beautiful about it. There’s something for every- body of all ages and of all abilities and that’s the central theme of Addams- Fest.”

The festival also comes on the heels of the release of the new animated feature The Addams Family, and Mayor Brindle feels that the spirit of the Addams family is more important now than ever. “The whole message of the Addams Family is one of inclusivity and acceptance. It was really important to us that this festival was inclusive for everybody. That’s what we’ve attempted to do, and I think we’ve done it pretty well,” explained Brindle.