Families will take over downtown Lafayette Friday, Oct. 24, for the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce's annual Trick-or-Treat Street event to kick off the scary season.

Started more than a decade ago, a fun and safe experience is planned for children and their parents who are invited to trick-or-treat at participating businesses along Mt. Diablo Boulevard from Lafayette Plaza to Dewing Avenue, Lafayette Circle and in La Fiesta Square from 4 to 6p.m.

Holly Sonne, the Chamber's director of operations, is confident wonderful fall weather will be gracing the event once again.

"We have never had a rain out," she said, crossing her fingers and toes for yet another dry event.

A year ago, with businesses giving out at least one piece of candy per child, Sonne estimated between 800 to 1,000 pieces of candy were distributed to 800 families who turned out.

This event is free for everyone and recommended for children 9 and under. Families are reminded to have their ghosts and goblins, or whatever is this year's preferred costume, bring their trick-or-treat bags for safe keeping of their evening's Halloween haul.

It's not Halloween without candy, and David Harrison, owner of Zoonie's, is among the downtown business owners looking forward to the fantastic event that brings hundreds of dressed up kids downtown.

"We and our fellow businesses love giving out the candy and contributing to a festive atmosphere, and we love it every year," he said.

Unlike the schools at Halloween where there are some limitations on the kind of costumes that can be worn and accessories carried, there are no specified "don'ts" being promoted to families by the Chamber.

"We want to keep it as positive as possible," Sonne said. "We haven't had an issue, and we don't want to police anything."

Dogs, for example, are welcome and their owners have in the past brought them to the Plaza decked out in their favorite costumes. But there are no special contests planned where people necessarily congregate in one area.

"We just want people to experience the downtown and walk from one participating business to another," she said, as well as patronize those establishments by hopefully staying for a dinner out that evening.

So, common sense is the watch word for the evening.

The next day, Saturday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., it's the adult turn to take center stage in their Halloween finery with the Chamber's "Witch Way to Mocktails" event. Businesses centered mostly along Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette Circle and at La Fiesta Square will be serving up free samples and tastings of their very own signature seasonal mocktails.

Sonne noted this represents the second annual "Witch Way'' event with last year having a fall theme.

"So, the dress up component is a new thing," she said, in keeping with the Halloween experience.

For more information about these two events, visit lafayettechamber.org.