Parma Heights Frights is back for its third year on Saturday, October 24, from 1 to 4 p.m., and this time organizers are staging the Halloween bash on freshly paved ground built to handle a crowd nearly a fifth the size of the entire city. The free festival is moving from its former spot between the Cassidy Theatre and the tennis courts to the parking lot of the newly built Cuyahoga County Public Library Parma Heights branch at Greenbrier Commons.
The shift reflects just how much the event has grown since Young Professionals of Parma first launched it, according to Cleveland.com. Young Professionals of Parma president Brandon Bunyak described the event as a Halloween festival featuring a trunk-or-treat, a touch-a-truck display and a petting zoo, per the same report. Bunyak said the move to the library lot is meant to showcase the new branch to the community, and organizers expect attendance of 3,000 to 4,000 people, matching the turnout the event has drawn in its first two years.
That kind of crowd is no small thing for a city of just 20,863 residents spread across 4.2 square miles, under the leadership of Mayor Marie Gallo, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The newly paved section of Greenbrier Commons is built to accommodate exactly that scale of gathering, the Cleveland.com report notes.
A Brand-New Civic Hub Built for the Moment
The library branch anchoring this year's festival footprint is itself only months old. The $16 million, 22,000-square-foot facility opened on April 11, 2026, at 6188 Pearl Road, replacing a 15,500-square-foot building that had served the community since 1963, according to FreshWater Cleveland. The new branch includes an Innovation Center makerspace and is the future site of an Early Childhood Education Training Center. Hoodline previously reported that nearly 2,000 people turned out for the branch's grand opening celebration in April.
That building replaced the city's old round library, which Parma Heights demolished in May after estimating that replacement costs would have topped $1 million. The teardown cleared space for the updated civic campus now hosting the Halloween crowd. The city has also planned a $450,000 parking lot resurfacing project at Greenbrier Commons.
Food Trucks, Beer and a DJ Round Out the Lineup
Beyond the trunk-or-treat and petting zoo, this year's Parma Heights Frights will include eight food trucks and locally crafted beer from Schnitz Ale Brewery, the Parma brewery established by the owners of the longtime German restaurant Das Schnitzel Haus and listed as a 2024 previous winner on Cleveland Scene's Best Restaurant (Parma) page. A DJ will provide music throughout the afternoon, and TAM Photography will offer low-cost costume photos of children for parents, per Bunyak. The event will also feature pop-up shopping spaces and community resources from nonprofit partners.
Bunyak's connection to the event goes back to its earlier form. He began volunteering with Young Professionals of Parma at its former trunk-or-treat event in Parma before the group stopped holding it, and as president he said he wanted to revive that tradition and partner with the City of Parma Heights to pull it off, per the Cleveland.com report.
Part of a Bigger Greenbrier Commons Makeover
The festival's new home didn't happen in isolation. Throughout 2026, Parma Heights and Cuyahoga County have poured money into Greenbrier Commons, from the $16 million library to a $150,000 ADA-compliant playground that opened in June, funded in part by an Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant following earlier court resurfacing work. Hoodline detailed that broader overhaul, including the demolished round library, in a report on the reopened courts.
Young Professionals of Parma, founded in 2016 by Jackie Baraona, marked its 10th anniversary in August as a civic networking and advocacy group. Beyond Parma Heights Frights, the organization also runs the Parma Spooky Showdown house-decorating contest. Greenbrier Commons itself is anchored by the Cassidy Theatre, founded in 1974 by former Parma Heights Mayor Paul W. Cassidy in tribute to his wife Elise.
