The Greater Huntington Parks and Recreations Board and the HART Choose Joy Players have partnered to bring a fun alternative to the traditional haunted house this Halloween season.

“Our executive director Kevin Brady used to do this event in Hamilton County, Tennessee whenever he was the park director down there,” said Stacey Leep, recreation programmer for GHPRD. “He wanted to bring the Fantasy Maze to Huntington ever since he came five years ago.”

The Fantasy Maze can be found in the field next to the Ritter Park fountain and is made of 1,200 bales of straw. Inside the maze, members of the HART Choose Joy Players will be dressed as princesses and storybook characters to hand out candy to guests.

“There’s nothing scary in it, everything in there is fun and happy,” Leep said. “There’s lots of neat little decorations and stuff to really bring it to life.”

Many of the characters in the maze have their own stages to set the scene for young guests. For example, Rapunzel will be featured from her famous tower.

“Our maze is going to feature a couple of characters from past shows: Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka,” Leep said. “It’s also going to give a sneak peak of what shows we’re doing in 2016.”

The Fantasy Maze partnered with M&M Inflatables and will offer a variety of inflatables for children to enjoy following the maze. Tickets to the inflatables can be purchased for $1 per ticket.

There will be several concession vendors at the event including Scragglepop Kettle Corn, Laikyn’s Hot Dogs, cotton candy, hot chocolate and more.

The Fantasy Maze will open at 5 p.m. Saturday and run each night until 9 p.m. through Oct. 31. Tickets for the maze can be purchased for $5 per person starting at 4:30 p.m. each operating day. All visitors one year old or older must have a ticket to go through the maze.

“This has been an expensive event for us to put on, that’s why we charge admission,” Leep said. “We’re trying to make it as affordable as possible for families, but at the same time we do have to cover our costs.”

Children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to the event.

“There’s nothing like this in the community or anywhere near the area. Everything is usually scary for Halloween,” Leep said. “This is a good opportunity for little kids to come to a Halloween event and not be scared.”

This is the first year for the maze but the Greater Huntington Parks and Recreations Board hopes to make the Fantasy Maze an annual event.

MacKenzi Kyle can be contacted at [email protected].