As the sun sets on Oct. 31, the streets of Burlingame light up with life as the sound of excited children filling their baskets with candy rings through the air. But no street is brighter or louder than Cabrillo Avenue, located centrally in Easton Addition. The five blocks between Adeline Drive and Carmelito Avenue stand out as the ultimate destination for trick-or-treaters thanks to extraordinary decorations, friendly neighbors, and surplus of candy.

Senior Natalie DeMartini has lived on Cabrillo Avenue for 17 years. When DeMartini’s parents first bought the house, they were told that decorating on Cabrillo is a must-do to continue the street’s running tradition. 

 Although their participation in the festivities may have once been involuntary, DeMartini takes great pride in her Halloween decorations, which she and her family invest a lot of time and money into every year.

“It’s just really iconic. And the fact that we’ve grown up like this is just really cool to see a whole neighborhood on the block come together,” DeMartini said.

DeMartini decorations center around a different theme each year. 

“Last year we did this creepy doll theme. My dad bought a bunch of scary dolls from Etsy and eBay. The dolls were super scary and had blood and they were like carrying these dead bodies like he [DeMartini’s dad] definitely goes all out for it,” DeMartini said.

Sophomore Ellora Horan has also lived on Cabrillo Avenue since she was born.  a child, Horan never fully appreciated the true magic of Cabrillo Avenue, but now that she’s older she understands why it is such a beloved spot for trick-or-treating. 

 “I feel like it’s more enjoyable. You get to see so many people in costumes,” Horan said. “You can see all the little kids which is really fun.”

Horan has brought her friends over before and says they all had a blast, enjoying the decorations and abundance of candy. 

Those who are lucky enough to live on Cabrillo are also, in some ways, unlucky — many, like sophomore Ellora Horan’s family, must buy 20,000 pieces of candy a year.

“We buy a ton of candy, 20,000 pieces of candy per year. And sometimes we used to close off the 1400 block of Cabrillo, and there’d be lots of little kids that would come to our block especially but, like towards the 1100 block [of Cabrillo] it gets scarier and most of the people go there,” Horan said.

While trick-or-treating with friends on Cabrillo six years ago, freshman Mai Armstrong’s most memorable moment was being scared by a bloody screen projector.

“I was scared to death, but I’m really appreciative that people put in all that effort to make Halloween so much more awesome,” Armstrong said.

In earlier years, Cabrillo was blocked off at night, keeping residents, especially younger children, safer. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the street has remained open to traffic.

Senior Tilly Haskell, a friend of DeMartini, has also participated in the Cabrillo Halloween festivities since moving over ten years ago.

“It’s just cool to see everyone’s reactions, people that drive by to take a look and it’s fun to see all the kids out,” Haskell said.

Haskell, like DeMartini, goes all-out for Halloween, though Haskell aims to scare trick-or-treaters aided by real medical props from her father, who is a doctor. 

“My dad is a doctor, so he has some real models of bones and stuff like that. So we set up like this surgery table thing, it’s like a scene of skeletons doing surgery on this guy. Then there’s another one that’s like, a guy being electrocuted, and having his head cut off,” Haskell said.

Overall, the creativity and dedication of the Cabrillo Avenue residents make the street an exciting and memorable experience for all. 

“It’s just a lot of fun overall and I’d definitely recommend checking it out because it can be fun for people of any age,”  Armstrong said.