Edina’s Halloween Costume Swap wrapped up its second year at Edina Senior Center on Sunday. From 2–4 p.m., an array of costumes was set out for community members to take home free of charge. 

In the week prior to the swap, people were encouraged to bring in their old costumes that would be up for grabs on Sunday. The swap contained a diverse spread of costumes with something for everyone. Everything was laid out on tables for people to search through. Zoro Singh, one of the kids looking for a costume, said that there are lots of options, and he would recommend the swap to his friends; although he didn’t get a costume, he took advantage of the accessories available and got a mask.

Twila Singh, Zoro’s mom and Edina’s organic recycling coordinator, was one of the organizers and said her team realized many costumes end up in boxes and are forgotten in people’s homes. She said that they felt the costumes needed a purpose besides being crammed in a box.

Costumes can be expensive for some families, especially with several people at home. The goal of the swap was to make Halloween more accessible to these families by repurposing no-longer-used costumes.

“They’re not going to wear [the costumes] again, or they grow out of them, so then they inundate the thrift stores… which is an acceptable means of dealing with it, but there are a lot of people who could use them in our community,” Singh said. 

All the costumes left over from this swap will be sent to another costume swap the following week for the taking, and the cycle will continue until Halloween comes to an end. If a costume isn’t taken at any of the swaps, it is kept and used for the next year.

“What we want people to do is if they pick something up here, [they will] wear it this year and then bring it back the next year,” Singh said.

One customer, Megan Wolle, thought it was a great way to bring the community together. 

“There’s a lot of great options and really nice quality costumes,” Wolle said.