Town-Wide Festival Honoring Westfield’s Charles Addams Celebrates its Eighth Year with Femme Fatale Theme

WESTFIELD, NJ – SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 – It’s back! AddamsFest will return to Westfield for its eighth consecutive October as the destination event of the season. Once again, the Town will be transformed by this uniquely exciting celebration honoring its own Charles Addams and his penchant for the macabre with a wide variety of events.

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Born in 1912 and raised in Westfield, Charles Addams was one of the country’s premier cartoonists, with his work prominently featured in The New Yorker. His most successful creation, The Addams Family, was inspired by his hometown surroundings. The characters that began as illustrations grew into a television series, a live action movie franchise, a Broadway musical, two Addams Family animated movies, and the highly successful Wednesday series on Netflix. What better place to honor Addams’ talent and creativity than the town where he grew up?

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This year’s AddamsFest theme is Femme Fatale, celebrating the timeless character type who exudes beauty, seduction, danger, and intrigue – with the allure and mystery of Morticia Addams as the lineup’s iconic muse.

Mark your calendars for a variety of events to be held throughout October!

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SIGHTS TO SEE

Femme Fatale: Morticia Addams and More 
Friday through Sunday, October 10- 26
Fridays, 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Saturdays, 1:00 - 6:00 PM
Sundays, 10:00 - 3:00 PM
Rialto Center for Creativity
Beautiful. Mysterious. Independent. Dangerous. Morticia Addams embodies these traits and so much more, making her the very definition of a femme fatale. This year’s AddamsFest art exhibit explores the complexities of Morticia, Wednesday, and the other women featured in Charles Addams’ cartoons and the work of other artists celebrating this fiery feminine mystique. A portion of the exhibit is curated in partnership with Galleria West Art Gallery.

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A companion exhibit, The Femme Form, features three-dimensional female mannequin torsos transformed by selected contemporary artists.

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The Wicked Windows of Westfield
Throughout October 
Downtown Westfield 
Sponsored by Jean Marie Morgan, Realtor
The Wicked Windows of Westfield transforms Downtown Westfield’s storefronts into delightful Halloween displays. Look for some of Charles Addams’ favorite characters peering out from the windows, as well as spooky decorations on the street lamps and special appearances by the Addams Family themselves! 

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Haunt Your House Contest: Day and Night
Registration Opens September 10
Community Voting Opens October 12
Throughout Westfield 
Sponsored by The Mavins Group
The competition gets stiffer every year. Westfield residents can sign up to enter one of two contests – one for daytime haunts, and one for haunts by night. Community members will tour the routes and vote for their favorites using an online map of participating homes from October 12 through October 30. Registration opens (and usually fills up quickly) on Wednesday, September 10, at 7:00 PM, for the first 25 houses to enroll in each category.

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Be Witched Selfie Stop
At the corner of Elm Street and Quimby Street
Sponsored by Erin Ben-Hayon, Realtor
Get into a wicked state of mind with this interactive sculpture, inspired by the original Bewitched statue in Salem, Massachusetts.

The Addams Family House on Mindowaskin Pond
Throughout October
Be sure to take a photo of the floating Addams Family house on Mindowaskin Pond. Playing off a beloved Westfield tradition, this Halloween house is a nod to the replica of the Presbyterian Church that signals the holiday season in December. 

Addams-Inspired Murals
Central Avenue Underpass
Ongoing
The Westfield Public Arts Commission unveiled the Central Avenue Mural Gallery in October, 2021. These murals showcase the work of local artists on both sides of the underpass on Central Avenue, providing a bright and colorful backdrop to revive and reimagine this public space. One entire span of the underpass features the theme Inspired by Addams.

RELEASE YOUR INNER ADDAMS

Morticia & Gomez’s Masquerade Ball 
Friday, October 10, 8:00 - 11:00 PM
Hosted by The James Ward Mansion
Advance ticket purchase required; on sale September 17
Prepare to be transported to an eccentric world of mischief and macabre. Join Morticia & Gomez Addams in high style to feast on Addams-inspired gourmet fare, sip smoldering libations, and dance the night away in an interactive setting. Perhaps the most elegantly odd event of AddamsFest, guests should dress to kill – or at least to maim.

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The Wednesday Night Crawlers 
Wednesday, October 8, 15, 22, and 29, 6:00 - 9:00
Participating locations in Downtown Westfield
No tickets or registration required
Introducing The Wednesday Night Crawlers — a sinisterly spirited new addition to AddamsFest. Every Wednesday in October, beginning October 8, participating Downtown Westfield establishments will unveil their own signature AddamsFest cocktail, each one a nod to this year’s Femme Fatale theme. From smoky elixirs to wickedly seductive potions, these libations are designed to lure you in, one sip at a time. The official Wednesday Night Crawlers cocktail map will guide your nocturnal wanderings, making it frightfully easy to drift from lair to lair. 

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Charlie’s Ale Garden 
Saturday, October 18, 5:00 - 11:00 PM
The Westfield Armory
500 Rahway Avenue, Westfield
Advance ticket purchase required; on sale September 25 (Westfield residents) and September 30 (open to all)
It wouldn’t be AddamsFest without Charlie’s Ale Garden at the Armory. Enjoy fantastic entertainment, including a great line-up of local bands and headliner Saved by the 90s. The most in-demand event of the season will once again feature beer and wine poured by Harvest Restaurant Group and food for purchase from a variety of food trucks.

CHARLIE'S CURIOSITIES

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Morticia Addams: A Different Kind of Woman
Sunday, October 12, 2:00 PM
Westfield Memorial Library
Advance registration required and now open via the Westfield Memorial Library’s website
Morticia Addams represents a different kind of woman in television history and in real life. In her various iterations throughout the ‘60s and '90s, Morticia stood as a feminist icon elucidated by her self-defined presence, parenting style, and fierce devotion to herself and family. Join Emma Straus for a discussion about the iconic matriarch of the Addams Family.

Emma Straus is a writer, self-taught photographer, body painter, and creative from New Jersey. Her thesis, Defamiliarizing Gender: Gothic Laughter and Radical Joy in The Addams Family, focused on the revolutionary way the Addams Family subverted traditional gender norms and redefined strangeness in the domestic sphere through finding joy in the frightful. 

Lantern Cemetery Tours at the Presbyterian Church of Westfield
140 Mountain Avenue
Saturday, October 11, and Sunday, October 12, 5:00 - 6:30, running every ten minutes
No tickets or registration required; first come, first served
While other kids his age were out frolicking with friends, a young Charles Addams spent his time hanging out in Westfield's oldest cemetery (of course he did). Take a lantern tour of these historic grounds, hosted by The Presbyterian Church of Westfield. 

The Charles Addams Heritage Trail Tour 
Saturday, October 11, 18, and 25, 11:00 AM
Meet in front of the Rialto Center for Creativity
250 East Broad Street
Advance ticket purchase required; on sale September 26
Charles Addams was just like any other kid who grew up in Westfield in the early 1900s…except when he wasn’t. Step back in time to see the sights of Westfield circa 1920 as you retrace Addams’ steps from his home to school, downtown, and even to the cemetery where he spent his lazy afternoons (we TOLD you he wasn’t exactly like the other kids!).   

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FUN FOR THE WEDNESDAYS AND PUGSLEYS IN ALL OF US

Addams Family Fun Day
Sunday, October 19, 10:00 AM –  2:00 PM 
Downtown Westfield 
No tickets or registration required
Sponsored by Wonder and Atlantic Health Medical Group Primary Care & Women's Health at Westfield
Sponsored, in part, by Oceans Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry and The Union County Board of Commissioners
From Pugsley to Grandmama, there's something fun for everyone at Addams Family Fun Day. Head on over to Quimby Street in Downtown Westfield, which will be closed to cars for a day of family fun -- including Addams Family character visits, pumpkin decorating, music and entertainment by the DJ Spinners, activities with local merchants, and more. Take the festivities a step further and embrace the Femme Fatale theme by dressing as Morticia or Wednesday to receive a limited-edition AddamsFest collectible.

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TICKET & REGISTRATION INFORMATION

All tickets will be sold on addamsfest.com:

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• Wednesday, September 10, 7:00 PM: Registration opens for Haunt Your House (limited to 25 entries in each category).

• Wednesday, September 17, 7:00 PM: Tickets go on sale for Morticia & Gomez’s Masquerade Ball.

• Monday, September 22, 7:00 PM: Tickets go on sale for the Charles Addams Heritage Trail Tour.

• Thursday, September 25, 7:00 PM: First round of Charlie’s Ale Garden tickets go on sale for Westfield residents (ages 21+).

• Tuesday, September 30, 7:00 PM: Second round of Charlie’s Ale Garden tickets go on sale (open to all, ages 21+).

Further details about this year’s line-up, as well as community partner events and additional surprises, will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned as the altogether ooky events continue to unfold on the AddamsFest website (www.addamsfest.com) and social media channels (@addamsfest on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok). For more information on sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, please email info@addamsfest.com.

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AddamsFest is a town-wide celebration, honoring Westfield native Charles Addams and his penchant for the macabre. This destination event of the season will take place throughout October and includes family-friendly events, lectures, exhibits, and more. 
For more information, visit www.addamsfest.com, or follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (@addamsfest).