We Had It So Good: Candy, Costumes and a Little “Thriller”
A look back at Halloween 2016 at the White House. We had it so good. No worries, no foul language or divide just wholesome trick or treating with such a great man leading our country.
Ten years ago, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed local schoolchildren and children from military families for an evening of trick-or-treating at the White House.
The October 31, 2016 celebration was built around an official “A Storybook Journey” theme, turning the White House grounds into stations inspired by Mother Goose, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and Peter Rabbit. More than 4,000 visitors were expected to attend that year.
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Halloween 2016 at the White House
Revisit the Obama White House Halloween celebration, from storybook decorations to candy and a ‘Thriller’ dance.
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Along the route, trick-or-treaters received White House Hershey’s Kisses, M&Ms, cookies, fruit bars, kettle corn, assorted candy and even baseball cards featuring presidential dogs Bo and Sunny. The point was simple: for one night, the formal machinery of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue gave way to candy, costumes and kids having fun.
The day also included a local-student flash mob to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, led by the Joy of Motion Dance Company. In remarks at the event, Obama joked with parents about candy and the inevitable sugar rush before the music kicked in.
Barack and Michelle Obama Join the Halloween Dancing
A second video from the 2016 celebration captures more of the dancing from the White House Halloween festivities.
That Halloween came during the final months of the Obama administration — and it would be Barack and Michelle Obama’s final Halloween at the White House. The administration itself described 2016 as its eighth and final White House holiday season, giving these images an unmistakable end-of-an-era quality a decade later. The Halloween event itself, though, was centered on local children, military families and a deliberately playful break from the usual formality of the building.
Halloween 2016 at the White House in Photos
A gallery from the October 31, 2016 White House Halloween celebration.
The evening was part neighborhood trick-or-treat stop, part full-scale White House production — storybook sets outside, costumed families moving through the grounds and an administration willing to let the building get a little silly for one night.
Watch Halloween 2016 at the White House
The Obama White House’s 1:23 recap revisits the October 31 trick-or-treat celebration and its costumed crowd.
Source: Obama White House Archive / The Obama White House on YouTube. Lead image: ABC News. Gallery images: The Obama White House / YouTube.
