The story
Neewollah in Independence
Neewollah, Halloween spelled backward, is a ten-day festival held each October in Independence, Kansas, that began in 1919. The citys population swells from under nine thousand to over sixty thousand during the celebration, which includes three parades, a chili cook-off, a hometown musical, and a Queen Neelah pageant.
Neewollah began in 1919 in Independence, Kansas, created explicitly to give children and teenagers positive activities to replace the destructive Halloween pranks that had become a problem in the community, an origin story that ties the festival directly to the broader early twentieth-century movement across America to tame Halloween mischief through organized civic celebration.