Every Halloween Beacon Hill residents dress in costume, streets are barricaded and houses that have been elaborately adorned in festive decor offer trick or treaters candy.

The neighborhoodwide enthusiasm for the holiday, however, is not upheld by direction or requirement from a specific organization, but rather by the voluntary participation of its residents year in and year out.

According to Hillary Gabrielli, who lives on Louisburg Square, the Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA) has only a minor role in the planning of the festivities each year. “The BHCA is only dealing with the placement and removal of the barricades for safety issues,” she said.

Beginning in the late afternoon on the day of Halloween, the BHCA sets barricades at the beginning and end of Mount Vernon and Pinckney Streets, to allow children and adults to wander safely.

In addition to residents wandering the streets on Halloween, tours are also provided. Tour group company Boston By Foot has been hosting the “Beacon Hill with a BOO!” tour for over 30 years, and it remains their most popular tour offered. Attendees can experience all the magic the neighborhood has to offer, “to walk to the dark side on All Hallow’s Eve.”