Businesses and museums have to change their holiday activities, plus a sampling of events around the region.

Like many venues, Mystic Seaport Museum had to reinvent its Halloween festivities this year.

With the pandemic, gone is the Nautical Nightmares tour where visitors would cluster together and move around the museum's site, going inside various historical buildings to watch scenes from a progressive play. Here instead are activities that include a costume parade and an outdoor jacko'-lantern trail with one-way walking traffic and plenty of room for people to be socially distant.

“There's so much about Halloween this year that I think families are going to be missing out on. I expect a lot of families won't be trick- or- treating,” said Erik Ingmundsen, director of interpretation at Mystic Seaport Museum. “So something like this fills that void a little bit and adds a little bit of magic to a time that a lot of families look forward to.”

He added, “When we sat down and talked about Halloween, we said, ‘Here's what we've got to do: We want to make sure every visitor feels safe, and we want to honor and respect every policy and public health practice that we should. We want to allow people to be social distanced and to be outdoors — it's got to be outside.' ... That's what led us in this direction.”

They devised a multipronged alternative, which includes the Jack- o- Lantern Walk boasting more than 500 jack-o'-lanterns. At the end of the walk, folks can indulge in food, music, lawn games and more. The walk occurs 5:309 p. m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets are $20 for ages 13 and up and $15 for ages 4-12, with discounts for museum members.

On Saturday, Mystic Seaport Museum will host a costume parade starting at 4:30, when people can gather on the museum's Village Green for a socially distanced procession. Admission is free, and everyone gets a treat as they leave.

Last weekend, the museum hosted pumpkin carving sessions.

Mystic Seaport Museum's capacity is 850 people at one time, and as of Tuesday, the Seaport had sold a total of 1,000 Jack- o- Lantern Walk tickets for this week.

And, of course, museum staff members remind visitors to stay 6 feet apart and wear a mask.

Halloween-like experience

At Nature's Art in Oakdale, Pumpkin Place has been renamed Pumpkin Passage so people understand that they will move through things rather than stay in one place. The Halloween trail has been made one-way, and masks are required.

“We did our best to come up with an experience that would lend itself to trick-or-treating and being outside at nighttime, just like you would have on Halloween,” said Eric Murphy, marketing director for Nature's Art.

For the scavenger hunt, dubbed “Punch n' Munch,” kids get a card and walk the trail to look for specific landmarks. The attendant at each landmark punches their card, and, after the kids find all the landmarks, they turn in the card on the way out, getting a bag of candy in return. The candy is prebagged by people who were sanitized and wore personal protective equipment, Murphy said.

“First and foremost is the safety of our guests ... not only that they ARE safe but that they FEEL safe,” he said. He added, “We've definitely incorporated and promoted the activities that will give you that Halloween feeling while maintaining social distance.”

After finishing the trail, visitors can roast marshmallows and watch performers spinning fire. Kids can use an inflatable slide, but there will be an attendant to ensure only one child goes down the slide at any given time. They can try inflatable ax throwing, too, and Murphy said people have to be 6 feet apart in order to hit the targets.

Tickets to “Punch n' Munch” are $24.50 for kids and $20 for adults, and people should wear masks. The event runs 5-9 p.m. Saturday.

An outdoor party

A number of bars and breweries are holding Halloween events that, again, will be a little different this time around.

Niantic Public House usually holds its Halloween party inside, but this year it will be outdoors, where the brewery has been hosting patrons during the summer.

In fact, it will be the last outdoor event before Niantic Public House moves everything indoors for the winter.

Jenn Sakowski, who owns Niantic Public House with husband Todd, noted that this year is a ticketed event so people have a table for the night. The $15 ticket includes a first pint, and people can buy food from Flanders Fish Market, which will be on site.

To add to the Halloween spirit, there will be projections of old-school Halloween movies and Halloween music playing. And, of course, there will be a costume contest. ( Last year, Sakowski recalled, one couple dressed as six- packs, and another group came as the cast of “Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”)

The business did consider not doing a Halloween party this year, but Sakowski says with a laugh, “Our taproom manager is a big Halloween person, so I'm not sure she gave us the option. We certainly canceled a lot of events this year and changed how a lot of events were held.”

During last year's Halloween party, for instance, staff collected food donations and handed out drink tickets at the door. That won't happen this year because they don't want people congregating in any one area.

The event takes place from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday. There are no walk-ins, and social distancing rules apply.