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Fall traditions from fantasy football to freaky 5Ks bring Charlotte together

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Charlotte is full of unexpected surprises, and you may not have to go far to find them. That’s what I discovered recently, when my husband pointed out a giant leaderboard posted a few blocks from where we live.

The 8-foot or so high sign included bizarre phrases and objects, like:

“I’ve got a colonoscopy,” accompanied by a realistic looking 3D gloved purple hand.

“Peyton” scrawled across a fanny pack next to a couple of Bud Light cans.

And “Milk Maiden” in an Iron Maiden font, wedged between real metal buckets that appear to be pouring actual milk on the ground.

I learned it’s all part of a spirited neighborhood tradition: a 4-year old fantasy football league in a South Charlotte cul-de-sac.

A close-up shot of a tall, white wooden post in a yard, which serves as a humorous, multi-part sign. Numbered planks from 4 to 13 are attached horizontally, each with a different joke or theme. Notable planks include number 8, which has a fanny pack labeled “Peyton” holding a Bud Light can on artificial turf, and number 9, a white cutout plank reading “I’ve Got A... Colonoscopy” with a purple-gloved hand holding a medical tool.
Bragging rights in this Charlotte neighborhood’s Fantasy Football league are very visible thanks to a large leaderboard that’s updated weekly. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

It turns out, there are neighborhoods all over Charlotte with their own cool fall traditions. Some have been around for a while, and others are brand new.

Here’s a look at a few of the intriguing things that local folks have come up with around the city.

SOUTH CHARLOTTE

Pensford Lane Fantasy Football League

Location: Pensford Lane, Charlotte

Are you ready for some football?

“Midnight Carpet Installers: A Pensford Lane Fantasy Football League” takes its name from the time a mysterious moving truck inexplicably arrived in the middle of the night to install carpet in a neighbor’s house that had just gone on the market. The league name has stuck, with the original For Sale sign for that freshly-carpeted property serving as the league trophy.

But every year there’s a different theme inspiring the fantasy football teams. This year’s 14 names come from many of the one-liners used in a goofy Super Bowl LIX beer ad, set in a cul-de-sac, that ran last February.

The competition is a fun way for neighbors of all ages to connect, said David Campbell, who serves as league commissioner. Neighbors gather throughout the season for an official draft party, to catch occasional games together and to watch the Super Bowl.

A full shot of a tall, white, wooden, homemade sign standing in the front yard of a house. The sign serves as a humorous fantasy football league ranking, with numbers 1 through 16 listed vertically. Various decorated and themed wooden planks are attached horizontally, each representing a different team or rank, featuring jokes and names like “HOA,” “Colonoscopy,” “Corner Back Yard,” and “LAST INVITED.” A smaller green sign at the bottom identifies the league as the “MIDNIGHT CARPET INSTALLERS” and “A FENSTERD LANE FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE.”
Neighbors in Pensford Lane’s Midnight Carpet Installers Fantasy Football League not only compete with their player picks, they go all out creating signs for the leaderboard. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

“We’re really blessed to be in a neighborhood that feels and shapes their own community, as opposed to just a generic ‘hi,’’’ Campbell said.

With three kids, ranging in age from 1 to 7, he said he and his wife know they can count on neighbors, no matter the circumstance.

“We’re always doing something, or somebody needs to be rushed to the hospital or we need a quick babysitter for a minute or something. And the number of times I’ve just texted the group thread and been like, “Can anybody watch the kids?” or even, ‘Hey — it seems so cliché — does anyone have three eggs?’ We’ll pass ingredients over the fence lines and stuff.”

“Whatever else is happening in the world,” he said, “you feel comfortable on your street, which is special.”

Halloween trail

Location: 6610 Pensford Lane, Charlotte, NC 28270

Open to the public:

  • Saturday Oct. 25, 6-8:30 p.m. — Opening night includes a neighborhood party with food trucks, a costume parade, and jack-o-lantern carving contest.
  • Friday, Oct. 31 (Halloween) from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 1, 6-8:30 p.m.

Just a few houses down from the Fantasy Football League home base, another lively tradition started 25 years ago.

Mark Barden, a retired United Methodist pastor, spends about two months each fall prepping his yard for the Halloweenunted Trail. It was on hiatus from 2011 to 2022, when he got transferred to an out-of-state location for work.

When he retired and returned to the neighborhood in 2023, neighbors asked if the Halloween trail was coming back.

“And I said, ‘Of course it is,’” Barden recently told CharlotteFive. “And just think about this: I’ve had 12 more years to collect stuff.”

A wide shot of a suburban house’s front yard, extensively decorated for Halloween at dusk. The lawn is filled with a variety of spooky figures, including scarecrows and ghouls, some lit with red lights. On the right, a large witch figure is mounted on the house above a window, which glows with green light. In the foreground by the driveway, a tall orange pole next to the mailbox is covered in climbing skeletons, and a small ghost figure rises from a flower bed.
The Halloweenunte Trail first started 25 years ago in this South Charlotte neighborhood. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

The hundreds of items he’s amassed now fill two storage units, floor to ceiling, he said.

“The kids just love it, and it’s sort of become a tradition in the neighborhood … What’s fun is that some of those that came in the early years, like 25 years ago, they’re bringing their kids,” Barden said with a laugh.

The number of visitors varies year to year, but about 100-150 people usually come through on Halloween night.

Barden redesigns the trail layout every year and adds new features, too. This year, that includes a towering two-story green Elphaba witch.

A wide shot of a large Halloween decoration of a witch mounted on the side of a house. The witch has green skin, a wide smile, a tall pointed black hat, and a long black dress, and is holding a black broomstick. It is positioned above a large window on the home’s light gray siding.
This two-story smiling Elphaba is the newest addition to the Halloween Trail at the South Charlotte home of Mark Barden and his wife. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

“I got inspired by ‘Wicked,’” said Barden, who enjoys the creative challenge of cheaply sourcing objects or using found items to make new wonders along the trail.

Those include black painted pool noodles turned into giant candles, spiderwebs made from eerie spray-painted branches and even a flying saucer made from the cowl on the fan of an old industrial air conditioner.

This year, you can expect ghosts, animatronic pirates and even a dragon or two. Visitors are welcome, Barden said, as long as they stay on the trail.

A wide shot of a man in denim overalls standing in a yard and looking at a large, illuminated, inflatable Halloween decoration. The decoration features a white ghost sitting on top of a large orange pumpkin. The yard, pictured at dusk, is also decorated with smaller, light-up pumpkins and is surrounded by trees.
Halloweenunte Trail creator Mark Barden watches as one of his oldest inflatable decorations, first used 25 years ago, fills up with air in preparation for the annual festivities he hosts at his home in South Charlotte. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

EAST CHARLOTTE

Tiny House Concert Series

Location: For information on upcoming performances, email sarakay05@gmail.com.

Over on Charlotte’s east side, Sara Kay and Conor Mooney wanted to find a way to combine their love of live music, the great outdoors and welcoming community. They came up with a new concert series, using the tiny house they recently installed in their backyard.

It’s got a wooden deck that their neighbor built for them, which the Mooneys realized looked a lot like a stage. Taking inspiration from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, they launched their own Tiny House Concert Series.

A wide shot of an intimate backyard concert, where a man sits on a stool on a low wooden deck, playing an acoustic guitar. He is performing in front of a gray tiny house, with speakers, a string of pennant flags, and pumpkins decorating the small “stage.” An audience of adults and children, seen from behind, sits in camping chairs on the grass, watching the performance.
Singer-songwriter Jacob Early performs at a recent Tiny House Concert in East Charlotte. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

“We needed something to look forward to,” Sara Kay Mooney said. “We have a lot of talented musician friends so we thought, gosh, why not tap our friends and see if they’re up for it. And it just kind of fell into place.”

So far they’ve hosted two concerts with guests including neighbors, colleagues, friends from their kids’ school, folks from church, old college friends, friends of friends and others.

That’s exactly the mix they were hoping for. About 50 people attended the most recent concert, featuring singer-songwriter Jacob Early.

Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

And the events are intentionally family friendly. Children and teens run around the yard — playing basketball and soccer in the front, jumping on the trampoline and playing on a swing set in the back. Kids and adults enjoy the music from blankets and folding chairs they’ve brought with them, getting up now and then to chat with someone, grab a drink or a bite to eat.

“It is really hard to see live music when you have little children,” Sara Kay Mooney said. “It gets really expensive really fast when you’re factoring in not only tickets for an event, but a sitter, and we wanted something that was kid-friendly. And that is what we have tonight … kids all over, and that’s part of the whole vibe of just making it family-friendly and bringing that other additional energy to the mix.”

That informal, come-as-you-are ambiance is something you don’t typically find in more traditional concert venues, she added. There’s no cover charge for the Tiny House concerts, but tips for the artist are encouraged.

“The tiny house was definitely a bigger financial investment for us, and when we got it we really wanted to use it to lean into our core value of hospitality,” Sara Kay Mooney said. “I think if we didn’t have that, this wouldn’t have happened. And so I think that’s been something like, Hey! Let’s use this space to bless others and to be joined in community.”

A wide shot of an intimate backyard concert at dusk. A man plays an acoustic guitar on a small deck in front of a gray tiny house, while an audience of adults and children watches from lawn chairs and blankets on the grass. In the left foreground, two women stand and talk, facing away from the performer.
Guests of all ages are welcome at the Tiny House Concert Series in East Charlotte. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

Elizabeth neighborhood

The Great Elizabeth Pumpkin Wall

Location: 2017 Greenway Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204

The Great Elizabeth Pumpkin Wall is back for its 21st year. Neighbors display dozens of pumpkins at this special annual event.

The official lighting is open to the public and takes place on Oct. 26 at 6:45 p.m. The wall is located on the front lawn of a private home, so organizers ask visitors to be respectful.

Each year a special theme word is unveiled at the lighting. Past years have highlighted illuminated words like “Together,” “Earth” and “Vote.” The wall stays up and is lit every evening through Halloween night.

A wide, nighttime shot of a large wooden shelving unit filled with glowing, carved pumpkins. Above the display, a large blue sign illuminated with lights spells out the word “LOVE.” The top row of pumpkins is carved with individual letters, spelling out “SPELLINGS.” The rows below feature a variety of jack-o’-lanterns with different faces and designs. An “LSU” pumpkin is visible on the far left.
The Great Elizabeth Pumpkin Wall will light up on Oct. 26 for this 21st annual Halloween neighborhood tradition. Shown here is the 2015 display. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

WEST CHARLOTTE

JCSU Golden Bulls Football

Location: Irwin Belk Complex, 500 N Summit Ave, Charlotte, NC 28216

There’s more than a century of history behind Johnson C. Smith University’s football team. And this year, the Golden Bulls are nationally ranked in Division 2 play. A couple home games remain this season, including: Saturday, Oct. 25, when the team plays Winston Salem State University, and Saturday, Nov. 8, when it plays longtime rivals Livingstone College.

In fact, JCSU’s very first game (when the school was known as Biddle University) took place against Livingstone way back in 1892. These days, fans enjoy pre-game tailgating, cheers led by the Luv-a-Bulls and halftime shows featuring the university marching band, the International Institution of Sound.

Historic West End ArtWalk

Location: Starts and ends at Five Points Plaza, 1803 W Trade St, Charlotte, NC 28216

If you’re up for a crisp fall day walk and enjoy public art, check out an ArtWalks CLT tour. The nonprofit has mapped out 29 different ArtWalks and Art Trails across Charlotte.

The Historic West End ArtWalk features sculptures and murals by numerous artists, including many accomplished Charlotte-based creators, such as Georgie Nakima, Lo’Vonia Parks, Abel Jackson, T’Afo Feimster and Marcus Kiser. More than a dozen works of art can be discovered through the self-guided tour.

A wide, eye-level shot of a long, colorful street mural on a concrete retaining wall, set on a sunny day. The mural features realistic portraits of several African American men, including some in suits and one in a lab coat, alongside imagery like a white bus, all on a vibrant, abstract background. The wall is bordered by a low hedge and a road in the foreground, with dense green trees above.
This mural by artist Abel Jackson is part of Charlotte’s Historic West End ArtWalk. It features images of Charles Jones, a national civil rights activist, attorney and community leader who lived in the Biddleville neighborhood. Liz Rothaus Bertrand CharlotteFive

NoDa

NoDa Freaky 5K

Location: Race starts and finishes at the NoDa Company Store, 3221 Yadkin Ave., Charlotte, NC US 28205

The NoDa neighborhood goes all in for Halloween festivities, including a 5K run on Saturday, Oct. 25, a house-decorating contest and a candy crawl.

The NoDa Freaky 5K takes place at 5 p.m., and participants are encouraged to run in costume. Prizes are awarded for the best Halloween costumes and fastest runners. The race is intended for all levels of runners and welcomes families, friends and even well-trained, leashed dogs to the fun. You can still register up until race day at the NoDa Company Store.

A dynamic, eye-level shot of a group of people participating in a costume race on a paved street. The runners are wearing a variety of costumes, including a ringmaster, a man in a green dress with a red wig, a circus strongman, a woman in a black leotard walking two dogs, Jessie from Toy Story, a scary clown, and a woman in a pirate wench costume. All participants, wearing race bibs, are in motion, running down the street.
At the NoDa Freaky 5K, awards go to the fastest runners and the ones with the best costumes. Courtesy of NoDa Neighborhood and Business Association

What are we missing? We’d love to know the neighborhood traditions you’re looking forward to this fall and winter. Email charlottefive@charlottefive.com with your favorite upcoming events.

Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.

This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Follow More of Our Reporting on Uniquely Charlotte

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Liz Rothaus Bertrand

The Charlotte Observer

Liz Rothaus Bertrand is an award-winning writer based in Charlotte, NC. She writes frequently about the arts, food, travel, education and social justice. You can find her on Instagram @tournesol74.

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