Trick or treat! Halloween is next Thursday, and on Martha’s Vineyard events large and small are planned around the Island for kids and adults alike.

Some towns begin this weekend. On Saturday, the Oak Bluffs Association will host a costume parade and contest outside the Island Theatre with registration from noon to 2 p.m. There will also be mini-pumpkin decorating and tarot card readings. A dog costume contest will be held from noon to 2 p.m. at the visitor booth at the foot of Circuit avenue. A short distance away, the Strand Theatre will be showing spooky movies throughout the day.

“Because the streets are not all conducive and because there are so many seasonal residents, it’s not easy to go door-to-door,” said Billie Jean Sullivan, executive director of the Oak Bluffs Association. “It’s outside, it’s safe, it’s a good way to get to know each other. And the costumes are fantastic.”

On Saturday, the Oak Bluffs Parent Teacher Organization will host “trunk or treating” at Washington Park from 3 to 5 p.m. And on Halloween day, trick or treaters are welcome along Vineyard avenue from Norris avenue to Dukes County avenue from 4 to 8 p.m. The police and fire departments will both be on hand to direct traffic and hand out candy.

Vineyard Haven will also get spooky this week. By long tradition William street is the Vineyard’s unofficial center for trick or treating, where residents go all out for families and children. The Martha’s Vineyard Museum, the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and the Vineyard Haven Public Library will also host trick or treating this year, while a puppet parade will begin at the Mansion House at 4 p.m. and go down Main Street. Martha’s Vineyard Screenprinting Co. will host a haunted house with kid-friendly frights from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and more serious frights later in the evening. The haunted house raises money for the Tisbury fire department.

In Edgartown, Halloween also starts early, with downtown businesses offering candy to trick or treaters Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We see a really good crowd and everyone enjoys themselves. A lot of the business owners dress up,” said Erin Ready, executive director of Edgartown Board of Trade. “The Edgartown police department are at the bottom of Main street. They usually have a very impressive candy bar spread, too.”