October Novel Prep Challenge

I am sorry, maybe I am jumping the gun here, but the wheels in my head are already churning out ideas, so I really need to ask this question now:

Can our entry for "CONTEST ROUND: Setting Description." have characters in it?

I mean I THINK so, because we have to use the five senses, but I do also know that you can write such description without having a character experiencing the sensations such as in, "your reader experience the setting as if he or she were there."

Also, I put this question here because I thought others might be wondering the same thing.

Thanks for your time and help!

Torie