Halloween Festival returns for 3rd year at Renaissance Center

Release Date: 10/8/2002. Expired: 10/26/2002

Halloween will again present a special celebration at The Renaissance Center with a themed Kids College and Super Saturday.

The 3rd Annual Halloween Festival will be 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, with a full day of traditional activities including trick or treating, hayrides, face painting, Creepy Story contest, Pumpkin Decorating contest and much more. Participants also can record their own karaoke CD in the center’s digital recording studio. Choose from more than 150 titles and come away with your own CD of you singing a favorite song.

“The Halloween Festival has come to be a big event for the community,” said Allison Kruse, coordinator for Super Saturdays. “The festival gives families a fun place to go for free traditional activities as well as a safe place for children to go trick or treating. We use different rooms within the center and the children go door to door collecting treats.”

Children in grades K-8 can enter the Creepy Story and Pumpkin Decorating contests. Prizes will be awarded in two age categories: K-4 and 5-8.

For the Creepy Story contest, stories must be an original work written by the entrant and must be 250 words or less. If handwritten, the entry must be legible. Do not put the student’s name on any page of the story but attach an entry form with the student’s name, grade, age, home phone number, address, school and title of the story. Entry forms are available at The Renaissance Center or at area schools.

Entries in the Pumpkin Decorating contest must not be carved or cut. The pumpkin can be decorated with any medium (i.e. paint, glitter, clothing etc.). An entry form with all of the student’s information should accompany the pumpkin but the student’s name should not appear on the pumpkin in any place.

Entries for both the Creepy Story and Pumpkin Decorating contests can be brought to The Renaissance Center between Tuesday, Oct. 15, and Tuesday, Oct. 22. Entries will be on display during the 3rd Annual Halloween Festival with prizes to be awarded at 5 p.m. Entries must be picked up by Nov. 2.

The activities for the Halloween Festival include:

  • Halloween pictures ($2) in the parking lot 4-6:30 p.m.;
  • Make Your Own CD ($10) in the recording studio 4-6:30 p.m.;
  • Pumpkin painting (free) in N118 beginning at 4 p.m. as long as the pumpkin supply lasts;
  • Face painting (free) in N120 4-6:30 p.m.;
  • Trick or Treat bag decorating (free) in E005 4-6:30 p.m.
  • Hayrides (free) in the field behind the parking lot 4-6:30 p.m.;
  • Halloween videos (free) in the Gaslight Theatre 4-6:30 p.m.;
  • Dark Encounters Investigated marathon (free) in E105 4:30-7 p.m.;
  • Awards for the Creepy Story and Pumpkin Decorating contests in the rotunda at 5 p.m., and;
  • Trick or Treating (free) in rooms of the north wing 6:30-7 p.m.
  • The CyberSphere also gets into the spirit with brand new special Halloween shows.

Fright Light is the new family Halloween laser show and in addition to traditional Halloween music includes special features like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and his rare “Ghost” video along with spectacular laser and video effects. Admission is $6 and Fright Light shows at 3 p.m., 4 p.m. 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The Halloween Ball is a collection of scary music with laser effects and video clips from classic horror movies. The new version of The Halloween Ball features five songs by former Black Sabbath leader Ozzy Osbourne, star of the new hit reality television show The Osbournes on MTV. The Halloween Ball is rated R and admission is $10. It shows at 9 p.m.

For those wanting to finish off their Halloween celebration with a few laughs, the Renaissance Players present the classic comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for children under 13.

Preceding the Halloween Festival is Kids College on Oct. 26. Open to students in grades 1-8, Kids College is a themed activity 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with tuition of $15, which includes lunch.

Activities at the Oct. 26 Kids College will take participants to Camp Renaissance (Ruskin Cave) where there will be a day of special outdoor activities as well as the chance to make a Halloween mask. Advance registration is required for Kids College and participation is limited to 40 students.

For more information on Kids College or Super Saturday, contact Kruse at (615)740-5563. To register for Kids College call (615)740-5533.