EBS STAFF
This weekend, from Oct. 24 to 26, Big Sky Town Center will present the ninth annual Haunted Peaks Halloween Festival.
Intended for all ages, the three-day festival has numerous events including the Skull and Roses Ball hosted by the Arts Council of Big Sky, horror film showings, a 5K haunted run, a Dia de los Muertos celebration, a costume pub crawl, and the Mini Monster Mash kids party with costume and pumpkin carving competitions.
“It’s hard to believe we are celebrating 9 years of Haunted Peaks this season,” Erik Morrison, event organizer with Love Street Media and Big Sky Town Center, stated in an email to EBS. He recalled the event’s beginning, back in 2017, sparked by Sally and Scott Fisher of Lone Peak Cinema, Anna Husted, Leslie Kilgore, Shawna Winter and Morrison, who worked to build a small Halloween block party around the cinema’s horror movie festival.
“The community loved it, so we kept doing it and looking for fun and interesting ways to collaborate with community partners and get them involved. Today the Haunted Peaks is a legit three-day Halloween festival for all ages packed with lots of smaller activities scheduled around our cornerstone events,” Morrison stated, listing some of this year’s highlights.
The festival begins on Friday night at 8 p.m. at The Waypoint with the Skull and Roses Ball, featuring Helena-based Grateful Dead cover band 710 Ashbury for two full sets. Costumes are highly encouraged with prizes for Skull and Roses King and Queen, people’s choice, and Best Dead (Grateful Dead referenced) costumes. Tickets are available online or at the door.
On Saturday at noon, runners and walkers can participate in a Haunted Run 5K plus a kids’ fun run at 1:45 p.m. The event, organized by Moving Mountains Fitness, includes a block party, costume parade and prizes awarded to the top finisher, best group costume, best individual costume, and for kids, most creative and best homemade costume. All proceeds benefit Morningstar Learning Center.
Other Saturday events include live music performances from Brian Stumpf and DJ Swamp Moose, a costume pub crawl and kids Halloween party, a Halloween Party at Tips Up, annual ceremonial Big Sky Witches Dance, Yappy Hour—a costume party for pets and people with proceeds benefitting Big Sky RUFF to support Big Sky’s new animal hospital and shelter—and special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Waypoint.
Sunday festivities begin with the Dia de los Muertos celebration, hosted by the arts council with live music, parades, traditional cuisine and other activities from noon to 7 p.m.
Finally, local high school students will perform “The Addams Family” on Sunday at 3 and 6:30 p.m. at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available online.
More details and the full schedule of events is available on the Haunted Peaks webpage.
