Halloween is not this coming Friday, but the next, and there's a lot going on in the neighborhood, with events galore leading up to the big spooky night. In the interest of giving you plenty of time to prepare, we've got all you need to know to make your pre-Halloween plans.
As we noted last week, the Academy of Sciences hosts its SuperNatural Halloween party on this Friday, October 24th. Tickets are $50 for adults and $35 for kids, with $5 off for members, the festivities include live animals, magic shows, face painting and a giant pumpkin carving.
Saturday marks the 9th annual Children's Halloween Hootenanny, presented by Haight Ashbury Street Fair. It goes down in the skate park next to Kezar Pavilion from 11am-4pm. There will be a bouncy house, art, face painting, costume contest, raffle and more. This year's theme is Alien/Sci Fi, so plan accordingly. It's for ages three and up, and, as their Facebook event notes, it is "FREE FREE FREE," so families with small children will want to make this a weekend pit stop.
On Sunday from 11pm-5pm, you can go pumpkin-picking indoors at Second Act's Halloween Pumpkin Party presented by Eatwell Farms. Eatwell Farmers will be on hand selling pumpkins for carving, and fellow Second Act venders Raw and Anda Piroshki will each feature a pumpkin specialty item on their menu using Eatwell Farms’ pumpkins. Ice Box will also have spiced pumpkin soft serve on offer, plus face-painting and a gorey makeup tutorial to help your prep for your Halloween look.
This one has a $20 VIP option via Sosh, and if you go for it, you'll get your own pumpkin for carving and your choice of a Bourbon Pumpkin Cocktail from Alembic or raw organic pumpkin juice. It should also be noted that Crepe La Vie, Second Act's newest vender, has added a seasonal sweet crêpe of homemade butternut jam, lemon, and rum to its menu.
Next week's Academy of Sciences Night Life on Thursday, October 30th will join forces with the Bay Area Science Festival to make things extra spooky. Peaches Christ will judge the costume contest, and you can also expect to touch organs, learn about the zombie apocalypse, and generally "discover the science and spectacle behind vampires, zombies and other creatures that go bump in the night." 21+, $12 tickets at this link, and the fun starts at 6pm.
On Halloween night (next Friday), the bars will all be open, but so far the only one with a scheduled costume party is Milk Bar. The cover for that is $20, and it begins at 8pm. Martin Macks told us they might have a party, but they had no details as of this writing. We'll get back to you if we hear more on that front.
Or, you could hang with real ghosts at Trax, which as you may know, is supposedly haunted.
There will be no Friday Nights at the De Young on Halloween night, but the event will be back in action on November 7th.
What are your plans for Halloween in the neighborhood? What are your favorite and least favorite parts of Halloween in the Haight? And do tell: what creative costumes are in the works for this year? (Bonus points if your costume is Haight-themed.) Let us know your thoughts on this year's upcoming Halloween in the comments.
