Louisville Bats fans looking for a break from home runs are getting a Halloween lineup this fall: trick-or-treating, carnival games and a movie at Slugger Field on Oct. 2. The Bats Fall Festival runs from 6 to 9 p.m., with tickets priced at $7.50 for anyone three and older, while kids two and under get in free.
The evening packs the concourse with face painting, live music, pumpkin decorating and carnival games before winding down with a screening of the 1995 movie Casper. The night also includes costume contests split into five categories — most creative, scariest, cutest, best duo, and best family or group costume — for guests hoping to take home bragging rights.
More Details Behind the Costumes and the Movie
Per Minor League Baseball, guests will get free parking in the main lot at Main and Jackson streets, and everyone entering under the ballpark's clear bag policy will receive a complimentary trick-or-treat bag. The costume contest is slated for around 7:30 p.m., with winners announced before the crowd settles in for the PG-rated Casper on the Left Field Videoboard.
A Ballpark With Deep Baseball Roots
Slugger Field opened in April 2000 with a seating capacity of 13,131, and its main entrance still runs through the restored former Brinly-Hardy warehouse train shed, according to Wikipedia. The Bats have played as the Cincinnati Reds' Triple-A affiliate in the International League from 2000 to 2020 and again from 2022 onward, with a season in Triple-A East in 2021; the affiliation is the longest active minor league affiliation among teams not owned by the Reds, per Wikipedia.
Louisville's minor league baseball roots run even deeper than the current ballpark. In 1983, the Louisville Redbirds playing at Cardinal Stadium became the first Minor League Baseball team in history to draw more than 1 million fans in a single season, according to Baseball-Reference.
New Ownership, Expanding Off-Field Programming
The Bats have been owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings, a national conglomerate operating dozens of minor league franchises, since the company purchased the team before May 12, 2023, as reported by WHAS11. Team President Greg Galiette has stayed in local leadership under the new ownership.
The ballpark's outdoor videoboard is part of what makes an outdoor movie screening like the Casper showing possible.
Competing With a Bigger Halloween Draw
The region's flagship autumn event, the Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, is set for its first appearance at Kentucky Kingdom this fall.
Slugger Field's off-season programming extends into the holidays too, with a Breakfast with Santa event planned in the team clubhouses on Dec. 12.
