Indy Pride has sold out its first-ever Halloween party before it even happens. Scream, Queens! Pride Night is set for Friday at Newfields, folded into the museum's Harvest Nights light festival, with all 400 tickets claimed at $25 apiece for a night of drag performances, local music, dancing and a costume contest.
The sellout marks a new fundraising push for Indy Pride, according to WISH-TV, which reported on the event. Indy Pride operates programs throughout the year, not just during June Pride Month, a point organizers have been eager to stress as they expand beyond their traditional summer festival calendar.
A Horror-Movie Homage With Local Roots
Alex Richardson described the event as a creative homage to horror movies, celebrating the campy, ridiculous elements of the genre, per the station's report. Richardson also framed Halloween as a fun time for the community to dress up and be authentic in public, appearing on News 8 alongside Jennifer Carruthers to discuss the event. Costumes are welcome at Scream, Queens! but are not required, the same account notes.
Judging the costume contest will be Ciara Myst, a RuPaul's Drag Race alumna. Ciara Myst is the stage name of Ryan Straut, an Indianapolis-based drag performer and prosthetic makeup artist who competed on Season 18 of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2026 and previously served as board president of Indy Drag Theatre from 2022 to 2024, according to Mirror Indy. The event also features drag performances, according to Indy Pride.
Illuminated Gardens as the Backdrop
Scream, Queens! takes place at Newfields, 4000 N. Michigan Road. The party is embedded within the museum's seventh annual Harvest Nights, which runs from Sept. 25 through Nov. 1 and features tens of thousands of jack-o'-lanterns and 50 oversized handmade mushrooms arranged in a Fungi Forest, according to Newfields.
Newfields partnered with Indy Pride on the event, and ticket holders receive complimentary admission to Harvest Nights as part of the deal, per Indy Pride. T-Mobile contributed through a volunteer grant program, and those partnerships helped keep ticket prices accessible, the station reports. Jennifer Carruthers said Newfields enabled reduced-price event tickets while attendees could also experience Harvest Nights the same night.
Newfields and Indy Pride have also teamed up on a shadow-cast drag performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show hosted by local drag performers Halle Pino and Lola Palooza, according to Newfields.
Prizes, Proceeds and a Three-Decade History
Costume contest winners will receive VIP tickets to Indy Pride's next festival, per the station's report. Indy Pride separately confirms that winners get an Indy Pride swag box along with two VIP passes to the 2027 Indy Pride Festival, scheduled for June 11-13, 2027.
Event proceeds will support Indy Pride's mission, and the organization has leaned on that kind of fundraising. One such effort is the Indy Pride 500 drive, which seeks 500 contributors to give $500 each toward a $250,000 goal for year-round advocacy, programming and events, according to Indy Pride.
That year-round work includes the Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives, which began in 1993 and became a reality in 1995; it opened to the public and was permanently displayed at Central Library in 2019. The organization itself began in 1995 as coordinator of the city's annual Pride festival and received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 1997, building on public LGBTQ+ gatherings in Indianapolis: the first LGBTQ+ event in a public space was held in June 1988, while Celebration on the Circle at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument took place in 1990, according to Wikipedia.
For those not attending Scream, Queens!, Harvest Nights remains open through Nov. 1, with Indiana Access Pass cardholders able to purchase discounted $5 tickets and children five and younger admitted free, according to Indy's Child.
