An inaugural Halloween convention takes over Mohegan Sun this weekend, packing more than 145,000 square feet of the Earth Expo & Convention Center in Uncasville with vendors, a scare zone, a paranormal artifact museum and a somber exhibit tied to Connecticut's first witchcraft execution. The New England Halloween Fest runs Saturday and Sunday, transforming the usually ordinary convention hall into what organizers are billing as a fully indoor Halloween wonderland.
According to halloweennewengland.com, the festival is designed as a fully indoor event, with specialty vendors selling Halloween decor, collectibles and themed merchandise alongside scheduled movie screenings, themed panels and animatronic displays. The site also describes it as an all-ages event with free parking. As the Hartford Courant reports, organizers are positioning the gathering as an annual convention, with this weekend marking its first run.
Scare Zones, Pumpkin Carving and a Custom Guillotine
Mohegan Sun's own event listing notes the festival offers over 145,000 square feet of festive fun, according to mohegansun.com, which also confirms tickets are on sale now. Inside, visitors will find a walk-through scare zone maze and a pumpkin patch filled with spectacular carvings, plus live pumpkin carving demonstrations from Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, per the festival's own things-to-do page. A selfie area built around a custom Halloween throne and guillotine was created by Connecticut FX artist Tyler Green, who appeared on Syfy's Face Off Season 6 and its All-Stars edition, according to the Hartford Courant's reporting.
The weekend also includes two separate costume contests, one for kids and one for adults, the festival's site notes. A paranormal museum featuring dozens of haunted artifacts rounds out the lineup, with collector John Zaffis — nephew of Ed and Lorraine Warren — bringing over 30 of his most haunted items, according to newenglandhalloweenfest.com.
Celebrity Guests From Wednesday and The Craft
Festival organizers have lined up appearances by celebrities tied to Halloween-themed films and television, per the Hartford Courant. Isaac Ordonez, known for playing Pugsley Addams in Netflix's Tim Burton-directed Wednesday, is set to appear, alongside Rachel True, who played Rochelle in The Craft. True is expected to offer limited VIP tarot readings and one-card readings at her table, along with autographs and selfies, drawing on the True Heart Intuitive Tarot deck she created, the Courant reports.
A 1647 Execution Remembered in Uncasville
Among the festival's more somber offerings is an immersive Witch History Museum exhibit dedicated to Alse Young of Windsor, Connecticut, according to the same newenglandhalloweenfest.com page. Alse Young was the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in the 13 colonies, according to connecticuthistory.org, which notes she was hanged at Meeting House Square in Hartford on May 26, 1647, at what is now the site of the Old State House. The same account notes that witchcraft was punishable by death in Connecticut starting in 1642 and remained listed as a capital crime until 1715. The Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries' history of the colony's witch trials notes that the underlying laws drew on the legal codes of Massachusetts Bay and England, as well as specified Old Testament scriptures.
Planning a Visit
Per Patch's weekend roundup, the New England Halloween Fest runs Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event takes place at the Earth Expo & Convention Center at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, with free parking included for attendees, according to halloweennewengland.com.
