Come Out and Play 💀 Here is the RVAMAG HALLOWEEK Guide 2023

It’s the week of the best holiday in the Universe and there’s sooo much to do! We want to keep you away from choice paralysis and help you deal with the inevitable FOMO that comes from too many things to do. Here’s a list of all the things you’ll miss (minus the few you do attend)! We hope this guide helps you as much as we felt obligated to write it 🙂!

Let’s just assume if there’s a bar, there’s a Halloween party. We’re not going to list them all here but here are some of the more unique, hype, cute, or antisocial options we have this year. Enjoy!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 26TH

6PM – 9PM Triple Crossing Presents… The Unhappy Hour at the Poe Museum. So, the Poe Museum always has the inside track on Halloween because Edgar Allen Poe and shit. It’s like having a Christmas Party at Santa’s house. TBT El Gallo will be serving up spooky (not really, just regular) tacos in the parking lot and The Embalmers will be surf/psych rocking at you while you haunt the garden like the good little ghoulie that you are.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27TH

ALL DAMN WEEKEND Kabana Rooftop Yo, these cats got the spirit for real. Their run of fun starts Friday night with their Tower of Terror costume party and keeps the faith through Sundays 1PM HallowQueen Drag Brunch and later that night when they turn it up for the RVA Purge! So, bring that neighbor that’s been annoying you all year and, well, the rest is up to you. Nah! Not that kind of purge, you sicko. There’ll be another costume contest for you to win (You’ve got this! Dracula is totally original) at their wild, no-holds barred DJ party.

4PM Halloween Bar Crawl – For those with stamina and purpose, smeared costume makeup and a broken heel or two, here’s the event for you! Mainly taking place on the Main Drag and Carytown, this bar crawl isn’t for the faint of heart. NY Deli, 3 Monkeys, Barrio Taqueria, City Beach, Barvina, District 5, Social 52 and the mighty Sticky Rice make up the participating venues. There’s a $1000 best costume prize at the afterparty Saturday at NY Deli too! Only downside is that the odds of running into your ex are pretty damn high. Nightmare Before Christmas on the couch instead?

5:30PM Squirrel-O-Ween at the Diamond I promise to get back to the boozery I should be writing about but this one is pretty chill and you’ll like it. The Squirrels are hosting an on-field family-friendly party for all the kids and the childlike, complete with trick or treating, hayrides, games, music, costume contests and more. “And more” could mean anything, so come prepared for cupcakes or the release of rabid dogs in the infield. I don’t know. They weren’t specific.

9PM – 2AM GWAR Bar Halloween Party and Costume Contest Probably the most no-brainer thing on this list. Next week: “What did you do this weekend for Halloween?” Loudly, so your crush can hear “I went to the motherfucking GWAR costume party Bohab! You hear that? With GWAR!” Then kick something over for effect. Seriously, unhinged fantasies aside, how GWAR doesn’t host THE annual costume contest people come from Japan and Antarctica for is beyond me. If you’re reading this Derks, ahem, we’re available for event production. Just sayin…

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH

1:00PM Richmond Zombie Walk (meetup at the Boat Lake at Byrd Park) Another Richmond institution that just seems appropriate after all the Walking Dead filming we’ve been doing here. Judges will be awarding prizes for best costumes in categories as varied as Most Disgusting, Best Kid, Best Couple/Group, and Zombie of the Year. If you don’t have the patience to put a costume together, it’s great people watching from the Carytown sidelines too.

12PM – 2PM Fat Rabbit Bakery’s Puppy Costume Party What I’m sure will be the cutest party of the season, Fat Rabbit is hosting the knockdown, drag-out monster mash of them all Saturday afternoon (I’m sure it’ll be pretty chill actually). Your pet can finally make you some dough as Fat Rabbit will be giving out a $15 gift card to the human whose doggo’s got the best ‘fit. I’m allergic and I’m still considering showing up for this.

12PM – 6PM Hog on the Hill at Libbie Park Before you get all faded at one of the many throwdowns in the city on Saturday, gorge yourself on some delicious BBQ from RVA’s most notorious pig pickers Alamo BBQ, Inner City Blues, and the Church Hill BBQ while taking in the music of Gayle McGhee and the Nocturnes, Los Alacranes, The Soul Providers, Lil Ronnie and the Grand Dukes, and the Bart Chucker Band. This is a great opportunity to dress as a zombie and eat real sloppy. Extra sauce! Freak out the children and such.

ALL DAY HarvestFest Meets Día De Los Muertos at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Now listen up, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill pumpkin patch affair. It’s a full-on cultural extravaganza. Nestled within the lush landscape of Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, this event fuses fall aesthetics with Día de los Muertos traditions in a day-long celebration that’s dripping with vibes and grooves. Entry? A mere pittance, included with regular Garden admission.

9PM The Park’s Big Ass Costume Party Big ass optional, costume preferred! It is what it says it is homies. It’s big, there’ll be plenty of dancing asses, and they’ll be in costumes. The Park has a huuuuge space with entertaining options like, bar, club, duckpin bowling, another bar, mini-golf, virtual golf, Volkswagen Golf, yet ANOTHER bar, your mom, and probably 14 other things I’m forgetting to include here.

7PM – 1AM Halloween at the Hofheimer It’s the costume encouraged dance party at the Hof! You knew it was coming so go ahead and get that last minute costume! Sexy Cat? D*** in a Box? Guy Who Waited Too Long to Pick Out a Costume? All are welcome to shake your tail feathers (literally if possible) and enjoy The Hof’s sick DJ’s on their multi-level dancefloors. There’ll be snacks. That last reason is probably the best one. Entry is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Do the math. Buy tickets now.

8PM – 12PM Barbie Dream House Halloween at Quirk Hotel Now for something a little different, a lot pinker, and a shade more fabulous. Barbies, Kens, and even Skippers are invited to break out their Pepto-colored digs and sip cocktails in the lobby restaurant/club/lounge of Quirk, one of Richmond’s most pinkies-out establishments with a sense of humor. There’ll be the usual drinks, food, class, and swag but with added DJ’s and glitter.

TUESDAY, HALLOWEEN NITE!

7PM All The Saints Theater Company presnts the 18th Annual Halloween Parade Come traumatize the children in the presence of all the zombies, monsters, characters and “slutty” versions of pretty much anything imaginable at the 18th edition of the RIchmond classic. Meet us all at Monroe and Park and begin the funereal march with hundreds of your neighbors through the city. Mummies and Deadies welcome! (Sorry, I had to.)

Afternoon/Evening Halloween on Hanover Another tradition worth keeping, Hanover Ave has been the magnet destination for trick or treaters from all over the city. So many decorations, spooky lights, and I hear they got them full size Snickers too. Once your hangover from the weekend abates, take your nieces and nephews out for some door-to-door begging. I like to dress up as a Jehovah’s Witness and just trick the whole time. “Got you now! Haha, thought I wanted candy didn’t you?!”