Join the Band of Others (BOO), a group of artists and friends who share a love of Halloween, at this year’s BOO Ball.
The ball, a glamorous celebration of individuality and ingenuity, was created to bring unique people together against a backdrop of innovative décor, gourmet food and drink and local music, while raising funds for creative causes.
This year’s event, a mid-century masquerade, will be at the Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place, Oct. 30 from 7 p.m. until midnight.
The ball will benefit the library’s acquisition department, which saw its book, magazine, audio book, CD and DVD budget drastically cut in July. Proceeds will be designated to purchase new materials.
This year’s theme is Mad Halloween. Guests are encouraged to deck out like the usual suspects – think Frankenstein, Dorothy, Marie Antoinette, etc. — in skinny ties, beehives and mod-inspired minis.
Tickets are $45 and include two drink tickets and appetizers. For more information, visit www.booballbham.com.
Boo at the Zoo
Put your kids in their costumes and head over to the Birmingham Zoo every Friday, Saturday and Sunday now through Oct. 31 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Boo at the Zoo features 12 nights of rides, fun and games, with seven new attractions for 2010.
Kids can trick or treat down Candy Land Lane, take a ride on the Jurassic Express, get down at the Monster Mash Dance Party or take a bite out of the Gruesome Buffet.
Other annual favorites include the Creepy Crawly Carousel, the Hallowed Hay Ride and Ghoul Skool, where little goblins are taught how to howl like a wolf, rattle chains like a ghost, walk like a monster and cackle like a witch.
Older kids can take part in the Reptile Experience, and everyone can visit with the animals hanging out in the barn.
Tickets are $8, but some activities require tokens that are an additional $3.50. For more information, visit www.birminghamzoo.com.
Halloween in Hoover
Hoover will be hopping with Halloween activities this year.
Check out the Hoover Public Library’s Halloween Hoopla Oct. 26. Children of all ages are invited to come in costume at 6:30 p.m. for games, snacks and a screening of “Hocus Pocus.”
The event is free. For more information, call 444-7833 or visit HYPERLINK “http://www.hooverlibrary.org/kidzone” www.hooverlibrary.org/kidzone.
On Oct. 30, the city of Hoover will host the Hoover Hayride and Family Night at Veterans Park on Valleydale Road. From 6 to 9 p.m., enjoy a hayride, dinner and trick-or-treating. Local businesses will provide candy, and awards will be given for the best decorations.
There’s no charge for the event. For more information, call 444-7732.
Sloss Furnaces
Experience fun — and maybe some spooky spillover from the annual Fright Furnace — at the Sloss Furnaces Kids’ Fall Festival Oct. 24 from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event features carnival games, pumpkin decorating, ghost stories and a scavenger hunt. It’s free to members of the Sloss Furnaces Foundation and Future Furnace Keeper Kids Club. Admission for non-members is $3, and children under five are admitted free.
Children and adults are encouraged to show up in costume. For more information or to R.s.v.p., call 324-1911 or e-mail [email protected].
Museum of Art
Bart the Art Bat invites everyone to his spooktacular Halloween party Oct. 23 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
It’s Bart’s favorite holiday, and he wants everyone to be in hauntingly happy spirits. Come dressed as your favorite objet d’art to scare away the goblins, go on a trick-or-treat scavenger hunt and rack up on goodies, listen to some spooky stories that’ll make your teeth chatter and craft a pumpkin to scare away those pesky black cats.
Party hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There’s no admission charge. Check out www.artsbma.org for a complete schedule of events.
13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey
In a small Southern town at a house on Royal Street, there’s said to be a ghost. One Halloween night, a group of young people dare to find out if the tale is true and meet an eccentric old lady who opens up their world with her ghost stories. What they learn from this most unlikely of persons is a lesson about life and love.
Are the ghosts that haunt us figments of our imaginations or are they real? Only this lady from Selma knows for sure.
From Kathryn Tucker Windham’s beloved book comes Red Mountain Theatre Company’s exciting stage adaptation, “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey,” a haunting new musical written by Don Everett Garrett with music by Kevin Francis Finn.
Shows are Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20; student rush tickets are available.
Those purchasing tickets for the Oct. 30 shows can opt to add the Trunk or Treat option for $5, which includes access to a costume gathering featuring tasty treats immediately after the 2 p.m. performance.
For tickets or more information, call 324-2424 or visit www.redmountaintheatre.org.
Dracula
This Halloween, the Alabama Ballet will resurrect its ghoulish hit, “Dracula.”
With original choreography by Roger Van Fleteren and Wes Chapman, the haunting tale will thrill and chill the audience. Ghastly romance and mysterious suspense combine with live organ music played by Thomas Helms on the Alabama Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer for two performances.
The Alabama Ballet Junior Board will host a twilight vampire bash on opening night, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. Come in costume, win prizes and enjoy discounted, vampire-inspired drinks.
Shows are Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $27-$52. A portion of the proceeds of all ticket sales will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.alabamaballet.org.
– Complied by Molly Folse
