If you’re in Las Vegas for Halloween, you’re going to find yourself surrounded by so many enticing events that you may actually drive yourself insane while trying to pick which ones you’re going to attend. From costume parties to Halloween balls to one massive parade, Vegas knows how to turn Halloween from a one-day holiday strictly for frights to a weekend long glitz and glamour occasion. To make your life easier, here are the top events for this spooky Halloween:
It may seem like every day in Las Vegas is a costume contest, but only during Halloween will you find one that could win you anywhere up to $5,000 in cold hard cash. Before you rush out to the costume shop, though, you need to make sure you know which clubs to hit up. There’s plenty of locations on and off the Strip, but there’s no guarantee that a prize could accompany your well-planned (and obviously expensive) costume.
The spirit of Halloween extends throughout the entire city, with events and parties found at Mandalay Bay, with the Haunted Hotel Ball that sports a $5,000 costume contest and chilling Old Vegas decor, Dal Toro at the Palazzo, Bellagio’s Hyde, Cathouse at the Luxur, the Cosmopolitan’s Marqueen, and the Palm’s aptly named Moon. With only a week left until the celebrations begin, you may want to break out your day planner.
Encore’s Surrender Nightclub will host a slew of Halloween-themed events, starting on Oct 25th with an event hosted by R3hab and an allusive $10,000 in cash and prizes for best costume. Events on the 26th, 27th, and 31st will be hosted by such special guests as Steve Aoki, Dada Life, and Steve Angello. Expect to be amongst the fanciest of the freaks at Surrender, so don’t skimp out with cat ears or a sports jersey.
Halloween weekend at Encore’s other opulent space, XS, is sure to drag out the most extravagant of ghouls and ghosts. With a weekend filled with frights provided by Sultan & Ned Shepard, Kris Nilsson, and Steve Angello. Halloween day will be sponsored by the spooktastic deadmau5, who promisees to keep the party alive and kicking for those undead partiers.
Every club on the Strip will be taking advantage of the draw of Halloween, and none will be as jam packed and mesmerizing as the MGM’s 14th annual Nightmare on 54th Street. For the past 14 years, the Studio 54 dance club has hosted one of the hottest Halloween bashes you’d find in Las Vegas, and it’s 2012 iteration only looks to up the ante. Enjoy celebrity hosts, a slew of costume contests, and a must see performance of the late Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.
Everything seems pretty standard so far, right? Well that may be the case until you enter the aptly named Ghostbar dayclub at the Palms on Halloween day. Hosting more than a dance party, Ghostbar will provide a Halloween extravaganza complete with beer bongs, bubble machines, confetti guns, piñata smashing (yes, you saw that correctly), and a slew of delectable treats, all accompanied by the tunes of the high energy due, Sex Panther, and a costume contest that awards $2,500 to the sexiest attire.
Along Freemont Street is another freak show, as this bit of classical Vegas turns dark and welcomes the souls of the damned. Street-side establishments such as the barcade, Insert Coin(s), will host costume contests on the 29th and 30th, while the street itself will be a plethora of the weirdest and strangest sideshow acts one could expect in Sin City.
There is no event in Las Vegas better known for its Halloween attraction as the Fetish and Fantasy Halloween Ball, hosted by the Hard Rock Hotel on Oct 27th. This annual event is comprised of the freakiest of the freakiest and holds a heavy focus on the many fetishes out there in the real world. Show up as your favorite ghoul or in attire that most would find fitting only for the bedroom – no matter what, you’ll fit right in. Partake in some wild fetish booths or just stroll on through for a view of Vegas’ sexiest event.
Beyond partying, though, Vegas is known for some really high end haunted attractions. The infamous Freakling Bros. bring their trifecta of terror to North Las Vegas while the Strip’s very own Circus Circus lends the Adventuredome’s massive space to create the Fright Dome. Chock filled with 5 horrifying attractions, randomly placed actors, and over a dozen spooky rides, Fright Dome is the scariest, and most convenient, fright to be found in the city. New to Sin City is Eli Roth’s Goretorium – a horror fanatics wet dream. The on-site spooky attraction empties out into Baby Doll’s, a horror-inspired lounge complete with zombie go-go dancers and live feedings. Join the fantastical crew as they make the most of Halloween night.
All of these events, parties, and attractions are fantastic in their own right, but for the ultimate Las Vegas Halloween bash, you’ll want to be present for the city-wide parade on Halloween night. Starting on Garces (just north of Charleston), this multi-block long parade, created in the image of the New York City parade, will march its way up to East Ogden Avenue, ending right by 3rd Street. Get a glimpse of the sheer creativity of some of the most demented minds in this city as you celebrate All Hallows Eve in this 3rd annual parade. Join the freaks, ghouls, and spooks for an after party between Stewart and Ogden on 3rd street.
Vegas. It can be argued that there are better cities out there, but if there is one thing this metropolis knowns, it’s how to throw a party. Halloween, while not considered a “major” holiday, gets a boost of confidence from the people of Vegas and all of the fright-tastic events that they have in store. The biggest problem with spending Halloween in Vegas? There’s no way to attend every heart stopping event.