Halloween is a holiday with plenty of opportunity for fun programing, especially for college students. This year, the events affiliated with Fort Lewis College include a KDUR radio party, a Halloween-themed choir and band concert, and a haunted house.

 

KDUR Halloween Ball

 

This live music event is coordinated by KDUR college radio, in partnership with Durango Massive.  The event will be held at the Animas City Theatre on 128 E College Drive in Durango, Bryant Liggett, station manager at KDUR, said.

 

Different local and regional DJs that have been selected by Durango Massive will be performing electronic music on Halloween night, Liggett said. Being in a club downtown, it is closed to anyone under 21 years old.

 

The tradition of this event has gone on for 20 years or more, since before he became involved with KDUR in 1997,  he said.

 

It was formerly themed and titled “The Transvestite Ball.” It has since been found appropriate to move away from that theme, Liggett said.

 

“What I don’t want to do is offend anyone, even if it is just one person, I don’t want to offend anybody,” he said.

 

Durango Massive has advertised the event as a “KDUR Halloween Ball.”

 

“Why have a theme? Halloween is the theme. Come dressed however you want,” Liggett said.

 

Halloween Concert Hall Event

 

The theme of the concert is anything spooky, Dr. Charissa Chiaravalloti, director of choral activities at FLC, said.

 

In participation are all four choirs: the concert choir, chamber choir, men’s choir, and a capella, she said.

 

The band is going to be in costume, possibly with zombie face paint, Chiaravalloti said. If the choir does costuming, it will be a surprise.

 

“I think the students are really excited about it,” she said.

 

This is the first time since Chiaravalloti’s time at FLC for the music department to put on a specifically Halloween themed concert, she said. Herself and Professor Mark Walters determined the theme for the fall concert.

 

The pieces being performed are different than one might expect for Halloween, Chiaravalloti said. In an effort to stay away from cheesy Halloween songs, the themes are related to Halloween but remain musically distinguished.

 

“There are grown-up concepts in the pieces but still good for kids, it’s not going to scare them,” she said.

 

Some pieces about mythical creatures, like the scary monster featured in The Jabberwocky, Chiaravalloti said. A mass for the dead is also being performed. The chamber choir is singing a song about a hanging that goes with a romantic piece about fall, she said.

 

The audience is invited to come in costume and join a parade across the stage during intermission, kids and adults alike. There will also be a pumpkin carving contest, and candy given out for trick or treating.

 

The concert will be held on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. in the Community Concert Hall on FLC campus. It is free for FLC students, $5 for adults, and $1 for kids and non-FLC students.

 

Haunted House on Campus

 

This year’s haunted house experience will be set up throughout the upstairs area of the Student Union Building, Tucker Beck, Residence Director for West Hall, said.

 

Entry is free for students the first time around and $1 for entry after that. Non-students pay a $1 entry fee that all goes to Habitat for Humanity.

 

“We’re thinking of making the entrance a back stairwell to make it more creepy. The front stairwell is far too welcoming,” Beck said.

 

The event is put on this year by Camp Hall and West Hall.

 

The intention is to be as scary as it takes for the average college student, Beck said. Safety for the actors is a main priority while making it as scary as possible, Beck said.

 

Instead of having an over-arching theme, different committees are taking over separate rooms, Beck said. There is no consistent theme among them, but the goal is to weave a consistent story line between all the rooms so it feels like an adventure of sorts.

 

“We’re really focusing on individual rooms being awesome,” he said. Once it starts getting dark outside, people really start showing up.

 

We get funding by Student Union Productions as well as the Residence Hall Association, and that amounts to about $4,300, he said. The funding is actually very low for a haunted house. There is a lot of foundational costs like tarping the floors to keep all the fake blood off of it.

 

“The haunted house is a great opportunity for Halloween to get your scare factor in, but also help out Habitat for Humanity,” Beck said.

 

The event is taking place October, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 from 6:30-10:30 p.m