Albany’s All Hallow-e’en Festival resurrects city’s 100+ year Halloween history
ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 12, 2022) - Discover Albany announced plans for a new Halloween festival coming to Albany in Fall 2023. “Albany’s All-Hallow e’en Festival” is a modern twist on the original Halloween festival celebrated annually in Albany over a hundred years ago.
The festival, taking place in the fall 2023, will be a week-long celebration with programming from Discover Albany, In Our Own Voices, Albany Center Gallery, Capital Repertory Theater, and the City of Albany. Discover Albany will be hosting themed-ghost tours and coordinating programming with partner organizations. In Our Own Voices will be hosting one of the largest events in the festival lineup, a Halloween House Ball paying homage to Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ house ball culture. Shows at Capital Rep will feature ghosts and their life stories throughout Albany history. Albany Center Gallery will create Halloween themed window displays in businesses throughout downtown Albany leading up to the festival.
“Discover Albany is thrilled to have been selected as one of the 35 projects funded through the Albany ARPA grant initiative. This festival will lean into the successful Fall and Halloween-themed programming that we already offer and give a nod to the wildly-successful Halloween Carnival from more than a century ago,” said Jill Delaney, Discover Albany President and CEO. “Thank you to Mayor Sheehan, the members of the ARPA selection committee and the Albany Common Council for helping us bring this to fruition!”
The plans for the festival were made possible by $282,200 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds awarded to Discover Albany and their partner organizations through the City of Albany’s ‘Albany for All’ initiative.
“The Albany All Hallow e’en Festival speaks to the proud past of what was done here in the city more than a century ago and the potential for the future,” said Mayor Kathy Sheehan. “We immediately started thinking about how the city could have a role in restoring the vision of the All-Hallow e’en Festival. I know this is going to be an amazing and fun event that we are going to be so proud of.”
Mayor Sheehan also revealed plans folks can look forward to this month. The Trick or Trot Pumpkin 5K will be a new event this October where participants will run through a Halloween-themed Washington Park “to give everyone a little preview of what is to come next year,” Sheehan continued.
“How thrilling it was to share the stage with our partners yesterday, and the outpouring of support we’re already hearing from the community. We look forward to resurrecting this historic festival with nods to many of the original events, but with a modern day Albany spin highlighting the progress and inclusivity that Albany offers locals and visitors alike,” said Maeve McEneny-Johnson, Community Engagement Manager at Discover Albany. “The success of this event hinges on community buy-in and we want them involved in this event. Stay tuned to Discover Albany to find how to help us successfully 'resurrect' the Halloween Festival!”
Organizations interested in getting involved with the festival can reach out to Discover Albany to discuss partnership opportunities.
For more information on Discover Albany, visit albany.org.
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About Discover Albany: The Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. was established in 1976 to promote the civic and commercial progress of the community through increased development of conventions and tourism. Today, the organization is known as Discover Albany. Discover Albany currently represents more than 300 member businesses and assists each year in hundreds of regional meetings. Discover Albany also operates the Discover Albany Visitors Center and the Albany International Airport Information Center. The Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau Foundation was established in 1993 to provide educational opportunities and work with other organizations to secure grants and funding to advance regional travel and tourism projects. For more information, call 518-434-1217 or 800-258-3582 or visit www.albany.org.