The spooky season is upon us and you know what that means – Halloween New Orleans is back for its 40th year. The largest gay Halloween event of its kind makes a huge return with a sly reference to the Roman numeral for 40 as HNO’s theme for this year is XL. Ticketholders for the always highly anticipated extravaganza can expect to see bigger events than ever!
Halloween New Orleans is made up of an all-volunteer board that continues its mission of creating a weekend of events to benefit Project Lazarus. What began as a small gathering of friends forty years ago has grown into a series of parties and fundraisers year-round culminating on the weekend before Halloween.
Since its founding, Halloween New Orleans has raised more than $6 million for Project Lazarus, a local organization that provides transitional housing and support services to people who live with HIV/AIDS and experience homelessness. HNO Board President Neil Savoy said, “Every dollar raised in excess of the costs of the parties themselves goes to Project Lazarus. We are a Board of volunteers who want to give back to a segment of the population that tends to be overlooked or ignored. We don’t do it alone though. We wouldn’t be here today without the support of all our sponsors, patrons, and hosts, who continue to come back year after year to support our mission. We are so grateful to our newest sponsors as well, Proctor & Gamble and Viiv. As you plan your Halloween weekend, be sure to buy tickets to all our XL events, but also please support all of our sponsors, bars, media partners, and get a room at the official hotel of HNO, the Virgin Hotel New Orleans.”
Playing on the XL theme, the weekend begins October 27 with the Lazarus Ball celebrating 40 Years of Excellence. The historic Joy Theater will be the setting for this year’s open bar, black tie-preferred event. Guests can expect to see and bid on fabulous silent auction items and have a variety of delicious bites. There will be a tribute to the past as well as music provided by Matt Suave and there’s likely to be a surprise or two in store for attendees. Individual tickets to the Lazarus Ball are $105.00 and are available on halloweenneworleans.com.
After a night of looking back, HNO has planned a futuristic themed Saturday night that will “XLR8” guests into the future. The costume-required party will take place at the foot of Canal Street at The Fillmore New Orleans. The future fest begins at 10 pm with a judged costume parade across the stage (contest concludes at 11:15). Guests will enjoy an open bar with music & entertainment by DJ Kitty Glitter and a midnight show choreographed by Diogo De Lima. Come early and stay till 3am! Tickets are on sale now for $135.
Close out the XL-sized weekend with the return of a Sunday favorite at a new location. This year, guests will be dancing by the river at Woldenberg Park with the sweet tea dance beats provided by DJ Joey with the mustache. This party is best described by its name, SuperSize Sunday. The tea dance will feature an open bar sponsored by Stoli Vodka and begins at 2:30 and concludes with a traditional Second Line through the French Quarter. Individual tickets for Sunday are $100.
Additionally, weekend passes that include all events start at $320. VIP/Host and Patron passes are still available as well, starting at $450. A VIP/Host band will be required to enter the VIP/Host Lounges provided at Saturday and Sunday’s events. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit halloweenneworleans.com.
