The month-long celebration will include ghost tours, a house ball and more. The city will partner with LGBTQ+ organization In Our Own Voices, Discover Albany, Albany Center Gallery, Capital Repertory Theater and the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District.
At the Palace Theatre Tuesday, Mayor Kathy Sheehan said while she’s excited for the festival, Halloween has never been her favorite holiday.
“I just never had the right costume and I felt like my mother would always either dress us up as a ghost or as a bum. And by bum I meant, if it was really cold out she would rub charcoal on us and make us look like we were filthy dirty. I forget what they call them. Hobos. It's probably very inappropriate, but, you know, it was the 60s and 70s!”
The Democrat hopes the new festival will bring in tourists and holiday excitement to replace the Capital Holiday Lights in the Park, which apparently held its final installment in Washington Park last year. To preview next year’s event, Albany will host a 5k Halloween-themed run through the park on October 29th.
“One of the things about the last run is that people love dressing up in reindeer costumes and Santa costumes. And believe me, in 5 degree below weather, I've seen all kinds of crazy stuff happen in that race. But, we wanted to tap into that idea of dressing up. And so, we, this year are launching alongside you our very own ‘Trick or Trot Pumpkin 5k run,’ which is going to go through a Halloween-themed Washington Park to give everybody a little preview of what's going to come next year when this whole program is pulled together.”
The festival was first held in Albany in 1904 and 1905.
Discover Albany’s Maeve McEneny-Johnson, also known as “Madame Maeve,” has been giving ghost tours in Albany for over a decade. She said the goal of the festival was to transform Albany into a “Halloween fairyland.”
She said the city would get an architect to create entranceways on the roads leading to the city and collaborate with businesses to help transform Albany.
“They did these really elaborate decorations in the streets. Some of them were really competitive. They did artwork on the windows, which is going to be really important for our modernization. And they were up to the last minute - that's what this article here is saying - up to the very last minute they’re saying they were still decorating up until the morning of the festival - but that idea of immersion, of bringing people in and feeling like you were in some place different. And wouldn't that make you want to explore?”
Capital Repertory Theatre’s Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill says the festival will include an expanded ghost tour with appearances by well-known figures, as well as some lesser-known Albany haunts.
“We brought the ghosts that lives at (The) Olde English Pub alive. We brought young Herman Melville alive. And the good thing about that is you get to meet him, but you don't have to read ‘Moby Dick.’ He’s very, very charming. Sam Abbott, we added this year, because he's a delightful ghost who, of course, is the nightwatchman on the fourth floor of the Capitol building and he just likes to come down to Albany where it's more fun before it goes back up and locks himself in again. Next year, I'm really happy to say in addition to people like Legs Diamond and Clara Harris, whose Loudonville cottage is still haunted by Abraham Lincoln. That is a really good story, which I'm not going to tell you. You have to come to our tour to hear that.”
Organizers are stressing the potential economic impact of the festival.
Albany BID Executive Director Georgette Steffens says Albany is a city that celebrates its history.
“We believe that this month long event will be a must-do for Capital Region residents and beyond and we believe it will become an annual tradition deeply entwined in the city’s identity. Events like this, they bring in new money to the economy, they boost tax revenues, they create new jobs, they really support our small businesses here in the city and it encourages new development and new community amenities, as well.”
While the festival will have many of the original programs, it will update some for the times. The old festival featured an elected court, including a coronation of a king and queen. McEneny-Johnson said the first “Queen Titania” was Albany resident Elisie Smith.
“They had a full coronation, where they had salutes and banners and all kinds of things. The full crowning and you had to sing to her. Did you see those 50,000 people in the crowd? And they all had to sing to her. You had to swear your fealty to Queen Titania. So, it was this really incredible figure that the people of Albany responded to.”
Now, there will be a “Halloween Ambassador to promote the events. Although given what happened to Queen Titania – it may be for the best.
“That first queen, there was an assassination attempt. She was sent at Christmas a pack of chocolates and when she opened those chocolates, they were oozing green because somebody had poisoned them. And Elsie said that it was because some people were jealous of her - likely because of that Prince Charming Clayton McKinley was on her arm. There were multiple women who were suspects. In fact, we never found out who did the assassination attempt.”
Albany residents and tourists will be able to enjoy the festival in October 2023. But if you’re named ambassador – maybe skip the chocolates.
