Two annual fundraisers for the arts that were recently laid to rest are being brought back from the dead in a new form — just in time for Halloween. Following the recent death of Calgary Opera’s Grave Gala and the temporary demise of the Green Fools’ Halloween Howler (they plan to resurrect it in 2014) local artists Trevor Leigh and Karen Hawitt decided a monster mashup was in order bringing the spirit of those events to the new Fright Fest for the Arts ( frightfestyyc.com ). The event will still raise money for both Calgary Opera and the Green Fools as well as the Old Trout Puppet Workshop and the Alberta Arts Rebuild Fund.
“When we heard that Calgary was going to lose both of these incredible events in one year we knew we had to do something” says Leigh the event director in a media release. “No one does a party like the Calgary arts community…. These are great parties and irreplaceable fundraising opportunities.”
The event will take place on Saturday October 26 at 8:30 p.m. at Hotel Arts and the theme is “Aquatic Creatures of the Deep” — prizes will be awarded for best costumes.
Another arts organization is also holding a Halloween fundraiser but this one doesn’t involve alcohol dancing and DJs. Evergreen Theatre ( evergreentheatre.com ) has created a kid-friendly (read: not too scary) Eeeko-Halloween Haunted House at the Calgary Farmers’ Market and is presenting 20-minute puppet musicals in the Big Green Puppet Bus to share eco-friendly tips for celebrating Halloween. Evergreen is an award-winning educational environmental science-based theatre company for young audiences.
The Green Fools were hit hard by June’s flood and the road to recovery will be a long one. The non-profit society which creates performs and teaches theatre physical arts lost its studio space and a lot of its equipment. Although it was not in a position to hold the popular annual Halloween Howler this year the society is working to fund one of its worthwhile programs through the Aviva Community Fund — right now Green Fools is asking people to vote for the society on the site so it can raise enough money to run its Social Circus Program an artistic intervention program for at-risk youth. Go to avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf18547 for details.
The snow has arrived in the mountains along with the Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival ( banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival ) at The Banff Centre. World-renowned authors filmmakers conservationists adventurers and explorers from around the world will gather in the Rockies to share their love of alpine culture with local enthusiasts and international visitors from October 26 to November 3. More than 80 films selected from hundreds of entries will be screened during the event including a special preview showing of filmmaker Alastair Lee’s The Last Great Climb ; the ambitious Antarctica: A Year on the Ice which was shot over 15 years; and The Summit about the 2008 ascent of K2 that killed 11 climbers. This year the 2013 Summit of Excellence Award will be presented to Ben Gadd for his contribution to mountain life in the Canadian Rockies. Gadd who lives in Canmore is the author of the bestselling Handbook of the Canadian Rockies a well-loved and indispensable guide to exploring our mountain backyard. The award will be presented at the Best of the Festival on Sunday November 3.
