[BCMA] Does your museum do a Halloween Event

Mon Nov 18 18:06:59 PST 2013

Hello,

Heritage Park Museum has been running a Halloween event for twelve years
now. For years four through eight, attendance was fairly static
(approximately 500 trick-or-treaters) but it has been increasing
exponentially in recent years, indicating an increasing interest in a safe,
community-organised Halloween event. In 2011, we had approximately 750
trick-or-treaters, then 950 in 2012, and, this year, had 1200+. You can see
photos of this year's event on our Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.566119446812635.1073741839.1076204
45995873
<https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.566119446812635.1073741839.107620
445995873&type=1&l=716d1510bc> &type=1&l=716d1510bc.

1.      Do you do special Halloween programming?

As I noted above, we have been running a Halloween event at Heritage Park
Museum in Terrace for twelve years. We put on a 'Halloween Howl,' where we
station volunteers at each building in our historic site to hand out candy
to trick-or-treaters. We decorate our eight original buildings and have been
adding stations each year. These stations consist of a graveyard with
costumed person jumping out of a coffin and a warm-up/refreshments space.
This year, we also added a pirates' ship, a pumpkin patch, a witches' coven,
medieval stockades, and a headless horseman (with a real horse!) as photo
opportunities and additional candy stations.

2.      Does it involve turning any of your space into a haunted house?

We decorate our buildings with cobwebs, jack-o-lanterns, and other
decorations, but the event is not a haunted house. Rather, we are a safe
place to trick-or-treat, especially for younger children, who often can't
manage more than the ten or so stations we set up. We find that older kids
want to trick-or-treat and then head elsewhere to continue
trick-or-treating, which works well for us. Additionally, we prefer not to
use the inside of several of our buildings due to conservation concerns, so
a simple trick-or-treat setup where kids only come into the porch or doorway
tends to work best. In previous years, another community organisation hosted
a haunted house before Halloween, but they did not do so this year. 

3.      Do you charge for the event?

Admission is free or by donation. This year, we received $1788 in donations
at the gate, in addition to the many donations we received from businesses
and organisations beforehand. We find that the community is always very
generous, and, because we have a mandate of accessibility, we prefer not to
charge for special events so that the many low-income families in our
community are able to attend.

4.      What age group do you target?

We target younger kids and families, but we welcome everyone. This year, I
noticed several adults without kids who came just to check the event out.

5.      How do you balance the gore factor?

Some kids do cry, but most (even small ones) are okay. We strive for a
family-friendly event that predicates itself on the inherent spookiness of
our log buildings.

6.      How many people do you put through the event?

1200+ this year (we counted 1050 at our front gate but also added 150 for
the people coming in through the back gate--they were fairly steady so 1200+
was a conservative estimate). 

7.      How do you justify it as part of your mission?

One of our mandates is to host community events on our grounds. Since we
are, in essence, more of a heritage site than a museum, we probably have a
different mandate than many other museums in BC. That being said, we find
that our larger special events (Canada Day Celebrations, Easter Egg Hunt,
and our Halloween Howl) encourage the community to feel a sense of
involvement with and ownership over the museum. The feedback is very
positive.

8.      What types of activities do you have?

We decorate our eight original buildings and have been adding stations each
year. We set up a graveyard with a costumed person jumping out of a coffin
and a warm-up/refreshments space with a photo opportunity on the stage. This
year, we also added a pirates' ship where kids could walk the plank, a
pumpkin patch for photos, a witches' coven with two witches brewing up
spells in a cauldron from our collection, medieval stockades which were
opened for kids to pose in, and a headless horseman (with a real horse!).
There was a costume contest for the best-dressed child and the best-dressed
family. We partnered with the French Canadian Association (AFFNO) to
incorporate French, offering candy rewards for understanding French words,
for example.

A note of caution: when I organised the Halloween Howl for the past two
years, it took up a lot of my desk throughout October. This year, an
enthusiastic volunteer took the event over, and she contributed a minimum of
twenty (volunteer) hours per week throughout the end of September, October,
and early November. In the week before the event, she was working very long
days coordinating volunteers, decorating, picking up supplies, securing
donations, and running promotion. It is an important event, to us, but think
carefully about your mandate and whether your mandate (and grounds!) can
accommodate the commitment of resources to such an event.

Please feel free to contact me for more information,

Kelsey Wiebe, Curator

Heritage Park Museum

Box 512, Terrace, BC, V8G 4B5

www.heritageparkmuseum.com

Phone: 250-635-4546

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com [mailto:bcma-bounces at lists.vvv.com] On
Behalf Of Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 1:45 PM
To: bcma at lists.vvv.com
Subject: Re: [BCMA] Does your museum do a Halloween Event

Hello

Please find below my responses to the Halloween questionnaire from Spoke
Region Museum & Visitor Centre. Let me know if you would like more
information.

9.       Do you do special Halloween programming?

We do offer Halloween programming here at the Canmore Museum & Geoscience
Centre.  We have events for most holidays at the NWMP Barracks, Main Street.
We decorate the Barracks, play a spooky soundtrack, have a witch telling
stories and offer Halloween crafts.

10.   Does it involve turning any of your space into a haunted house?

We do not transform the Barracks in to a haunted house per say.  A Haunted
House is often put elsewhere in town. We decorate the Barracks for Halloween
with cobwebs, banners, pumpkins etc.

11.   Do you charge for the event?

The event is free, however, we do welcome donations.

12.   What age group do you target?

We target the under 12 age group.

13.   How do you balance the gore factor?

There isn't much 'gore' involved. We aim for the event to be family friendly
and advertise it as such.  The witch telling stories is a friendly witch who
aims to entertain rather than scare.

14.   How many people do you put through the event?

This year we had 51 visitors.  We try to run the event following the annual
Halloween parade in Canmore.  That way people are already dressed up and do
not need to come out twice in one weekend.

15.   How do you justify it as part of your mission?

We aim to be part of the community and we are a community Museum.  This
event is a community event.  It is also beneficial as it encourages people
to come along to the NWMP Barracks who would not typically visit expanding
our visitor pool.

16.   What types of activities do you have?

We run two Halloween crafts (this year ghost windsocks and clip on bats), a
witch reading stories and making witches brew, tours of the house and trick
or treating is encouraged!

17.   Did you used to do an event, but not anymore? Why?

In past years the event attracted less visitors as it was held the day after
the Halloween parade.  My advice would be to check what else is going on in
your area- and perhaps try a partnership!

If you need any information, or examples of the crafts we run, please let me
know.

Best wishes

Victoria Ryves

Community Enrichment and Volunteer Coordinator

Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre

902B 7th Avenue

Canmore, Alberta    

T1W 3K1

p.  <tel:403.678.2462> 403.678.2462

f.  <tel:403.678.2216> 403.678.2216

Twitter: @CanmoreMuseum

Facebook: /CanmoreMuseum

www.cmags.org <http://www.cmags.org/> 

From: Debbie Carrico [mailto:curator at cmags.org] 
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 6:32 PM
To: Debbie Carrico
Subject: Fwd: [BCMA] Does your museum do a Halloween Event

Debbie Carrico
Museum Director
Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre
902B 7th Avenue
Canmore, Alberta
T1W 3K1
(403) 678-2462

-------- Original Message -------- 

Subject: 

[BCMA] Does your museum do a Halloween Event

Date: 

Thu, 7 Nov 2013 15:19:40 -0800

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To: 

 <mailto:bcma at lists.vvv.com> <bcma at lists.vvv.com>

Hi,

We are considering taking on the local safe Halloween activity at our museum
next year. I am interested in learning about what other museums do around
Halloween.

1.       Do you do special Halloween programming?

2.       Does it involve turning any of your space into a haunted house?

3.       Do you charge for the event?

4.       What age group do you target?

5.       How do you balance the gore factor?

6.       How many people do you put through the event?

7.       How do you justify it as part of your mission?

8.       What types of activities do you have?

9.       Did you used to do an event, but not anymore? Why?

Cheers

Lee Boyko

Executive Director

Sooke Region Museum & Visitor Centre

PO Box 774, Sooke, BC V9Z  1H7

Corner of Sooke Rd & Phillips Rd

PH: (250) 642-6351  Fax: (250) 642-7089

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