With Halloween just around the corner, the streets of Fredericton are flooded with ghostly events and spooky decorations outside the homes of locals. One of the most notable events happening in the city is the Freddy Fright Fest, a fundraiser that caters to Halloween enthusiasts.
On Oct. 18, the Freddy Fright Fest, located on Smythe Street, opened its doors to the public with a series of events running until Halloween night. With the support of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick, the event is celebrating its fourth year of raising funds for the Charlotte Street Arts Centre and Fredericton Hospice.
Bill Lamey, chair of the fest, said this event began 15 years ago as a haunted tour in the Charlotte Street Art Centre’s basement and later evolved into the festival’s creation. He said that in their first year, they sold about 600 tickets and now it attracts around 4,500 attendees and includes various activities like a rave, a market and performances.
“It’s becoming more and more of a festival and trying to build up a Halloween festival atmosphere … maybe, someday we’ll be as big as the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival,” said Lamey.
He shared that his favourite part of organizing the fest is having all groups come together and other volunteers to help operate it, including the Paramedic’s Association of N.B., Stan Tech Contracting and Science East.
They have also partnered up with local sports teams, like the STU women’s rugby team to help with volunteering.
“We have a program that we call the ‘Win-Win-Win,’ for organizations that are looking to raise money in a way that if they help us operate the tour, it will benefit them as well,” he said.
Lamey mentioned that many cultures have some form of Halloween-related holiday and hopes that this event brings everyone together.
“There are many disciplines of engineering and this particular holiday can appeal to all of them,” he said. “I’m an electrical engineer, but there are lots of civil, mechanical, other groups of geological and you get everybody from all walks of life.”
Lamey described the building and planning phase as a give-and-take environment, learning from volunteers and other engineers while also teaching them technical aspects. He also said that as the audience walks through the fest, they might notice how the theme of each station changes.
“This year is probably one of our best years,” said Lamey.
This year, the Freddy Fright Fest partnered with Branch Productions to present their newest production, Evil Dead: The Musical.
Maya Buchanan, a fourth-year criminology student, attended the musical performance where she was in the splatter zone, experiencing a simulated blood shower using water and dye.
“It was very exciting. No one knew whether they would get sprayed with blood or water,” she said. “The guy beside me [was] in his seat curled up and had his hands over his face, but he was laughing the whole time. It was hilarious.”.
Buchanan said the performance and splatter zone experience got her into the Halloween spirit.
“I would argue my friend got sprayed more in the face than the shirt. Completely just drenched,” she said. “I didn’t even know that anyone put on that [type of] show in New Brunswick.”
