HighBall Halloween 2022: Short North street festival to feature costume contest, music, more
For 15 years, HighBall Halloween has proven that high fashion and Halloween go hand in hand.
The annual event in, the latest edition of which will take place on Saturday in the Short North, substitutes the pumpkin patches and ghost tours of the season with a fashion show, live entertainment and a general spirit of chic revelry.
The highlight every year is the Couture Costume Contest, in which local designers compete against each other to see whose costume is most outrageous or original. Seven designers or design teams will participate this year.
“It’s an event that people just adore in Columbus,” said Betsy Pandora, executive director of the Short North Alliance.
HighBall stayed alive during the pandemic: In 2020, a virtual version was held, and in 2021, a small-scale live edition of the event relocated to Express Live.
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This time, though, HighBall will resume its traditional “street festival” configuration on Goodale and Park streets in the Short North.
“We’ve actually created a bigger event footprint in doing that,” Pandora said. “We wanted to make sure that people had as much space as possible to spread out, and we had as much space as possible to fit in all of the exciting things that we have planned for this year.”
Whether HighBall is always part of your Halloween activities or you are looking forward to going for the first time, we’ve laid out all the particulars here. For additional information, visit www.highballcolumbus.org.
When does HighBall take place?
The entire event will run from 2 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, but programming between 2 and 5 p.m. is billed as family- and pet-friendly. The traditional, adult-oriented HighBall runs from 6 to 11 p.m.
What does it cost?
General admission costs $25, or $85 for VIP tickets, $5 for ages 3 through 12, free for age 2 and younger. For those attending between 2 and 5 p.m., a HighBaller Family Fun Package, including admission for two adults, no admission charge for children as well as drink tickets, costs $40. Visit https://bit.ly/3rQoQ95.
Where can I park?
Parking information is available at www.highballcolumbus.org. Four garages feature parking validation: The Castle, 965 N. High St.; The Hub, 26 E. Hubbard Ave.; The Joseph, 53 W. Russell St.; and Lincoln at Pearl, 40 E. Lincoln St. Other lots and garages are in the area.
“You can also use the ParkColumbus app to park at meter parking,” Pandora said. For more information about the app, visit https://bit.ly/3CzDWop.
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What about the family-friendly portion?
During the family-friendly portion of HighBall, families can enjoy live performances from the NACHO Street Band, a group of performers affiliated with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and the New Basics Brass Band. WCMH-TV (Channel 4) anchors Andrea Henderson and Matthew Herchik will serve as emcees.
All attendees, human and otherwise, are free to dress up, and both children and their animals can participate in costume contests that will judge creepiness, creativity and other factors.
“I think ‘cutest’ needs to be in there,” Pandora said. “We have a group of local celebrity judges who will select the winner of the overall contest for kids and the overall contest for pets.”
Street performers and face painters will also be on hand.
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When does the regular HighBall begin?
At 6 p.m., HighBall shifts into its usual adult-oriented format. Serving as emcees will be drag performer Virginia West and Channel 4 anchors Matt Barnes and Monica Day.
Gracing the main stage will be numerous performers, among them The Deal Breakers, The Deeptones and The West Family. Food, beer, cocktails and other drinks will be available to buy during the entirety of HighBall.
What about the Public Costume Contest?
During the main part of HighBall, a Public Costume Contest will highlight winners in five categories: HighBall Horror Story, Life Imitates Art (for costumes deliberately imitative of pop culture or other art), Dynamic Duo (for groups of two), Squad Goals (for groups of three and more) and #What? (perhaps for the most baffling costume).
Those interested in participating need to go to the Goodwill Columbus Public Costume Contest Staging Area by 7:45 p.m., at which time a maximum of 20 contestants for individual categories and a maximum of 13 contestants for group categories will have the chance to compete later that evening. Winners will receive $100 — plus HighBall bragging rights, of course.
What about the Couture Costume Contest?
Described by Pandora as HighBall’s signature event, several prominent area costume designers will create over-the-top, outlandish or merely opulent designs for the Couture Costume Contest at 11 p.m. This year, the participating designers are Lynn Hetherington Becker, Shiree Houf, Jesamie, Rachel Katz, the team of Que Jones and Steve Puhl, Willow Web Richison, and the team of Xantha and Steve.
But attendees shouldn’t be shy about showing off their own styles at the popular event.
“Columbus is such a creative city, and the Short North Arts District is a very creative community within it,” Pandora said. “People love to express themselves, and they love to express themselves in a way that lets them connect with their neighbors. I think that that’s something that HighBall has grown to let people do.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: HighBall Halloween event to take place Oct. 22 in the Short North
