'Wahooloween' features trick-or-treating, 'Hocus Pocus.' Weekend has fun for adults, too!
Update: Wahooloween to start early due to rain worries
With rain expected late Saturday afternoon and evening, a decision has been made to move up Saturday's Halloween event, Wahooloween to start at 2 p.m. Saturday. Gates open at 1. Trick or treating will be 2-3 p.m. or so, followed by the movie Hocus-Pocus.
Original story:
The Blue Wahoos completed a championship baseball season nearly a month ago, but the stadium has stayed busy ever since.
A combination of public and private events has created a unique version of “Octoberfest” at Blue Wahoos Stadium, highlighted by a pair of Halloween-theme events on Friday and Saturday at the ballpark.
Friday night features a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show for ages 18 and up, complete with interactive activities and seating on the field and in the stadium bowl to watch the film on the stadium videoboard.
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Saturday will be the third annual “Wahooloween” with area businesses set up on the field with trick-or-treat stations for kids, plus the movie “Hocus-Pocus” to follow shortly after.
“This will be our first year showing Rocky Horror and we are excited to try this out,” said Blue Wahoos Events Manager Shannon Reeves. “We think It will be a big hit. There is such a following with Rocky Horror Picture Show. And the tickets ($20 ) include the throw bags with the props to throw out at key moments during the movie.
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“The props are a big part of the experience for people who come to see the show. I’m excited, because I am a Rocky Horror Picture Show fan and I think it is a tradition for the fall. It is fun for Halloween and I’m glad we can do it the first time here at the stadium."
The Saturday Wahoolween is open to families and people of all ages. Gates open at 1 p.m. with trick-or-treating to start at 2 p.m., with the move to follow at about 3 p.m. Gate cost is $7.
In 2020, while still in throes of the coronavirus pandemic, the Blue Wahoos partnered with the Junior League of Pensacola to bring back a Halloween trick-or-treat event for children on the stadium concourse.
Last year, the event grew and was held on the field. This year it has expanded even more.
“We’ve been able to get great support,” said Reeves, who noted nearly 40 businesses had signed up as of last week. “It just felt like it worked better for families and kids to be on the field. All the booths will be in themes, then we will play the movie, so tons of room for kids to run around after they're all sugared up.”
The back-to-back events continue a month-long experience. Since Oct. 1, nearly half the days this month have included a private or public event at the ballpark.
The past weekend featured private events, including a Navy Federal Credit Union movie night for employees.
“What we’re seeing is a mix of traditional events that want to be here at the stadium, along with the good weather that we normally get every October,” Reeves said. “It becomes the perfect combination.
“People are into the fall season, the festive spirit. The weather is so much better, because you are out of the super heat of summer. So, all of this lends itself well to events wanting to book in October and people knowing the stadium offers this wide expanse to hold these different events.”
Last Thursday featured the sixth-annual Light Up Learning gala, a fundraiser to benefit Early Learning, sponsored by the Studer Community Institute. Long-time former NFL offensive lineman Josh Sitton, a Pensacola native and now company owner, has been a co-host since the event’s inception.
This is the third year the dinner gala has been at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Earlier this month, the stadium hosted the 16th annual First City Art Center Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 8. with 6,000 ceramic pumpkins designed by area artists for sale on tables throughout the entire field. Last weekend, the stadium was the site of the 30th annual Soul Bowl youth football event with the Southern Youth Sports Association (SYSA) Tigers and East Pensacola Rattlers.
All of the events are part of a quest by Blue Wahoos owners Quint and Rishy Studer to keep the stadium active as a year-round gathering place for the community. The Soul Bowl attracted more than 2,000 ticket-buyers and featured five different age division games.
“It is a big part of our mission as a company and it’s an event very close to Quint and Rishy’s heart, so we are excited to have continued the tradition,” Reeves said. “And so many of those players in the game got to see older siblings play and it’s important for us to continue that tradition.”
November events at the stadium
On Nov. 4, the stadium will have the first “Bourbon on the Bases Dinner” event for adults 21 and older. It will feature different bourbon and upscale food preparations at each base, prepared by Blue Wahoos chef Travis Wilson. There will be table seating in the infield, music and other activities. The cost is $80 per-person with a special VIP package at $125.
That event will be followed on Nov. 13 by the annual Pensacola Eggfest event with barbecue and other food specialties prepared by chefs and businesses throughout the region. People will be able to sample various dishes on the concourse and the field.
“You just think of all these events with such diverse audiences and it’s amazing,” Reeves said. “What a scope it’s been with each event having its own audience.”
Reeves said the field transformation from grass to synthetic turf, which was completed in March, has provided a far more durable area to set up tables and food stations.
“Our event hosts are loving it,” she said. “With Pumpkin Patch and Light Up Learning, you had a lot of tables, lots of people on the field. The big difference is these events are now able to set up a day or two days in advance as opposed to when we had a grass field.
“On the grass, you could not leave tables and chairs on the field for a long time, especially with the sun out like it has been, because it would burn out the grass. Now, events can come in and have plenty of time to set up. So the investment made to change to artificial turf has been a big benefit.”
Halloween weekend at the ballpark
WHAT: Rocky Horror Picture Show (Friday), Wahooloween (Saturday).
WHEN: For Rocky Horror Picture Show, gates will open at 7 p.m., movie starts at 8 p.m. Seating available on the field or in the stadium bowl. On Saturday, Trick or Treat for children begins at 2 p.m. Movie starts at 3 p.m. and features Hocus Pocus.
ADMISSION: $20 on Friday (ages 18-up) and each ticket-buy will receive a bag with props to throw during movie. On Saturday, admission is $7 with all ages welcome.
INFORMATION: Tickets can be purchases online at www.bluewahoos.com or at the stadium box office including each day of the events.
FUTURE EVENTS: Nov. 4 – Bourbon on the Bases. (Ages 21-up, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.). Tickets are $80 with VIP tickets at $125, Will include various bourbon drink preparations, food creations from Blue Wahoos chef Travis Wilson.
Nov. 13 – Pensacola Eggfest (12 p.m.-3 p.m.). Tickets are $35 through Nov. 1, then $45 afterward.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Halloween at Blue Wahoos stadium in Pensacola offers fun events
