It's a Zombie Beach Party at the Menagerie this year on Saturday as the Two Rivers Gallery hosts its ninth annual fundraiser.
The funds raised go towards the programs the gallery offers, the exhibitions it presents and special outreach programs like Art Heals at the hospital.
For the Zombie Beach Party, the gallery is transformed with theme-based decorations.
"We were inspired by the movie Beach Blanket Bingo, so there will be some of those 60s vibes throughout the night and of course the zombie vibe will be in full force," Meghan Hunter-Gauthier, assistant curator, said.
There will be a specialty bar where patrons can do tastings of unusual drinks like absynth and indulge in a unique cocktail made specially for the occasion, she added. The appetizers have been uniquely created to fit the theme and are made by the Civic Centre catering team, she added.
There will be fortune tellers to talk about the future and answer any questions about a person's fate. There is also a silent auction.
"The headlining band is The Chevys so there will be some great entertainment at Menagerie," Hunter-Gauthier said. "They'll be bringing some great rockabilly music and we'll be playing off that beach and zombie theme as well. DJ Ant will also be providing some awesome music for dancing."
To add to the ambiance there will be an ongoing zombie makeup tutorial that will include a show and tell about prosthetics, and the makeup that really sees people transformed into the undead.
As always the Two Rivers Gallery will have many games to play at the Menagerie.
"So there will be some friendly competition going on to win some great prizes," Hunter-Gauthier said.
There are boxes filled with a variety of gifts that are opened with the right skeleton key. To get a key to try in the lock people have to try the 'go fish' game, a stylized giant Plinko or the skee ball game.
Prizes are themed fun night out with friends, arts and culture and food and drink.
There's also a raffle draw that sees two people go anywhere Westjet flies.
There's prizes for best individual and group costumes.
Last year's group prize winners were dressed as the characters in Mario Kart.
Stephanie Bepple was dressed as Princess Peach and her group won a big dinner out for them all for their efforts.
"These characters are iconic and recognizable and you can create the characters with just a little bit of effort," Bepple said. "We had some pretty good success. It worked out really well. Everybody wanted to go as somebody different and we were able to complete the whole group."
This year Bepple won't be able to attend and she said that just opens up the opportunity for another big group to win.
"We set the bar pretty high and we're wondering what the next groups will do," Bepple said.
There was a lot of effort put into the event Bepple said.
"Each year the gallery picks a different theme and they go all out with it," she added. "It's a really well organized event and everybody there is really in the Halloween spirit and everyone is in costume and enjoying the event so you have the group mentality of just having fun and all the different games and all the things you can do there is just really great."
Tickets are available online at www.eventbrite.ca/e/menagerie-zombie-beach-partyand at the gallery.
