Trick or treat! Local businesses in San Marcos are hosting numerous new and annual events that will get the community into the Halloween spirit.
Delta Zeta’s Haunted Trails haunted house event will kick off Halloween weekend from 7 to 11 p.m. on Oct. 27. Haunted Trails has been an annual tradition for six years with new themes each year along with a new fraternity as a partner. This year, the sorority has partnered with Kappa Sigma to organize the haunted house event.
“It’s just really easy to work with [Delta Zeta],” Dylan Cahill, the treasurer of Kappa Sigma, said. “There’s never any fuss. Everybody’s just kind of really molded together well, so I think that’s what’s made the process a lot more enjoyable for both of us.”
Entry to the event costs $7. The house will include six different themed rooms featuring a purge room, a butcher room, a clown room and more. All earnings will go to each of their philanthropies. Delta Zeta supports the Starkey Hearing Foundation and Kappa Sigma supports the Military Heroes Campaign.
To purchase tickets or donate, visit https://dz.crowdchange.co/27968
San Marcos Parks and Recreation will host its sixth annual Farmer Fred’s Harvest Fall Carnival on Oct. 28 at City Park. The carnival will start with a Haunted Hayride with an admission of $3 per person, at 5 p.m.
The carnival will also include food concessions with sweet treats, popcorn and sodas as well as a children’s costume contest that will award the cutest, spookiest, best group or duo, best movie or TV character and best DIY costumes. The costume contest is free, but pre-registration is required and those that are interested.
For more information on Farmer Fred’s Harvest Fall Carnival, visit https://www.sanmarcostx.gov/3255/Farmer-Freds-Carnivals.
Wonder World Cave and Adventure Park is putting on several events to celebrate the Halloween season. Its Halloween celebrations begin with the third annual Haunted Cave Tours on Oct. 28 and 29. This year’s tours will have an underground freak show theme.
People who come out to the event will experience five different rooms within the unique cave formation, with scares around every corner. It is recommended that tickets be purchased online. There is an age 13+ age limit to participate.
“I think the added element of you being in a legit cave, where it’s dark and you can’t really see, there’s a bunch of weird noises and things going on, I’ve seen some pretty freaked out people,” Shane Rowe, the general manager at Wonder World, said.
Wonder World will also host a Halloween Festival for the first time ever from 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 30. The new family-friendly event will have fall games, live music and vendors free to the public. For an additional cost, event-goers can experience a hayride through the wildlife park for $5 or have an underground trick-or-treating experience in the cave for $10. A costume party contest will have a surprise prize for the winner.
“I think it’s just a unique way that Wonder World can offer its services,” Rowe said. “You know at its core it’s just an adventure park. People can come explore the cave, the wildlife park. But it just shows like I guess the versatility of these recreational businesses that the San Marcos has.”
For more information and to book a spot for a Haunted Cave Tour, visit https://www.wonderworldpark.com/.
The San Marcos Art League is hosting its third annual Art Scared on Oct. 29 at The Square. San Marcos Art Squared is inviting children pre-K through 12th grade to paint a section out of 70 designated windows on The Square with a fall or Halloween-themed painting. Nancy Brown, a committee chair member for Art Scared, is ecstatic to be a part of this annual event, and can’t wait to see the artwork that the children create.
“The kids are thrilled to be doing it and they just show so much enthusiasm,” Brown said. “Just to see what they produce, whether it’s good or bad or indifferent, they just put so much energy and I have so much fun.”
The paintings will be displayed for the San Marcos community to enjoy through early November. Awards will be given for first, second and third place within each school-age level. At the event, every child will be provided art supplies to participate in the window painting. Every participant will also be rewarded with a gift bag along with extra paint supplies and brushes to take home.
To end the Halloween season, Stellar Coffee will host a Halloween movie night from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31 with vendor pop-ups. If customers attend in costume, they can get a 10% discount on their preferred beverage to enjoy during the movie.
For more information, visit Stellar Coffee Co.’s website at https://www.stellarcoffeecotx.com/ or its Instagram @stellarcoffeetx.
