The New York State Fairgrounds is the place to go when the sun goes down this Halloween weekend, and two of the area’s biggest Halloween celebrations come to life.
K-Rock’s “Halloween Havoc” will fill the Horticulture Building with screams Saturday, Oct. 31, as the hard-rock musicians of Trapt headline a five-band party that includes a $2,000 costume contest and a terrifying haunted house.
At the other end of the Fairgrounds, in the Beef Cattle Barn, “Fright Nights at the Fair” will close out one of its most successful seasons ever on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30 and 31. This year, Fright Nights, the largest haunted attraction in Upstate New York, features five haunted houses, a scary hayride, a children’s maze and a miniature carnival.
Halloween Havoc begins at 7 p.m. and will run until after midnight. Trapt, best known for its 2002 hit “Headstrong,” will top the musical lineup of Papercut Massacre, Day of Fire, After Midnight Project and Sugar Red Drive.
There will also be a Halloween dance room with a D.J., a haunted house and a costume contest offering $2,000 in cash prizes. Tickets cost $21 each. For more information, go to K-Rock radio’s Website, http://syracuse.krock.com/home/halloween-havoc.
Fright Nights will run from 7 to 11:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. This year, five haunted houses – the Circus of Horrors, the Insane Asylum, the Crypt, the Haunted Mansion and the Pirate Adventure – are under a single roof. Fright Nights’ covered wagon will weave among the Fair’s agricultural barns, where scary, animated scenes and costumed characters lurk around every dark corner.
Tickets are $20 for admission to all houses and the hayride, or $10 per attraction and $15 for the hayride. Group discounts are available. For more information, go to Fright Nights’ Website, www.frightnightsatthefair.com.
