By Jules Shane
East Village magically transformed into a macabre festival as the neighborhood welcomed several thousand visitors wandering the streets at this year’s WCKD Village Halloween event on Oct. 27. San Diego’s largest Halloween and music festival was known in its previous 19 years as Monster Bash. The reworked block party filled six blocks between Market and J streets and was presented by managing and marketing service Five Group.
Entertainment included four live music stages, costume contests, fortune tellers, life-size games, haunting venues, cocktail bars and much more. This ghoulish extravaganza hosted an impressive line-up of entertainers, including DJ’s Cheat Codes, Michael Calfan, Young Bombs, Sinden.
Four self-contained sections, each with a different devilish theme, led patrons through a night of eerie fun complete with dancers, performers, stilt-walkers and plenty of monstrous clowns. People embraced the spirit of Halloween dressing in creative and extravagant costumes as they traveled through The Demented Circus, The Mad House, The Village Crypt and the Deck of Fate VIP Lounge — some with hopes of taking home the more than $5,000 in prizes for best costumes at the Madhouse stage.
Food venders and pop-up bars lined the streets as guests walked, shambled, and danced their way from one stage to the next. The VIP area lay behind a closed entrance where a fourth stage, guest lounges, and special entertainment awaited them.
“It’s a Halloween music festival where whether you’re 21 or you’re 50 there’s something for you here. Just come out and have a great time!” said Angelique Vanko, the marketing coordinator for the event.
Beware, and be on the lookout for WCKD Village’s return in 2019.
—Jules Shane can be reached at [email protected].
