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The Halloween season began in late summer for some aficionados, so forgive the “late” start here. Assuming you haven’t moved on to Christmas decorating, here’s a look at some of the Halloween happenings going on this month across town. (If you have an event scheduled, there’s still time to submit the information for next week’s column – the deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 15.)
Memorial Hall, 83 Court St., will be turned into a Halloween set for Jeff Cohen’s 28th annual Halloween benefit on Oct. 19. Organizers promise “an amazing night of costumes, cash prizes, dancing, auctions, light fare, aerialists, and many other surprises throughout the evening.” There’s also a $1,000 cash prize for best costume. Expect plenty of vintage ‘80s music, too – it’s the soundtrack to Cohen’s daily life. The benefit starts at 7 p.m. and ends during the witching hour, at 12:30 a.m. Tickets are $60 for general admission and $90 for the VIP treatment. You can buy them here.
Spirit of Plymouth walking tours will produce “Murder, Mystery and Mayhem” on Oct. 25 and 26. It’s a 90- minute downtown stroll filled with stories about “gruesome legends, grisly murders, and fascinating falsehoods.” Meet your guide at the corner of Main and Court streets at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25, with a $5 discount for first responders, military, and seniors. (Vampires walk for free?) You can buy a ticket here or by calling 508-517-8355.
The Plymouth Center for the Arts, 11 North St., will hold a Halloween Spooktacular for “goblins” ages 4 to 8, on Oct. 26. The kids can decorate their own “haunted house” and pumpkin, get a fake tattoo, and have their face painted. Costumes are a plus. Choose a time slot of 10 a.m. to noon, or 2 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $10, and you can buy them here.
The Shanty, 16 Town Wharf, will host a Halloween karaoke, dance, and costume party on Oct. 26, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., featuring DJ Jeff Baker. My personal karaoke suggestion: “Every Day is Halloween,” from my old band, Ministry.
New World Tavern, 56 Main St., will hold a “Bad Decisions Halloween Party” on Oct. 26, from 9 p.m. to midnight. Sounds like an Uber home may be in order. Tickets are $10.
Downtown Plymouth’s Annual Halloween on Main event will be held on – wait for it – Halloween. More than 70 merchants participate in the trick-or-treating sugar rush. There will also be free activities, including face painting and pumpkin decorating. For more information, go here.
Uva Wine Bar, 46 Main St., has found a happy medium for Halloween. It’s hosting a Halloween Spirit Medium Dinner with medium Candace Dalton. (That’s the last “medium” reference, promise.) “Get into the ‘spirit’ of the season and possibly connect with loved ones who have moved on to the Spirit World,” Uva says. “Candace brings lightness and laughter to the atmosphere with her light sense of humor and kind heart. We foresee that it will be nothing like the time Paulie visited a psychic on “The Sopranos.” The doors open at 6 p.m. and charcuterie and flatbreads (included in the $85 ticket price) will be served from 6 to 7 p.m. Dalton’s reading starts at 7 p.m. The event is limited to 48 people. You can buy tickets here.
Burn off some of those empty candy calories during Dirty Water Distillery’s first ever Halloween Costume Run on Oct. 31, from 6 to 9 p.m. It’s being presented along with Marathon Sports and Kingston House of Pizza. “We encourage folks to go back to basics and choose basic costumes that truly embody the spirit of classic Halloween,” Dirty Water says on its website. “Let’s see some witches and ghosts and vampires out there.” The run, a 21-plus affair, is a costume-friendly mile around Cordage Park, followed by food and drinks in the taproom, 49 Cordage Park Circle. For more information, go here.
Monday, Oct. 14
Plimoth Patuxet Museums wraps up three days of programming in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, including the start of its newest mishoon, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, at the Historic Patuxet Homesite. (A mishoon is a traditional Native American canoe.) There will also be a scavenger hunt and coloring in the craft center. Access to the museum’s programming is free to members and included with Plimoth Patuxet admission. For more information, go here.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Plymouth Pride holds its monthly “Hump Day Beers with Queers” from 6 to 8 p.m. at Speedwell Tavern, 47 Main St. It’s a 21-plus LGBTQIA+ happy hour, with mocktail and non-alcoholic options available. (For those imbibing, Speedwell has an impressive rotating roster of draft beers.) The event is held on the third Wednesday of every month.
Thursday, Oct. 17
The latest performance in the Spire’s Lobby Series – set in the downtown venue’s 70-seat lounge area – will feature Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Sam Luke Chase. He self-produces his albums, performing all the music himself in a spare bedroom at his house on the South Shore. Chase was nominated for Male Performer of The Year at this year’s New England Music Awards. Presented by The Antonia and Vladimir Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund, the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and you can buy them here.
Friday, Oct. 18
Blues guitarist Ronnie Earl – with his band, The Broadcasters – will be at the Spire. Among other honors, he’s won the Blues Music Award for Guitar Player of the Year four times (most recently in 2018). He has also served as an associate professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2022, he released his 14th album, “Mercy Me.” The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $43.20 and $48, and you can buy them here.
Saturday, Oct. 19
David Abel, director and Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe reporter, will be at Plimoth Patuxet Museums for a screening of – and Q&A about – his documentary “Inundation District,” from 6 to 9 p.m. Prior to the screening, a selection of wines and seasonal hors d’oeuvres will be served. Abel’s latest film chronicles the issue of rising water levels in Boston’s Seaport District. He’ll take questions after the screening. Proceeds from the evening will support Plimoth Patuxet’s educational mission. Tickets start at $65 and are available here.
The Plymouth Masonic Lodge, 116 South Meadow Road, is holding its Oktoberfest from 1 to 6 p.m. “This is a culturally significant event, given it was specially organized by members of our lodge who are either originally from Germany, lived there at one time, or experienced the original Oktoberfest in Munich,” the Lodge says. There will be live music, games, plenty of food, and more. A $20 donation is suggested, but children can attend for free.
The Manomet Origami Club will meet at the Manomet branch of the Plymouth Public Library, 12 Strand Ave., from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, go here.
Moondance – Tribute to Van Morrison will interpret the music of the legendary “Belfast Cowboy” at the Spire on Court Street. Expect many of his classics, and maybe a deep cut or two (we suggest something like “Bulbs” from “Veedon Fleece.”) We’re betting that the singer won’t display any of Van’s sometimes-cranky behavior but will highlight many of his wonderfully eccentric vocal phrasings. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $32, and you can get them here.
Memorial Hall, 83 Court St., will be turned into a Halloween set for Jeff Cohen’s 28th annual Halloween benefit. See the lead item in this week’s column for more details.
Thursday, Oct. 24
The League of Women Voters of the Plymouth Area is hosting a Candidate Forum on at 7 p.m. in Plymouth Town Hall’s Great Hall. It’s a chance to hear from the candidates for County Commissioner, State Senate, and State Representative (Plymouth 1st and 12th districts). For more information, go here.