THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29
Uptown masquerade
When was the last time you went to a masquerade, complete with masks and all? This Halloween bash will have masks for sale, if you didn’t get a chance to pick up yours. The organizers are promising an evening of live music, dancing and of course, food. Reed Fromer Band, an R & B group, will perform, and there will be a “surprise celebrity guest.”
This is a benefit for the Fox Theater, with proceeds going to Friends of the Oakland Fox, which preserves the theater, and to East Bay Emergency Relief efforts.
Thursday, October 29, 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
The Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph General admission:$20, VIP: $100
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
Pre-Halloween with Frankenstein
Want a low key beginning to your Halloween? Watch the 1948 scary comedy, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein on the big screen at the Paramount.
The Paramount, 2025 Broadway
Box Office opens at 6:00pm, doors open at 7:00. The curtain rises at 8:00pm
All Tickets: $5.00
10000 Things That go Bump in the Night
Chabot’s having its Halloween party with live music from BandWorks School of Rock, a costume contest, spooky beverages, views of the cosmos (if the weather holds up) and a special haunt jaunt crawl of things that go bump in the night with the Galaxy Explorers. Kids of all ages –and all kinds of costumes – welcome.
6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Boulevard
$20 Adults, $15 Students/Members $8
6th Annual Dimond Howl-o-ween Pet Parade & Costume Party
Don’t leave the pets out of the Halloween fun! The Dimond movers and shakers at Paws & Claws are hosting a party for you and your pets. Meet at Paws and Claws, then join the 6 p.m. parade through the district collecting treats, then return to Paws & Claws and enjoy the outdoor campfire, food & drinks.
$5 Donation Benefits PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support)
6 p.m.to 9 p.m. Paws & Claws 2023 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland 510-336-0105
pawsnclawsoakland.com
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
Days of the Dead Fiesta 2009
On Saturday, head over to La Borinqueña Restaurant & Specialty Shop in Old Oakland for cooking demonstrations, folk arts and crafts, and to celebrate both the Day of the Dead holiday as well as the 10,000 Steps project. Old Oakland impresario Tina “Tamale” has put together an afternoon that anyone who loves Mexican food and culture will enjoy. If you miss this event, catch up with the tamale queens at the Fruitvale festival on Sunday.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
582 7th Street at Jefferson
Halloween Haunted House
If your kids are into scary Halloween events, consider what the folks at Studio One Art Center are offering. They’re hosting a haunted house – for adults and kids. There will be face painting, games and light treats.
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Studio One Art Center, 365 45th Street
$2 for children accompanies by adults, $2 for adults with children, $3 for everyone else.
For info, call 510-597 5027
Celebrations on Piedmont/Halloween Movie Night for Kids
Oakland retailers are really getting into the Halloween spirit. On Piedmont Avenue, they’ve got a full day of Halloween activities – free cartoons at Piedmont theater, a grand parade, trick-or-treat, face painting, live music, and a lot more. Check out the complete schedule at piedmontavenuemerchants.org/halloween-parade-09-schedule
And when the day’s over, Video Room on Piedmont will have a kids costume contest and a free screening of the Nightmare Before Christmas. Remember to take your chair and blanket.
7 p.m.
4364 Piedmont Avenue
Free
For questions, e-mail: Mandel Lum twentybelowzero@gmail.com
Thrillerthon: Haitian Day of the Dead party
This Halloween costume party celebrates Haitian “Gede” and Michael Jackson’s thriller. DJ Epic and DJ Mpenzi will spin Soca, Soukous, Samba, Soul and Dancehall. El Wah Movement Caribbean Dancers and the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble will perform.
The Den @ the Fox
1807 Telegraph Ave, Uptown Oakland
Doors open @ 8:30 p.m., $5 before 10pm/$10 thereafter
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
The Annual 2009 Fruitvale “Día de Los Muertos” festival
It’s happening! Earlier this year, it had looked like Oakland’s Dia De Los Muertos Festival would be a victim of the recession. But Council member Ignacio de la Fuente intervened. With some help from the City, the Day of the Dead celebration, which is the largest festival of its kind in the Bay Area with more than 100,000 attendees, is back on its feet.
Held in Fruitvale every year, this one day event will feature more than 20 altars, art and craft vendors, traditional Latin American foods, musical performances, and an interactive exhibit by the Oakland Museum of California. There’s also going to be a kids area with games and rides.
The festival honors a traditional holiday in several Latin American countries, where families and friends gather to pray for and remember ancestors and relatives who have died. If you’d like to volunteer, get in touch with Claudia Burgos at
cburgos@oaklandnet.com
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Along International Boulevard between Fruitvale Ave. and 35th Ave.; at the Fruitvale Transit Village; and along 12th Street to 37th Avenue in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California
Free
Sunday Book Readings
Poets C.S Giscombe and Charity Ketz will be reading at Diesel in Oakland. Giscombe, the editor of Mixed Blood, a poetry journal, has written several books of poetry and a memoir. His newest collection is Prairie Style. Ketz, a Ph.D student in English Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, recently had her first poetry collection published – The Narcoleptic Yard.
3 p.m.
Diesel – A Bookstore, 5433 College Ave., dieselbookstore.com
Local author Canyon Sam will be reading from her new book, Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History, at Laurel Books.
4 p.m.
Laurel Books, 4100 MacArthur, 510-531-2073