Three of Kingsport's biggest Halloween events fall on Saturday, Oct. 24, and all three start within two hours of each other. Bays Mountain Park After Dark opens at 5 p.m. The DB Excel Trunk or Treat takes over Broad Street at 5:30. Richard Marx takes the stage with Symphony of the Mountains at 7. All three happen only that night, and none of them overlap neatly with the others.
The good news is in the rest of the calendar. Much of what each Saturday event offers turns up again somewhere between Friday, Oct. 23, and Halloween itself. That includes the laser show, the trick-or-treating, and even the downtown evening out. The way to plan the week is to work out which parts of Saturday really can't be repeated, and then move everything else to another day.
Three one-night events, two hours apart
Here is how Saturday evening shapes up, with the details each organizer has published.
| Event | Where | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park After Dark | Bays Mountain Park | 5 to 9 p.m. | $10, $25 or $30 passes |
| DB Excel Trunk or Treat | Broad Street, downtown | 5:30 to 9 p.m. | No price listed |
| Richard Marx with Symphony of the Mountains | Toy F. Reid Eastman Employee Center, 400 S. Wilcox Drive | 7 p.m. | Through the symphony |
Two earlier events can lead into any of them. Toyota of Kingsport's second annual Car & Bike Show runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at 2525 E. Stone Drive. It's free, with no judging and no prizes, so you can stop by for half an hour and leave. Create Appalachia's Art That Moves Us Soirée runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at MeadowView, with live art, music, food, and live and silent auctions.
Whatever you pick, the 7 p.m. concert sets the hard limit. Anyone with Marx tickets has a fixed end to their afternoon. Everyone else has to decide between the mountain and Broad Street.
What happens only at Park After Dark
Park After Dark is the event with the most pieces you can't get anywhere else. The city's announcement describes trick-or-treating at the animal habitats with Bays Mountain's animal ambassadors, a pumpkin to paint and take home, and wolf folklore at the wolf habitat that ends with the crowd howling together. Sunset barge rides leave at 5 and 6 p.m. StarWatch runs from 7 to 9. The pumpkin table is open any time from 5 to 8.
"With glowing stars, spooky sights and plenty of Halloween surprises, there's going to be something for everyone to enjoy at this year's Park After Dark," said Miranda Wanninger, Bays Mountain's chief ranger of visitor engagement.
The passes come in three tiers, and the price difference comes down to two items:
- Bat Pass, $30. One barge ride, one laser show, one pumpkin to paint, trick-or-treating and the hot drink station.
- Moth Pass, $25. Everything in the Bat Pass except the pumpkin.
- Wolf Pass, $10. Trick-or-treating and the hot drink station. You can add a barge ride for $6, a laser show for $10 or a pumpkin for $5.
You need a ticket for every Park After Dark program, and gate entry is free for ticket holders. The city encourages buying ahead because many programs have limited capacity. Bays Mountain members get 10% off any bundle.
One line on that pass list matters for planning the rest of the week. The $10 laser show add-on is the part of Park After Dark you can most easily see on another night.
The laser show runs almost all week
Bays Mountain's planetarium is running Laser Fright Light through the last stretch of October. It's a Halloween laser program set to everything from the Monster Mash to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under. The event page names six dates, Oct. 22, 23, 27, 29, 30 and 31, but its session schedule gives times for only five of them, with nothing listed for Oct. 22. If you're hoping to go on Thursday the 22nd, check with the park first. Here are the sessions the park has published:
- Friday, Oct. 23, at 2 and 5:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 30, at 2 and 5:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m.
For a family deciding between Bays Mountain and Broad Street on the 24th, this takes some of the pressure off. You could pick the $10 Wolf Pass on Saturday for trick-or-treating at the habitats, then come back for Fright Light on a Tuesday or Thursday evening. Families with younger children have another reason to return on Halloween morning. Bays Mountain is offering a free Halloween Yoga for Kids session from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Fox Den Playground, for ages 3 and up. Registration is required.
So the mountain is part of Halloween week from the first Friday through the last Saturday, and Park After Dark is the busiest of those visits.
Downtown opens the stretch and closes it
Downtown Kingsport has its own one-night Saturday event in the Trunk or Treat, with candy, food trucks, and costume and trunk contests along Broad Street. The Downtown Kingsport Association also has events on the Friday before and on Halloween itself.
Witches Night Out runs Friday, Oct. 23, from 5 to 8 p.m., with shopping, tastings, music, specials and photo ops throughout downtown. The Laboratory is the sponsor. General admission is $20 and includes a digital promotion passport, a goody bag, and an armband that unlocks specials at participating businesses. If you check in at six businesses, you're entered in a drawing for one of three gift card and merchandise packages. Proceeds support the Downtown Kingsport Association.
If the passport sounds familiar, that's because Downtown Kingsport Restaurant Week, running this week from Oct. 5 through 11, uses the same idea. That passport asks for four check-ins to enter its prize drawing, and more than 30 downtown businesses are expected to take part. Use it this week to find the places you'd like to return to on the 23rd. Rivers of Love Coffee House at 123 Broad St., which opened in March, makes an easy first stop.
On Halloween, Trick or Treat on the Street runs from noon to 2 p.m., with children in costume visiting downtown businesses. BarkBound is the sponsor. Because it's a midday event, it fits on the same day as the morning yoga at Fox Den and an evening Fright Light session.
Sunday and the weekdays catch the rest
Boo Fest at the Kingsport Farmers Market, 308 Clinchfield St., runs Sunday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It brings together more than 50 small-business vendors, kids' crafts, mini photo sessions, food trucks, trick-or-treating among the vendors, and a $5 all-day bounce house pass. For a household that spent Saturday night at the concert, Boo Fest is the costume outing the kids didn't get to have.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Kingsport Public Library hosts a Pumpkin Party from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Allandale Pavilion, with games, crafts and snacks. The 5:30 Fright Light session that same evening means one after-school afternoon can cover both.
The week, day by day
- Friday, Oct. 23. Fright Light at 2 or 5:30 p.m., or Witches Night Out downtown from 5 to 8.
- Saturday, Oct. 24. Pick one evening event: Park After Dark from 5 to 9, the Broad Street Trunk or Treat from 5:30 to 9, or Richard Marx at 7. Before that, there's the Toyota car show from 4 to 7 or Art That Moves Us from 4 to 8.
- Sunday, Oct. 25. Boo Fest at the Farmers Market, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27. The Pumpkin Party at Allandale Pavilion at 3:30, then Fright Light at 5:30 or 6:45.
- Thursday, Oct. 29. Fright Light at 5:30 or 6:45.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Fright Light at 2 or 5:30.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. Halloween Yoga for Kids at 10:30 a.m., Trick or Treat on the Street at noon, and Fright Light at 5:30 or 6:45.
Plan it this way and Saturday the 24th goes to whichever event your household would most regret missing. Whatever you skip that night, whether it's the laser show, trick-or-treating or a downtown evening, comes around again within the week.
If family coming in for Halloween week has started asking what it would take to live closer, or you've been wondering what comes after the house you've lived in for decades, Kristi Bailey is happy to sit down over coffee on Broad Street and talk it through. Let's Talk About Your Move.
