Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, the greatest festival on earth is about to begin! Step right up folks! Don’t be shy! Be prepared to witness the whimsical, the outlandish, the macabre, and the beautiful!
Be amazed! Be awed! Be scared! Sideshows around every corner….have you ever laid eyes on a human pin cushion? Have you ever witnessed a dance through hoops of fire? How about a snake charmer? Wandering freaks and street performers will leave you in awe. We’ll have fire eaters, fire spinners, contortionists, the whole nine yards! But, please, heed my warning and beware of the clowns!
October 12th, 2019 is the fourth annual Wickedly Whiting, the Region’s original and only all Halloween, oddities and horror festival! The fun starts from 11a.m. and lasts until 11p.m.
Stroll along the midway and shop the peddlers selling their tonics, treasures and unusual merchandise. Just watch your back. You’ll never know who or what will be behind you… Visit the beer garden with live entertainment . One of a kind local craft beers and meads will be on tap! The beer garden is family friendly until 5p.m. Comfort foods of all kinds will be available from our many traveling vendors.
Want to take some scary home with you? Shop at one of our many specialty vendors where you will find the most eerie haunted porcelain dolls, voodoo dolls, unique art and paintings, ceramic skulls, taxidermy art, and much more! Come one, come all! Enjoy the one and only, delightfully deceiving, mutely mischievous, perfectly preposterous, terribly tantalizing festival like no other before!
Dress up and scare your way throughout town! Cosplay contest will take place throughout the day. Cosplayers will show up at the designated booth and have photos of their cosplay taken. Photos will be uploaded to Kojika Cosplay on Facebook and on the Wickedly Whiting page. Winners will be announced at 10:15p.m. in the beer garden! There are 9 winning categories: best craftsmanship, best adult, best original, best youth, runner up adult, runner up original, runner up youth, most popular, and judges award. Get creative and bring your family and friends for a frightful day in Downtown Whiting.
Don’t have kids? Are your kids too cool to dress up? No problem! We are adding a Pet Costume Contest to our list of activities. Pet costume contest will take place at the Wicked Stage located in front of the Chamber at 2p.m. You can register your iguana, fish, dolphin, or monkey for $5 at the Chamber any time now through Wickedly Whiting. Don’t worry, 100% of the profits for the pet costume contest will go towards the Whiting Animal Shelter. Adopt don’t shop, unless you’re shopping for a costume then shop away! There’s a prize for every size!
Let’s not forget about the pumpkin spice everything! Kidding, but we will be hosting a Pumpkin Carving Contest! Please bring your pre-carved pumpkins to the Chamber the day of Wickedly Whiting. Judging will take place at 9p.m. with the help of our friends at Studio 659. The winner will be announced on Facebook! We’ve seen some pretty wacky pumpkins throughout town. Show off your carving skills at our one of a kind festival. Be creative, scary, and weird!
The scares start on Friday, October 11th with the Monster Dash 5k. Registration begins at 6p.m. Run begins at 7:00 p.m. Register by October 4th to be guaranteed a t-shirt. Register online at active.com or call the Chamber at 219-659-0292!
For more information on Wickedly Whiting you can visit our website at wickedlywhiting.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
If you’re interested in volunteering for Wickedly Whiting, please give us a call! Our fest would not be possible without the help of our volunteers. Huge thank you to everyone that’s helped out, we really appreciate it.
See you at Wickedly Whiting!
Story by Sue Baxter at PanoramaNOW