Weekend Warrior: October 2022

Don’t let your Oct 1-2 weekend plans get flushed down the toilet!! It’s time for the World Championship Outhouse Races at Historic Virginia City.  Indeed!!! These are THE “World Championship” Outhouse Races, and it’s a spectacle you won’t want to miss.  You’ll be thoroughly entertained as creative crappers parade and then speed down C Street in an “all out” race to the TP finish line. This hilarious tradition began when outdoor plumbing was outlawed in Virginia City, and angry residents took to the streets in protest in their outhouses. Don’t miss out on the fun that begins at noon and wraps up at 3:00 each day.  For more information, please go to VisitVirginiaCityNV.com.

You Can’t Stop the Beat!  Hairspray, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, is back on tour! Join 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960’s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams, and even bigger hair, change the world? This all-new touring production will reunite Broadway’s award-winning creative team led by Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell to bring HAIRSPRAY to a new generation of theater audiences.  Featuring the beloved score of hit songs including “Welcome to the 60’s,” “Good Morning Baltimore” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” Hairspray is “fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful!” (The New York Times). Purchase tickets online to this traveling treat in store for Reno at PioneerCenter.com.

Pageantry reimagined!!  Miss Teen USA and Miss USA return to Reno Thursday, September 29 through Monday, October 3. The long-weekend event is so much more than what you see on TV.  Preliminary shows offer spectators and the competition to get first looks on who has shown up to put her best pump forward.  Each Miss USA titleholder is the crown jewel of her state, and the costume show gives each contestant the opportunity to strut the runway in a glamorous ensemble that captures the spirit of her state. The costume show, a dress rehearsal, the finale show and the afterparties are all open to the public!  For all the great details and ticket info/sales, visit GrandSierraResort.com.

HAUNTED GHOST TOURS at the GOLD HILL HOTEL
THURSDAYS THROUGH OCTOBER 2022 (5 pm dinner/6:30 tour & 6:30 dinner/8 pm tour)
GOLD HILL HOTEL – VIRGINIA CITY, NV

The Gold Hill Hotel, as seen on Ghost Adventures and proclaimed the “8th Most Haunted Location in Nevada,” is now offering Historical Ghost Tours. The tours benefit The Comstock Foundation for History and Culture and are hosted by the Northern Nevada Ghost Hunters (NNGH). Your evening starts with a gourmet dinner in the Crown Point restaurant followed by a NNGH-guided tour taking you back in time with tales of the history and the hauntings of the hotel and the surrounding area, known as Slippery Gulch. Using ghost hunting tools and techniques, you can try to make contact with the spirits still in residence at the hotel. Please note that you will be touring some of the actual haunted rooms in the hotel as well.
Before the tour or during the intermission, quench your thirst and calm your nerves with a drink in the 150-year-old bar that was once frequented by Mark Twain during the heyday. It’s an evening to remember. For more details and to purchase tickets in advance, go to VisitVirginiaCityNV.com.

Looking to discover some of the greatest up-and-coming artists to hit the music scene. Offbeat High Desert Fest brings 57 talented bands, duos and solo artists to show off their mad skills over 3 days and at 7 local venues. Yes, Midtown Reno is the place to be October 6-8, 2022.  Get your live music fix with single-day passes, splurge for a multi-day pass, or even go VIP.  Check out the complete schedule, the full line-up and buy your tickets online at OffBeatReno.com.

Calling all fitness gurus!  Your time has come to rub elbows with, and/or participate in one of the biggest multi-sport festivals in the country, Legion Sports Fest!  The ultra competitive fitness event features some the most ripped bodybuilding specimens in this arena and hosts hundreds of fitness vendors. Among the sports that will rock the Convention Center during the three-day event are Strongman, Powerlifting, Armored Combat, Arm Wrestling, Functional Fitness, Roller Derby, Kickboxing, Olympic Weightlifting, and more. Learn more about Legion Sports Fest and plan your expo at CenterPodium.com.

Don your favorite elastic-waistline pants, grab your buds, and head out to the Grand Sierra Beer & Chili 2022 on Saturday, October 15 to treat your senses to an afternoon of pleasure and fun!  While listening to San Francisco band The Spazmatics, you’ll relish in samplings of hot chili and washing them down with ice cold regional and national craft brews, and feel good all over!  Votes are on the line as chili chefs compete for the People’s Choice Prize. It’s a good time to be had by all 21+ event goers. Your ticket purchases also benefit the Reno Rodeo Foundation. Visit EventBrite.com for more info and ticket sales.

PUMPKIN PALOOZA
SATURDAY, OCT 22 – SUNDAY, OCT 23, 2022
VIRGINIA SQUARE

Experience the magic of Halloween October 22-23 at Virginia Square when Sparks goes “everything PUMPKIN” at Pumpkin Palooza. This awesome annual community event offers games, prizes, contests, costumes, and more at Nevada’s largest Fall Festival.  Named a “Top 10 Fall Event” by Food Network Magazine, Pumpkin Palooza brings two full days of good, old-fashioned family fun. Presented by Bill Pearce Motors, the event is free to attend and features affordable and wholesome activities for all ages, including the Midway, the Purple Pumpkin Pursuit, the Pumpkin Design Studio, costume photo ops for people and pets, vendor trick or treating, carving classes, food trucks, and kid-friendly live entertainment. Pumpkin Palooza is also home to Nevada’s only Jack-o-Lantern Wall and the only Pumpkin Derby in the state. Learn more at PumpkinPalooza.org.

It’s a total post mortem outbreak, when the walking dead take to the streets of Downtown Reno!  20,000 corpses converge on over 40 taverns and bars, in search of something to quench their thirst at Reno Zombie Crawl, named by USA Today as one of the “10 Best Costumed Halloween Parties in the Nation,” and Redbook as “The Best Way to Celebrate Halloween in All of Nevada.”  In true Reno form, this is one of the largest crawls of its kind and YOU can be a part of it!  Don’t know how to morph into a zombie?  I’m sure you can find a YouTube video or two out there to help you. Learn more, from where to get your cup, to where to go, at CrawlReno.com.

It’s all the rage with toddlers these days, and this show is LIVE at the Reno Events Center on October 23!  Yes!!  It’s CocoMelon Live – JJ’s Journey.  You and your littles will join JJ and his family in this unique, interactive and unforgettable live musical adventure as they embark on a toe tapping, fun-filled, surprise journey in this Broadway style production. The show bursts with fun special effects and offers new songs and dances you and your family will not want to miss!  Purchase tickets in advance and learn more about CocoMelon Live at CocoMelonLive.com.

Bring your proton pack and join the original paranormal investigation and elimination team as they capture their first ghost, Slimer, and encounter their first god of destruction, Gozer the Gozerian!  The Reno Philharmonic accompanies the film at Ghostbusters in Concert that features Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as eccentric parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City after their careers in academia go awry. The film’s co-stars include Sigourney Weaver as the Ghostbusters’ first client turned Gatekeeper, Rick Moranis as an accountant turned Keymaster, and Ernie Hudson as the Ghostbusters’ first recruit. Purchase tickets in advance at GrandSierraResort.com.

Founded in 1969, Dance Theatre of Harlem is a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim, encompassing a professional touring company, a leading studio school, and a national and international education and community outreach program. Each component of Dance Theatre of Harlem carries a solid commitment towards enriching the lives of young people and adults around the world through the arts.  Now in its sixth decade, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a multi-cultural dance institution with an extraordinary legacy of providing opportunities for creative expression and artistic excellence that continues to set standards in the performing arts. Dance Theatre of Harlem has achieved unprecedented success, bringing innovative and bold new forms of artistic expression to audiences in New York City, across the country and around the world. On October 30, Reno is honored to host this amazing group of dancers right on the Pioneer Center stage.  For more details and ticket sales, please visit PioneerCenter.com.