First Stadium SPOOKtacular this weekend

Photo credit: Photo Illustration by Trey Honeycutt

This Halloween, the first ever Stadium SPOOKtacular will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday at McLane Stadium on the covered 100 level concourse.

A family friendly event, the SPOOKtacular will have classic Halloween festivities like trick-or-treating, face painting, a duck pond game and a haystack search. Painting with a Twist will sponsor pumpkin painting. There will be also be a costume contest divided into three age groups.

This family-friendly event is presented by Lowe’s of Waco and will end with a showing of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” a classic film about a young boy who befriends a kind alien. The movie will start at 7 p.m. and will show on the stadium’s screen. The film will be provided by the Waco Hippodrome.

“We try to bring new things to the community, so everyone can come out and enjoy this beautiful facility, inside and out of it,” said Tyler Gambrell, marketing and box office manager for McLane Stadium.

Anthony J. Garcia, web content producer for News Channel 25, said the station is partnering with McLane Stadium in this event. News anchors Ann Harder and Bruce Gietzen will emcee the event and judge the costume contest. In addition, the station is giving away five four-packs of tickets this week to Saturday’s event. They will announce winners on “The Texas Report Midday” at 11 a.m. every day this week on Channel 25.

Once inside, all games and activities are free. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for ages 2-12. A family 4-pack of tickets can be purchased for $30. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the McLane Stadium box office. More information and links to ticket sales may be found at mclanestadium.com.

Lowe’s is sponsoring the event by both monetary contribution and helping with supplies and decorations. A team from Lowe’s helped build the games for the event.

“[Lowe’s] helped us build a McLane Stadium corn hole game and donated decorations like pumpkins, flowers and hay bales,” Gambrell said. “Brett King and his team have been fantastic. They’re really supportive and really got behind this event.”

SMG Research Corporation came onboard to manage the stadium facility two years ago. Gambrell said SMG made a commitment to the City of Waco and Baylor University to bring new, diverse and exciting events to the stadium, creating a more functional sports-entertainment facility. Previous events include the Brazos River Ribfest last April and the No Limits Monster Truck World Championship last May. Stadium tours are also offered.

The potential for rain on Saturday won’t affect the event.