Attending pumpkin patches and watching scary movies are classic October activities, and McLane Stadium has planned yet another way to get in the Halloween spirit with their third annual Spooktacular event from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the stadium.
Spooktacular is sponsored by Lowe’s of Waco and features a variety of Halloween-themed activities like costume contests, games and trick-or-treating. Food will also be provided at the event.
Mike Krewson, McLane stadium general manager, said that expected attendance is around 2,500 people, and that Spooktacular is a community event open to all students and Waco residents.
“There are inflatables, games, costume contests and other activities like that, and it should be nice weather with plenty of parking,” Krewson said. “No one will go home empty handed, and it’s all about having an enjoyable place to have a good time with friends and family. It’s a great community event.”
Krewson hopes that events like Spootacular encourage the Baylor community to realize that McLane can be used as an event space along with serving as the university’s football stadium.
“Our task is to host or create outside-the-box events other than what the stadium was originally intended for, from a football sporting perspective,” Krewson said. “We want to create events that involve as many people as we can across the community. We hope Baylor students, Waco residents and people from surrounding areas can all come down and enjoy themselves.”
Nashville junior Bayleigh Clark appreciates McLane’s role in the community, with the stadium being a spot that initially drew her to attend Baylor.
“If McLane Stadium were to only host football games, I think it would be a pretty big waste of a beautiful space,” Clark said. “McLane is one of the first things I noticed about Baylor’s campus when I was applying, and I love its location at the edge of the Brazos. It’s spacious and really accessible to the Baylor and Waco communities, so it should also be a go-to for big events like Spooktacular.”
McLane hosted the first annual Kayak for a Cause fundraiser in August of this year and plans to host another kayak race in spring, along with January’s annual Miracle Match marathon. Krewson hopes events like these continue to bring life to the stadium.
“We’re also working on multiple concerts right now — Wade Bowen will be back,” Krewson said. “These last few months we’ve had a lot of interest in activities from Greek societies and other groups on campus, and if one group does something and it’s a successful event, success breeds success. We’ve been lucky to have a lot of repeat business, which is very positive.”
Clark sees Spooktacular as a positive way to unite Baylor to the community of Waco and gather a variety of people for the festive event.
“It’s such a fun event for families and friends to enjoy celebrating Halloween together, and I see it as a positive way to unite Baylor with Waco,” Clark said. “It’s great any time Baylor students are given the opportunity to interact with the Waco community since it creates a connection between the university and the city.”
Tickets are $5 for adults and $10 for children and will be available up until 7:30 p.m. the night of the event. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or at the McLane Stadium box office.
