Originally published on buffalorising.com
For the second year, I’m happy to announce that The Witches Ball will be played out at The Hotel @ The Lafayette. Riding on the success of its inaugural outing as a macabre masquerade, this year we are turning up the heat by offering more live music, more dance acts, and more mayhem in general (while keeping in mind that the event is hosted inside an elaborately restored historic hotel in the heart of Downtown Buffalo).
Besides being a masquerade, where partygoers will fit right in by just wearing a suit or a dress, along with a mask, there will also be cash prizes for best overall costume, sexiest guy/girl, and best steampunk getup. We’re adding a second banquet room for the steampunkers too. Called Cirque du Steam (presented by JPHii Design)…
The room will feature The Savage Buffalo Snake Oil Show (freak show), Pyromancy, Avius Me, and the Armageddon Party. John has also enlisted the help of ghost hunter Tony Burtis, who will be catching The Rose Witch of the West Side (the hunt and capture take place tonight), and releasing her at the ball*.
There’s something for everyone this year, from disco sessions put on by Disco Duck, to 80s retro thrown by That 80s Hair Band (both playing in the Grand Ballroom)…
Live music in the Crystal Ballroom will be After Hours – a steamy cabaret band that plays their own versions of tunes from bands that range from Lou Reed to Morrissey.
In that same room DJ Mike Sunglasses will be spinning throughout the night…
with infill performances by TWP Dance Productions (Toronto/Buffalo)…
Fleuron Rouge belly dancers (Crystal and Grand)….
Eye Candy burlesque (Crystal and Grand)…
And of course the Thriller Dancers from the David De Marie Dance Studio will be back…
Curator Mark Madden and his macabre artists will be hosting a gallery showing in the Auto Club Room (off of the Grand Ball Room)…
Mason Winfield will present the All Soul’s Night Faire, with henna, fortune tellers, tarot card readers, séance circles, tea leaves, mental mediums, astrology, palm reading, – all taking place upstairs in yet another banquet room (next to Cirque du Steam)…
Dan Harper with Magic Show in the Pan Am room…
Terror Technologies will be back with their electric chair, zombies, coffins and don’t forget about Fattie King…
This year’s charity of choice is The Wash Project (learn more) who will be present at the affair…
About The Rose Witch who is to be caught and released at the ball:
*”The Rose Witch of The West Side (and Black Rock) was an old neighborhood gal, probably German-American, who used to frequent the streets about the foot of Hertel. When she heard of a newborn, she approached the slightly older brothers and sisters, offering them “a rose for the baby”. All the adults were wary of her, but if the tots were gullible enough to take the blossom home with them and it found its way to the room of the infants, they suffered mightily from inexplicable ailments. Several times the priests were called. The specialists among them were said to be well aware of the phenomenon and usually able to help, but it was a massive bother to everyone. My confidant (an old Black Rock lass) remembers this tale from her childhood, probably around the first few decades of the 20th century. She even claimed that an uncle was so tormented as a baby, though he grew into a fine, happy man.” – Mason Winfield
The Witches Ball | Hotel at The Lafayette | 391 Washington St., Buffalo, New York 14203 | Thursday, October 31, 2013 | 8:00pm until 1:00am – See Facebook | Lighting effects by Joel Resnikoff
A glam to ghoul Halloween party in Downtown Buffalo NY – 21 and over.
Tix are $25 presale and $30 at the door (upon availability) – purchase a ticket.
Here are some memorable photos from the inaugural The Witches Ball:
