by Patty Malesh
I was standing in an alfalfa field outside of Fort Collins on the last Saturday in October struggling with a Marie Antoinette wig and using the side mirror of my old Jeep Cherokee to perfect my eyeliner-born beauty mark. This was no ordinary costume party. No, I was about to trip the groove fantastic all night long in a pushup bra and hiking boots at one of the best kept secrets in Colorado. I had finally made it to Holler!ween.
Now in its 14th year, Holler!ween is the unofficial (and somewhat secret, read on) end-of-festival-season event in Colorado for those in the know. The brainchild of 2014 Telluride Troubadour Competition winner and frontman of The Holler!, Michael Kirkpatrick, the happening is a homegrown, community-centered, one-night-only music festival and campout that harnesses the best bands, brews and bohemia in Northern Colorado and belays them into a heated circus tent. It then adds mandatory costumes, a circle of all-diets-accommodated food trucks, an all-night bonfire, and more LED-lit, hand-carved pumpkins than is prudent.All that in order to manifest a “party where archaic revival takes priority over everyday rules.” New York had Woodstock. Nevada has Burning Man. Colorado has Holler!ween.
Unlike the Fort Collins based New West Fest and the Tour de Fat (and the Tour de Corgi if that’s your thing), Holler!ween is charmingly townie. Since the very first Holler!ween took place in an abandoned skating rink in Greeley in 2003, through its few years at the historic Bellvue Grange building, into its time at the Red Barn donated by its kindly matriarch in exchange for a pre-show, musician-labored “goat shit and pigeon carcass” cleanup, to the now secret-until-you-buy-your-ticket circus-tent location between Fort Collins and the Poudre, Holler!ween has maintained its for-and-by-the-NoCo-community ethos. Indeed, the invite strongly suggests first timers “bring a guide.”
“This is a gathering of The Holler! and Michael’s musical community, a call to the wild, a pause for a much needed ecstatic celebration with our friends and family,” says the invite. And while everyone is welcome, the event prioritizes an ever-expanding family of musicians and music lovers rather than making it onto clickbait listing “Best Fests of the West.”
The motto of this feisty festy might be “freak freely” but the heart is more focused. Every year, event proceeds go directly to protecting the people, places, and wildlife Coloradans claim as our own. Proceeds from years past have been donated to the Fort Collins Bike Co-op, W.O.L.F Sanctuary Colorado, The Sustainable Living Association, Flood recovery, the Larimer County Food Bank, and, not surprisingly, KRFC community powered radio’s Live Lunch show. The last of these donations helped KRFC buy new equipment to better showcase live local artists. This year’s theme is AlpenHoller—Celebrating Colorado’s 14ers and Alpen Culture.
Attendees of Holler!weens past can expect this year’s fest to offer the same signature mixology of boogie-inducing Colorado sounds as well as a surprise chaser or two of mustached Kirkpatrick panache. Last year, the crowdies were greeted by the Good Time Travelers, Kirkpatrick’s duo act with fellow Colorado darling (now turned Portlander) Pete Kartsounes. This year, there’s talk of a Kirkpatrick-led metal act. Reprising her performance from Holler!ween XII, Qbala is back with her legit brand of hip hop for the masses. Also on the bill is Lyons-based singer-songwriter and Loop Artist Arthur Lee Land. Kirkpatrick and his fellow organizers, Tony and Kellie Falbo, are keeping mum about who the late night/early a.m. psychedelic set artists will be for now.
Whatever comes to pass, the crowdies can count on the high-altitude, mandolin-driven Indiegrass of The Holler! itself to highlight the night. After the amps go silent around 3 a.m., roll-call musicians and crowdies alike can take part in the campfire acoustic jam of any and all picking, plucking, strumming and drumming equipment that made it to the show. Musical collaboration is an event mainstay. And Michael and friends want to keep it that way. So start planning your costume now.
Dress the Part
Here’s what you need to know if you, too, want be a Holler!weener! (Trust us. You do.)
1) Costumes are mandatory.
2) Bring your own cup.
3) Bring two cans to donate to the Larimer County Food Bank to take home your free commemorative poster by local artist and muralist Kenn Penn.
4) Doors are at 7:00 p.m. Music at 8:00 p.m., Pre-show Camping/Set-up 2:00 p.m.+
5) This is an outdoor event, although the stage/music/dancing is in a heated tent, so dress accordingly.
Don’t want to stay all night? Free shuttle rides to and from Old Town Fort Collins are available (with reservations) courtesy of BioDieselForBands.
Ticket Fee: $37.22 ($40 Door) includes camping and first draft beer
Food Trucks (PM/AM): The Silver Seed, Nomad Street Cuisine, BUZZthru Espresso
Buy Tickets Here: brownpapertickets.com/event/2594387
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/288259081523371/
Patty Malesh is the hostess with the mostest at The Castle B, Boulder’s only Rock & Roll themed “BudAndBreakfast.” She’s a sucker for banjos and glam rock, and she was once winked at by Bob Dylan. She uses “Channel your Inner Bowie!” as a battle cry. She also has a PhD.
