By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Experience ghost tours and see haunted artifacts during Paranormal Fest at the Whitehead Memorial Museum, 1308 S. Main St., on Friday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 14.
The paranormal-inspired, ghost-themed event is put together by the Silent Society of the Paranormal and the Tipsy Gecko. Paranormal fest will run from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Friday, and from 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, and guests will pay $5 for admission.
Paul Mancha, one of the organizers, spoke with The 830 Times about the event, which took place alongside Draculinafest until he split it into a separate event in July.
The main attraction of the festival is the ghost tours, which are taking place from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and the highlight of the tours will be the use of technology to try and interact with the afterlife in areas at the Whitehead. Mancha will also have 10 items on display from his haunted exhibit, including his famous Pete the Clown.
Some of the guests attending the event will be the Real West Texas Ghostbusters, a non-profit organization of Ghostbuster cosplayers from San Angelo, and Jessica the Nun, an entertainer from Austin portraying the nun from the “Conjuring” movie series.
Mancha said the festival is a “paranormal/horror” market taking inspiration from Del Rio Comic Con (DRCC) by helping other vendors, both locally and from other cities. He said Del Rio gets lots of vendors because the city is close to the border.
Paranormal Fest will have over 20 vendors and other entertainment including tattoo artists, card readings, table-top games and live music. Mancha said the event combines various vendors from DRCC, Draculinafest and the Del Rio Renaissance Faire. Paranormal Fest will be similar to Draculinafest but with more of a focus on the themes of the paranormal and ghost tours.
Mancha also talked about his interest in including live music at the event. On Friday, Anakin (solo artist) will play at 7 p.m., and While They Bled will play at 8 p.m. Smooth music will also be provided by DJ Andres Lira. On Saturday, Youlogy will play at 8 p.m. and a rock group with Robert Mancha, Memo Trillo and Luis Rangel will play at 9 p.m.
Mancha said there will also be a Dungeons-and-Dragons section for people interested in table-top games, which will have sessions occurring between 6:30 and 8 p.m.
