Murphy’s Law was an uninvited guest to last year’s pre-Halloween festivities at Tractor Wells Park, as some may recall. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, it seemed.

Undaunted by that experience, Tractor events and marketing director Jeremy Kinter will bring back the Zombie Carnival this Saturday night from 6:30 p.m. to midnight.

“This is the first iteration of this concept after the Stranger Things Arcade Carnival, legitimately,” Kinter said. “Remember last year, we had to pivot. We didn’t do the parking lot thing. Red Light Cameras got sick. I basically just did a stripped-down version that really didn’t have much to do with this version. We just had a DJ, didn’t have any of the games.”

Tickets are $15 in advance on Eventbrite and $18 at the door for this festive event, which will be a feast for all five senses. First up will be a feast for the eyes.

“This year we’re going to do the full-on parking lot thing,” Kinter said. “We’re going to have a bar out there. It’s Zombie Carnival, so we’re going to have Conservation Carnivale doing carnival acts, like aerialists, fire show, stilts, all that fun stuff. They’ll be in the parking lot performing, doing that element of it.”

Then it is all about taste and aroma, as Umami Moto and A-Plus Creperie will provide the food to keep everyone satiated alongside the drinks being poured at the outside bar. The inside bar will be open, too, but this will help keep the lines down between both spots.

What about sound? Oh, and there will be plenty of live music throughout the night, as one would expect from any large-scale Tractor event.

“We’re going to have the bands out on the patio playing towards the parking lot,” Kinter said. “We’ll have a DJ first, Kaleido playing 80s beats. Then we’ll have Sauvecito, they’re phenomenal, they’re a Carlos Santana cover band and they’re great. They come in from Santa Fe. Then of course we’ll have No Manners. We’re all friends with them, too, they’re just great people. And then, closing it out, 88 Miles Per Hour, they’re a tribute 80s cover band and they’re pretty phenomenal, too.”

Then there is touch, and let’s not get creepy or anything, but the vendor lineup provided by Spectral Youth will have you covered in more than a few ways.

“As far as vendors, we’re going to have our regular vendors here, and then we’ll have Jordan Jonas doing magic, (and) Tiger Wraith doing actual tattoos, so flash tattoo, not just the temporary stuff,” Kinter said. “We’re going to have Warren Pemberton doing caricatures. And, of course, Self Serv doing the spanking booth.”

As our headline mentioned, there is also the fact that this is now an official New Mexico Brewers Guild event. That will certainly provide some extra benefits.

“We’re going to have a costume contest with some awesome prizes from local breweries that are being provided by the Guild, both couples and singles,” Kinter said. “It’s going to be a pretty serious prize pack for whomever wins that.

“One-hundred percent of the proceeds go to the New Mexico Brewers Guild, which is awesome. I’m glad to be working with them for this event. They’ve been wonderful in terms of getting the word out and working with me on this new iteration of this event. I’m very excited and optimistic about it. I’m excited about our band lineup, too.”

Kinter said this will be a Guild event “for the foreseeable future.” Naturally, that has Tractor making sure that there will also be a special beer release the day of the event.

“Also, we’re releasing our Midnight Harvest Black IPA that day,” he said, adding that the other two Tractor taprooms will also be tapping the new brew Saturday, just in case anyone can’t make the event.

Much like the streaming series’ cast, the Stranger Things concept has aged out. We are more than happy to see Tractor keep up the Spooky Season tradition of having the biggest brewery event of that time period, and are definitely looking forward to attending this weekend.

And, not just because we are also friends with everyone in No Manners. No, they are not a metal band, but we like ’em anyway.

Here’s to capping the best season with another epic night. A big thanks, as always, to Jeremy for taking the time to chat.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister