Good ideas can spring from the most unlikely of conversations.

Sometimes that can apply to beer recipes, other times it can apply to events for breweries. For Tractor Brewing, it was the latter.

Tractor’s events and marketing coordinator, Jeremy Kinter, was fulfilling his duties as a member of the board of directors for the New Mexico Brewers Guild this summer alongside executive director Ebbie Edmonston. Kinter was already thinking of what to do with his brewery’s annual pre-Halloween event.

“So we wanted to go with something very different,” he said. “We thought that last year’s thing (Zombie Carnival) was a little too generic, so we really wanted to hit on something that was unique that hadn’t been done before. And, we happened to be doing the IPA Challenge in Las Cruces and Ebbie and I were watching the Scooby Doo live action movie. And I was like, you know, what would be a good theme is spooky island, and so (we said) let’s do it. You know, why not?

“So yeah, the the idea came from a road trip for the IPA Challenge in Las Cruces. We decided to go with it and go all out.”

The Spooky Island Carnival will take over Tractor Wells Park this Saturday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. It will feature a lot of fan favorites, plus some new elements.

“We’re having a skull disco ball being made (like) the one that’s featured in the movie, so that’ll be here too, and we’re gonna also raffle it off,” Kinter said, noting one thing that’s different and tied into the the 2002 film.

There will be a lot of returning merchants and services, Kinter said, plus some new booths set up outside and inside. Dave Grimm will be back doing magic, plus a tarot card reader, the ever-popular spanking booth, printing by Seragraphia, a caricature artist, face painting by SweetLeaf Creationz, and plenty of additional vendors curated by Spectral Youth. Umami Moto will handle the food.

“We have flash tattoos by Tiger Wraith, and they’re doing special Scooby Doo-themed flash tattoos, which is really cool,” Kinter added.

As for the carnival part of all of it, Conservation Carnivale will provide fire dancers, aerial performers, and more.

“One of the big parts of the concept is the carnival aspect, and so we teamed up with Conservation Carnivale,” Kinter said, noting that organizer Endion Schichtel “has the green machine, which is funny, because, you know, it kind of fits with the Scooby Doo theme.”

Well, yes, our longtime friend does indeed have a green van/truck, though it’s not quite the Mystery Machine. If she were to dress it up for a night, well, no one would mind (no pressure, Endi).

“And then we also have one of our better, if not our best music lineups of all time,” Kinter added.

DJ Riff Rat will lead off at 7 p.m., followed by The Asteroids playing a mix of rock ‘n roll/doo-wop/jump blues classic covers. Innastate will follow with some groovy reggae tunes. Prism Bitch will finish the night with their energized mix of punk and rock and whatever the heck else they like.

As always, the entire front parking lot will be closed to cars, with just the vendors, performers, Umami Moto, and the like. So yeah, if you can, utilize a rideshare or a designated driver as the street parking in that area of Wells Park always fills up fast. Plus, of course, there is the alcohol aspect of this whole thing that means it is always safer not to drive. On that front, Tractor is going to get a bit creative.

“Another thing that we’re adding is we’re doing some tiki cocktail specials,” Kinter said. “So we’re doing cocktail for each character from Mystery Incorporated, so except for Scooby Doo.”

So that still leaves a Shaggy, a Velma, a Daphne, and a Fred. Hmm, we can only imagine what the bartenders have come up with for each of them.

As for the beer lovers, Tractor will be releasing Heller Bock at all three locations Friday, so that new brew will be on tap alongside a strong mix of current seasonals and the regular lineup.

Those should help everyone have plenty of courage of enter the costume contest. Kinter said there will be prizes for individuals, for pets (they are allowed this year), and for groups/couples. Scooby Doo-themed costumes are encouraged, but it’s really open to everything and anything.

Oh, yeah, and for those lacking babysitters, fear not, you can bring minors as long as they are well behaved and under constant supervision.

“This is one of the first times that minors will be allowed with parent or guardian,” Kinter said. “Because I understand the theme is (Scooby Doo) and I want people to bring their dogs and yeah, there will be something for everyone here, even for kids, with some great music, good food, amazing vendors and just entertainment all throughout.”

The best part of it all is that 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the New Mexico Brewers Guild, just like last year.

Tickets are $20 online up until Friday at midnight, and then they will be $25, the same price they will be at the door.

As always, a big thanks to Jeremy for taking some time out of one of his busiest weeks of the year to chat (we would have done last week, but one of us was battling our first cold of the season, and it wasn’t Jeremy).

Get on out there, dress up, get silly, and support a good cause this weekend. There will be no ruh-roh, right?

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister