Bats Day in the Fun Park

Bats Day in the Fun Park, which is also known as "Bats Day", "Goth Day", "Bats Day in the Park" and "Bats Day Out", started in August 1999 as a joint effort between the promoters of the goth/industrial and deathrock clubs Absynthe and Release the Bats. It has since turned into a 3-day event taking place in Anaheim, CA near Disneyland. In previous years , the events commenced on the weekend before Labor Day [Chuck Klosterman (2007) "Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas", ISBN 0743284895. The chapter of the book about Bats Day was originally printed in the July 22, 2003 issue of "Spin Magazine" as [http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2003/07/something_wicked_this_way_comes/ "Something Wicked This Way Comes"] (the article title is a line from "Macbeth") ] [ [http://idolator.com/tunes/release-the-bats/the-worlds-saddest-people-visit-the-worlds-happiest-place-291580.php "The World's Saddest People Visit The World's Happiest Place"] , by Maggie Bandur] . However, starting in 2008, the official Bats Day celebrations are to be held on November 8th & 9th; the official Bats Day for 2009 is slated for May of that year. [ [http://www.batsday.net Bats Day website] ]

Events

Bats Day in the Fun Park consists of four events:

* The Bats Day Black Market - A large gathering of vendors selling spooky items: clothing, music, artwork, books, collectables, toys other original dark genre items.

* The Bats Day Creepy Cocktail Party - This event typically happens the night of the Black Market, and is a catered hors d'œuvres cocktail party with live entertainment and DJs.

* The Nightmare Before Bats Day Dinner Meet & Greet - This event happens on the eve of Bats Day. It entails a full sit down dinner event, with live entertainment and DJs.

* Bats Day in the Fun Park - The Big Spooky Trip to Disneyland, CA. The main event entails Bats Day patrons dressing in their Gothic attire for the annual visit to the park. There are also scheduled events and gatherings on this day, including a large group picture in front of Cinderella's Castle, group pictures at the Haunted Mansion, and a photo scavenger hunt, to name a few.

History

The event started as a relatively small goth "meet up" event; it has grown to include more aspects of the goth subculture. Other dark subcultures represented at the event include Horror Punk, Horror Rock, Halloween, Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Black Metal, Hearse Societies, Industrial and EBM.

The event draws people from not only the local area but all over the world, including New Zealand, England, Brazil, France, Germany and Mexico. It has evolved into a family friendly event, as well; parents in this subculture are able to further bond with their children at an event such as this one at the "Happiest Place on Earth", where they might otherwise be regarded as a "out-of-place" on any other weekend at Disneyland or other theme parks.

Information about this "dark subculture" 3 day event, as well as photos from prior years, can be found on the [http://www.batsday.net official website] .

References

External links

* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97119,00.html Fox News Story]
* [http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/when-you-wish-upon-a-scar/20708/ OC Weekly article]
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