It’s that spooky time of year. Flying ghosts are swinging on your neighbors’ doorways and slimy pumpkins grace the ground. But what does a socially distanced Halloween look like? Check out this week’s list for some haunted options, along with a feminist science film series and a rallying voting initiative.
SPOOKY SCIENCE Welcome to your first (and hopefully last) socially distanced Halloween. The many creative brains at the Lawrence Hall of Science have thought up a Virtual Science Spooktacular that cleverly weaves together audience participation and science in action. You can display your decorated pumpkin in their Jack O’Lantern showcase, meet a bizarre animal from their Animal Discovery Room, watch pumpkins catapult across the screen and learn the tricks to do your own launch, watch their exploding science demos, and march digitally in a costume parade. Get into gear, jump into the world of science, and scare yourself with your new knowledge. Friday, Oct. 30. 5:30-6:30 p.m. $5 per family (free for members).
HALLOWEEN LIGHT SHOW If you’re dying to get out, but still want to stay safe, consider coming out to Fourth Street tonight and on Halloween proper. Just get into full costume, hop into your car, and drive around Fourth Street to enjoy a spectacular light show. As you cruise around during dusk, you’ll see colors, patterns, and shapes projected onto buildings in gargantuan scale. You may even see some costumed ghosts and ghouls posing in the street for the photo giveaway, where you can submit a photo of yourself or others in costume to receive a prize in the mail. Fourth Street has certainly put a lot of creativity into making this Halloween safe and special for all. Light show is Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 6:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.
DRIVE-IN HORROR What’s scarier than a terrifying film in a dark atmosphere? Even though you can’t enter a midnight screening in a movie theatre this year, you can drive into this outdoor showing of Hotel Transylvania at Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Enjoy the old school vibes as you watch a family-friendly film screening at 5:45 p.m. If you’re feeling brave, you can stay for the 8:30 p.m. screening of Sleepy Hollow. You can even order from food trucks to supplement your movie experience and there will be prizes for innovative costumes and Best Decorated Vehicle. Cruise on in for a Halloween movie experience. Saturday, Oct. 31. Hotel Transylvania begins at 5:45 pm. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Sleepy Hollow begins at 8:30 p.m. $35 parking fee per film grants access to movies and amenities.
SCIENCE + FEMINISM It has been 150 years since women were allowed to enroll at UC Berkeley. To celebrate this achievement, BAMPFA is presenting a series of documentaries and talks about women in STEM titled “Picture a STEMinist.” The series includes three recent films including Picture a Scientist—which inspired the name of the series—Coded Bias, and Woman and the Glacier. The three films follow women who have broken barriers in their fields from artificial intelligence to climate change. A running thread among the movies is the fact that despite the immense contribution that women have made in STEM, they still struggle with harassment, discrimination, and bias. Show up to this screening and support STEMinism. Next film screening is Coded Bias, which becomes available on Nov. 18. Rental fee $12.
RIDE OUT TO VOTE The clock is ticking down on arguably the most important election of our time! For those of you who are still on the fence, take a look at this video, titled Ride Out to Vote (ROTV), produced by Oakland-based equestrian Brianna Noble and filmmakers Yoram Savion and Kyla Searle. Filmed in the Bay Area, the video shows election ballots carried and delivered by heroic equestrians traversing vast swaths of land. The message is simple and clear: every vote counts. They hope to inspire people to exercise their civic duty in the last remaining days. Get out to the polls (or your mailbox or ballot drop location), take a photo of the momentous occasion, and share it with hashtag #RideOutToVote.
