Musical Remembrances of Halloween Past

Halloween or All Hallows Eve celebrated on the 31st day of the 10th month has many traditions in Lethbridge. Including costumes, trick or treating games even Halloween concerts.

The Lethbridge Community Silver and Gold Bands have started their own tradition with their Halloween-themed concert beginning in 1995. On that year, the Silver Band presented its first concert Halloween concert October 28, at the El Rancho Travel Convention Centre. The venue was decorated in true Halloween fashion with black and orange streamers, black cats, spiders, and pumpkins. Selections for the evening were A Night on the Bald Mountain by M. Moussorgky; The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber; the Ghostbusters theme by Roy Parker Junior; Gallop by Aram Khachaturian; The Headless Horseman by Timothy Broege; by Harold Arlen and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukes.

The Gold Band, formed in 1987, rehearsed on Thursday evenings. One particular rehearsal fell on Halloween night in 1996. Not to miss out on the fun, all members dressed up in costume. Led by Dracula director Bob Cook, the band members, each in their own scary costumes, moved through their repertoire with concentration, and ease. They also had a good appetite for the Halloween treats and scary moments at the social following the rehearsal.

In 2000 and onward, the Halloween concerts gave way to Fall concerts. There was still a flavor of scariness in the program and to the delight of all music lovers in attendance.

Get in Halloween spirit this year at the Galt Museum & Archives’ All Hallows Eve Museum Community Evening on Friday October 30th from 4–8 pm. Admission is free. Join in the fun for this family-friendly event to get ready for Halloween! There will be treats and hands-on activities. This is a costume rehearsal for the big event. Go on a tour of the building and hear the ghost stories, if you dare!