After a weekend of being closed due to Hurricane Milton damage, Happy Frights and Haunting Nights at Leu Gardens are back up and running. First up, it’s the kid-friendly Happy Frights in the early evening, and then the mood changes after dark for the more grownup-geared Haunting Nights.
Cole Nesmith is the Artistic Director and Founder of Creative City Project, the group behind Happy Frights and Haunting Nights. He says crews have restored the events’ carefully crafted sections called “immersive worlds,” and he can’t wait to share his favorites with guests again.
“For the latter part of Happy Frights, my favorite area is the Garden of Gargoyles - these brilliant stained-glass windows with light piercing through them,” Nesmith described. “It's a foggy environment…and then these four large gargoyles are moving amongst the forest there in Leu Gardens!”
“But when the sun goes down for Haunting Nights,” he continued, “I think one of my favorite areas is the Labyrinth, which is the home to some creatures, including the Minotaur, who guests will encounter as they go through this large hedge maze.”
Nesmith credits his husband, Creative Director Ramon Bermudez, as a partner in dreaming up and implementing the event’s scenes, themes, soundscapes, and creatures. “He and I work together to bring those worlds to life, from concept all the way through to execution,” he said. And he is quick to praise the sizable staff who carry out these visions, from actors and tech staff to food vendors to parking attendants. “Obviously, there are a lot of logistical challenges turning over from one show to the next in the middle of the evening, from Happy Frights to Haunting Nights,” he pointed out.
“But the reason we do what we do is to create meaningful moments of connection, and so whether that is a family coming and enjoying the trick-or-treating experience of Happy Frights…or maybe it's a group of friends who are coming and enjoying our UFO hip-hop-dancing aliens or a live mariachi singer in our Dia de Muertos celebration,” explained Nesmith, “by having the two experiences, we are able to host a wider range of audiences that can have those meaningful connections in the midst of our event.”
In fact, Nesmith said, despite its fear-focused reputation, Halloween is his favorite holiday. He says, like his event, Halloween creates connections in a unique way.
“To me, Halloween is the most relational of all the holidays. It’s often spent with people we choose to spend it with,” he said, noting there is no pressure to leave town and visit family for this holiday. “And it’s the one time of year when people go and knock on their neighbor’s door…on Halloween, we turn on our porch light and we give out candy and we say hello to our neighbors, and that, to me, is really the reason that I think Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, is because, to me, it feels the most relational, the most connected.”
Looking for more fun Halloween events in Central Florida? Check out our Spooktacular Halloween Guide!
