GHOST WALK RIVERSIDE 2008

Riverside, California

October 24 & 25, 2008

The “Ghost Walk” tradition began in Riverside in 1991, and the venue has continued to grow. Presented by the California Riverside Ballet and run and staffed by volunteers, the annual haunt is a celebration of the Arts Community and is held every October. The initial intention of Ghost Walk was to raise money for historical city buildings—saving them from demolition and providing reconstruction of dilapidated structures. We attended this amazing event, courtesy of Elizabeth Landfield. We arrived about an hour before the walk started. There was a main staging area in the center of town where multi-colored tours were available, each tour had a personal guide and weaved its way around the blocks of Riverside through multiple historic buildings (wear comfortable shoes) where play-like presentations were presented. The buildings were incredible and included the Aurea Vista Hotel, Back-to-the Grind, Division Nine North, First Congregational Church, Life Arts Center, Mission Inn, People’s Gallery, Riverside Art Museum and the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. We were able to attend quite a few of the performances, including the Riverside Ballet’s deathly performance, which was hauntingly stunning. Arabesques paired with iconic pop-culture proved a winning performance that would appeal to both layman and connoisseurs of the arts, regardless of their preference or persuasion. “Gallery of Fools” by Roxanna Paz was a creepy carnival of sins and sent shivers down our spines; being set in a basement had its own eeriness as well. “Immortal Dance” by Jacquie Prebich was held in the First Congregational Church and the actors were spot on with their performances as vampires. And “Reel 103 10/75” by Elizabeth Landfield which was held in the Life Arts Center, also where the VIP experience was staged, was another eerie tale centered around a few monitors that aired “recorded footage” of reel in the basement of a psychiatric patient; which left us wondering whether the tale was true or fictional. The tale was extremely well done, but the real story was what we heard afterwards—The Life Arts building was haunted. It seems that they have a spirit that likes to turn on the upstairs lights and open the windows; they were nice enough to allow us to peruse around the upper level which contains offices for local businesses as well as a door that opens up to the rooftop. The entire floor had a foreboding feel even with all the lights on, so we felt the need to quickly wrap things up. The new VIP Experience was held in the front of the Life Arts Center and included catered food, beverages and atmosphere, as well as their own VIP tour, which also included the catacombs. For the first time in 30 years they opened the catacombs beneath the famous Mission Inn to the public and it was definitely a must see. Numerous passages and rooms are cut beneath the Mission Inn and travel around underneath the city. Some passageways even go nowhere, reminiscent of the Winchester Mystery House. It was an amazing tour of history and we were both glad that it was opened this year.

We had a tremendous time and are looking forward to attending next year’s Ghost Walk. Thank you to Elizabeth for inviting us to cover the event and a special thanks to all the volunteers that make Ghost Walk so amazing!