Episode 20, Talking South Carolina Podcast Interview with Roseann Harpold Founder of Hauntfest, the spirit of Halloween all year round.

Episode transcript:

Angela Barrett – “Thanks for being with me today. I like your, partner in crime there, too.”

Roseann Harpold – “Oh, yeah. The kid he came to join me today and.”

Angela Barrett – “So, Rosann. Tell me, what in the world is Heart First, LLC? It’s hook ups, right?”

Roseann Harpold – Sorry.

Angela Barrett – “What was that sound like? A pop up. What we think at Christmas time, like these little pop up things. But this is something planted related.”

Roseann Harpold – “And I, you know, it’s it’s a little bit bigger than a pop up. To me, haunt Fest is kind of like a big Halloween party, but off season. So we do this all different kinds of the year, and have been trying to expand to different places. And so our next event is in Greenville, but there’s live music, vendors, activities, other themed entertainment, but it’s all centered around horror and the horror arts, the macabre.”

Roseann Harpold – Anything related to that?

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. I took a look at the website and the Facebook page. So your your event in Greenville. Is what starts December 13th, Friday 13th.”

Roseann Harpold – Yeah. It worked out perfectly.

Angela Barrett – “Yeah, yeah. So tell me about tell me about that. Particular, event.”

Roseann Harpold – “So this event in Greenville, we’re trying something a little bit new. Nightmare dungeon haunted attraction, of course, is already there. And me and my family have gone for years, and I really enjoyed it. But usually our festivals are different venues, like breweries or sometimes camps in the woods. But this is a new type of venue for us.”

Roseann Harpold – “So we thought maybe it would be fun to kind of combine our markets, because Nightmare Dungeon already has their Christmas event and they do events on Friday the 13th. And so with the addition of Haunt Fest, we’ll be outside of the haunted attraction during the festival with the music and the vendors, etc. on food and drink. And then they will also be hosting their haunted attraction that weekend as well.”

Roseann Harpold – So you could do one or both things if you come out.

Angela Barrett – “So tell me what the haunt fest, what y’all do? I know you said it’s a festival in your event, but tell me what happens with you guys outside of Nightmare Dungeon.”

Roseann Harpold – “Yeah. So basically, it’s a ticketed event. You can come dressed in costume. I like to kind of describe this to people as a Renaissance fair, almost, but with a spooky twist. So you come, you can dress the part, enjoy food and drink that are all themed to the event. Go listen to some music. We have bands pretty much going the whole time and we’ve got flow artists there.”

Roseann Harpold – “All the vendors are, of course themed to the event. So, you know, someone just applied just now, actually, who does glass art? That’s all spooky themed. It’s like organs and things that you can wear as a necklace, which is a little freaky, you know? But, yeah, that’s that’s the kind of stuff we’re into. Sometimes we have animals on site.”

Roseann Harpold – “So this event, there’s actually a petting zoo. Emmett’s farm is coming and bringing various types of animals for the petting zoo. And we’ve had snakes in the past, and kittens dressed in Halloween costumes, things of that matter. But. Yeah. So we’ve got, burgers coming and, barbecue trucks and the traveling tavern is going to be selling beer and wine.”

Roseann Harpold – “So you just kind of come have a good time with your friends and family and hang out with us for a while. And we also have scare actors that walk around during the event to try to spook you while you’re hanging out. So that’s another,”

Angela Barrett – “There’s like live music and vendors. And you said, what kind of artist?”

Roseann Harpold – “Macabre or, sometimes there’s taxidermy. There’s, you know, individual artists that.”

Angela Barrett – Can be scary and.

Roseann Harpold – “Artwork, lots of jewelry artists. There’s also let’s see, there’s one that signed up for this event that I’m really excited about, the shrunk 3D Greenville. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them before. But they I think what they do is they put you in their trailer box and do a scan of your body, and they print a little 3D action figure of you, which that’s really cool, especially if you come, you know, all dressed up in costume, ready for the event.”

Roseann Harpold – “You know, this is it’s to go all out and then get a miniature version of yourself.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. How did y’all come up with this idea? Came up with this idea, I guess.”

Roseann Harpold – “I started the business. I’m a student, undergraduate at UGA, and I’m actually graduating that we can have the event.”

Angela Barrett – “Oh, wow.”

Roseann Harpold – “But it was kind of an accident. I have always loved Halloween. My family’s always done a Halloween party, and we, used to have a hand house in my home growing up. So it’s always just been near and dear to me. And in college, I kind of learn, you know, I love getting together, having gatherings at my house, and, realized that I could kind of combine, you know, having a party and my love for Halloween into one event, and live music, because I’ve always loved live music.”

Roseann Harpold – “So, I ended up going to an after school program for entrepreneurs, and they suggested that I kind of tested the idea to see if people would want to go to a kind of horror event outside of the month of October. So I hosted one in Athens, Georgia, in May and it had an incredible turnout, and people were really excited about it and wanted it to come back.”

Roseann Harpold – “I had no idea it was going to pop off. And, so since then I’ve been trying to grow it.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. And see, I know you have another one coming up. What is it after? This will be sometime in April, I guess. Back in Athens, right? Yes. Yeah. Cool. So now, you’ve got, Well, who are your entertainers? You already have your entertainers lined up for the December 1st in Greenville.”

Roseann Harpold – “Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to advertise them just yet. The books just came out this past week, so we’re still waiting on responses before that will be released. But, I’d say there’s going to be probably 5 to 6 bands a day. And they’ll just be going throughout the event switching out. Lots of different local bands.”

Roseann Harpold – “Some are volunteer, some are paid. You know, they when they sign up, they can choose either or, and some are kind enough to volunteer for the event, which is really awesome, especially for a first year event to get us off the ground.”

Angela Barrett – Yeah.

Roseann Harpold – “But yeah. And that’ll all be released on the entertainer info page of our website whenever it’s ready in our socials. We also would love to share that. So if anyone’s interested in seeing the the music lineup, that’ll be coming out soon.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. So now in combination I guess, with the what was it called? The nightmare.”

Roseann Harpold – Nightmare dungeon.

Angela Barrett – “Dungeon? Yes, yes. So, this is going to be a pretty big event because, I mean, for people who don’t know what that is, help, help them there. Explain what that is.”

Roseann Harpold – “So Nightmare Dungeon is a haunted house that is permanent. It’s been there for years and years. I don’t know when they open, but, every time they have their events, it’s packed. So you go, get your tickets, you stand in line. They have games and things you can play while you’re waiting in line because they, you know, have a lot of people come.”

Roseann Harpold – “But they are one of only a few places that actually does events outside of October, which I think is super cool. Yeah. So they always have their Christmas event. It’s, I think it’s only one weekend. Usually when they do that and then, they’ll have Friday the 13th events, but they have their own website if you’d like to check it out.”

Roseann Harpold – “And kind of see more of what they do. But, you know, they’re professionals and it’s pretty awesome. Haunted house.”

Angela Barrett – Yeah. And.

Angela Barrett – “Y’all will be right outside of there with all the vendors and the music and that kind of stuff. So and the tell me again, the event will be I know it’s that Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Right. The Toms.”

Roseann Harpold – “It’s from 2 p.m. to midnight each night. You know, whatever ends up wrapping up. So, you know, Sunday night may it may end a little earlier. Just depends on how long people want to stay out there. But we’ll have things to do up until midnight.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Now, what do you think? Where are you think this is headed? I know you’ve got another event. Do you think this is you’re going to keep doing this? I mean, are you graduating? But are you on this?”

Roseann Harpold – “The plan is, to see how far this can go. I’d like to make this a national event, if I can. And just, you know, after graduation, go full speed and see if I can get an annual event going in each area. And right now, this Greenville event, I’m hoping, you know, if it catches on, that this could be the annual event for South Carolina.”

Roseann Harpold – “But you know, it all.”

Angela Barrett – In all is Columbia. And by the way.

Roseann Harpold – “We try to avoid, bigger cities.”

Angela Barrett – Because.

Roseann Harpold – “I think that it’s really important to focus on the arts in our, you know, art based areas, music based areas that are kind of mid-sized, versus, you know, we won’t do an event in Atlanta, for instance, because it’s just too big of a city. They have enough going on there. There’s lots of things going on all the time.”

Roseann Harpold – “So we like to find areas that may not have something like this going on already and who people may want to, you know, have it in their backyard versus having to drive hours to go see something like this.”

Angela Barrett – “Right, right, right. Well, for that matter, come to Lexington, which is where I am. We are on outskirts of, Columbia. But, we have, lots of bands, lots of artists. So we’ve talked to many bands, but yeah, you should check us out and I’ll, hook you up with, maybe some people who could help get that started.”

Angela Barrett – “But, yeah, that’s exciting. I mean, I’m a big haunted house person, but I like a real haunted house. I don’t want somebody to really scare me, but. Not down. It’s up to you and I just go out laughing, but, just have that, you know, that thing where I remember taking my son when he was little and he was scared as I had to just hang on to the left or coming out on the left to the right.”

Angela Barrett – “It was just one of those senses that you kind of have, you know? So I’m waiting on the haunted house. That really scares me. But anyway. But I can’t get my husband to go with me, so I’ll have to find the key, but, Yeah, I like the idea. I think this is great. Now, what else can you tell me about the weekend that’s going to be going on?”

Angela Barrett – There at the festival?

Roseann Harpold – Let’s see. One of the.

Angela Barrett – Lot I know.

Roseann Harpold – “So on Saturday, Fridays and Saturdays, they’re more catered to adults. So if you’re looking to come and have, you know, see a lot more gore or have a lot more scares at the event, that’s when we tell our actors, you know, you go crazy. You know, this is the day for adults. Are the two days and Sundays are more family oriented.”

Roseann Harpold – “So if you have kids that you know might be too afraid to go into Nightmare Dungeon, for instance, but you want to come enjoy a Halloween themed event, that’s the day to go, less gore or actors or told, you know, be less scary. Be kind to the kids, you know, they’ll kneel down next to them, take pictures.”

Roseann Harpold – “And we have trick or treating on those days and other, you know, themed events for kids.”

Angela Barrett – The Lord knows if they didn’t get candy.

Roseann Harpold – “Yeah. But yeah. So if if you are interested in coming, just keep that in mind. You know, if you want to decide which days based on that information. But yeah, we also, you know, typically have authors come out that do thriller and horror themed literature. So if you are an author and interested and coming, vendor applications are still open as well as, we’re looking for event staff and things of that nature.”

Roseann Harpold – “But, another thing I had mentioned is we do crafts. So the Hunt Fest merch area, we have, activities like pumpkin painting. And even if it’s off season, we’ll have little plastic pumpkins that you can paint and bring home with you. The little ones are free. And then we have bigger ceramic ones if you’re really into painting, the purchase that at the the merch area.”

Roseann Harpold – “On Sunday we also do a release of The Ghouls. So Friday and Saturday the ghouls are out all day. But Sunday for the family friendly event at 6 p.m., I believe, we’ll have all the ghouls come onto the stage and have a little speech and release them out. So if you have kids that really seriously cannot even look at a scary person, you’re safe, you know, from 2 to 6 p.m. there won’t be any out.”

Roseann Harpold – “And then at six after, you know, well, it’s still won’t be super crazy, but it’ll just be like, here’s everybody that’s going to go out into the crowd and they’ll be released, into the festival.”

Angela Barrett – “And eat and eat meat. Well, now, when you talk about these, actors and actresses do, is there, they just kind of walk around doing their own thing, or they actually put together kind of what they’re going to do together, or is there a practice or it’s just really they just do their own thing.”

Roseann Harpold – “They really kind of do their own thing. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Mad World, but they kind of have, spooks within this area at the end of the haunt where you can just kind of hang out and there’s Fire Pit and they walk around. And that’s kind of what was there. They’re out there to get pictures with people that sneak up behind you when you’re not paying attention.”

Roseann Harpold – “But yeah, I mean, if they wanted to get together, do something, I can’t tell you if they’ve talked ahead of time, but that’s, as far as just, the free roaming, they will just be there for your enjoyment.”

Angela Barrett – “Well, it sounds like a lot of fun. So, again, the 13th through the fifth, December 13th through the 15th, 15th, in Greenville, and in front of the, ninth year dungeon. And where is that located? I was looking for an address.”

Roseann Harpold – I believe it’s 645. Let me double check before I say it. I’ve been typing it a lot over in a recently. Yeah. 645 Old Anderson Road in Greenville.

Angela Barrett – “Yes. Well, I, hope I get to come check it out. I’m not sure I’ll be able to that weekend, team turns out to be, I have a saying of that myself, sir. And a book signing with an author. Children’s books. Not scary. But, hopefully, maybe I’ll be able to squeeze that in, but y’all have a great time.”

Angela Barrett – Sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for coming. And tell us about it.

Roseann Harpold – “Yeah, thanks for having me.”

Angela Barrett – Absolutely.

Roseann Harpold – “Yeah. If you don’t mind, there’s actually there’s a couple more things. I just remember.”

Angela Barrett – That. Sure.

Roseann Harpold – The big deal.

Angela Barrett – About that was a lot. That’s why I asked.

Roseann Harpold – “And sorry, I ended up needing to scroll through the website. There’s so much to, to remember here. One of the things is we have trivia. So if you’re interested in horror themed trivia, we give out prizes for that. There’s costume contests. So really, we want to encourage you if you want to come out to dress up, cosplay, do whatever you do.”

Roseann Harpold – “Spooky, spooky, the better. But also, it is a Christmas event, so take that as you will. Some people may want to come out of this theme. You know, we’ve got Krampus. Krampus is a big one. And then where is it? We are also doing face painting, so there’s I, there may also be a balloon artist.”

Roseann Harpold – “So if you’re into any of that, you can go get your face painted. And maybe they’re spooky up for the contest. Who knows?”

Angela Barrett –

Roseann Harpold – “And then one other thing is, we do have a haunted car showcase. So there are several people bringing hearses off for display for the event. So if you’re into cars, it’s also something I. Sorry, I should have mentioned earlier. Yes.”

Angela Barrett – “Okay. That’s bull. I’m glad I knew there was a good bit I was, that’s why I was asking. Yeah. Well, the car thing that doesn’t. That does sound cool. Yeah. To fun. Do you think anything else?”

Roseann Harpold – “Right now? No. I’m sure something will come up later, but it’s all right. It’s all on the website. So if you’re interested in learning more about the event, we try to keep that as updated as possible. And our Instagram is at haunt, says Athens. Even though it’s for the Greenville event, I know, but that’s where we will send highlights about specific vendors and things as they come out.”

Angela Barrett – So good.

Roseann Harpold – “Yeah, you shouldn’t keeping up with it. That’s where of like.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah, it’s heart fest dot net. Yes. And then the Facebook is Hunt Fest LLC and then yes.”

Roseann Harpold – “And there is a group. Yeah, there is a group on Facebook, called Haunt Fest, South Carolina. So if you’re interested in joining the group, any time we have an event in South Carolina, we’ll be posting information there.”

Angela Barrett – “Oh, cool. Fantastic. Well, thank you so much. This was great. That that sounds like a lot of fun. Hope you all have a great turnout. I’m sure you will.”