JOPLIN, Mo. —
The ghouls and ghosts at Raycliff Manor want to rock your face off this year before scaring you to death.
The haunted attraction has announced a new addition to its scream season: A rock festival called Screamfest 2010 featuring six bands. The lineup for the Sept. 25 concert includes local rock favorites, such as Brutally Frank and Krom; the headliner is The Independents, a horror ska band managed by punk rock legend Joey Ramone.
Kelly Allen, co-owner of Raycliff Manor, said hosting such a festival has been a long-held goal.
“We had trouble lining up the bands, and we couldn’t get things to click together,” Allen said. “But this year, things fell into place.”
Allen said a 20-by-32-foot stage will be built for the show, which is being hosted in conjuction with Dozerelli Productions. The manor’s parking lot will be cleared for crowds, vendors and a beer garden.
That means attendees will be shuttled to the manor -- concertgoers are asked to park at Macs Convenience Store on 32nd Street, where they can catch a shuttle to the show. Admission to the event is $25, which includes admission to the manor and Raycliffe Carriage House, access to the bands and admission to the vendor area and beer garden.
The festival starts at 3 p.m. and runs until 11, a few hours after the manor opens for the first time this season.
Allen said that the festival is the start of some regular features. He said the manor hopes to host three festivals a year, to be held in spring, summer and fall.
“We’ve come to realize that music is where it’s at,” Allen said. “People in the Four States Area are tuned into music, and we’d like to connect with that.”
The stage being built will also be available for theater companies to put on their own productions, he said. Some of those future productions may include darker portrayals of works by Shakespeare and Poe (which are already pretty morbid).
But the biggest thing the attraction hopes to launch is a community service project called “The Raycliff Revolution.” Allen said that vendors can set up a booth for no charge -- instead, they are being asked to donate 10 percent of any profits to a charity of their choosing.
“Our thing is part of the golden rule and to support the community,” Allen said. “We’d like to move forward with that in a big way, and the festival should help kick it into high gear.”
With everything going on, it might be easy to forget the star attractions -- the haunted manor and creepy carriage house. Allen said work continues to get them ready for this fall, and that tweaks are being made.
“We need to give our loyal fans some changes and surprises they won’t expect,” Allen said. “We’ve been focusing on actor training, to take everyone’s ability up to the next level. It will be completely over the top.”
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