This Halloween weekend, the village of Riverhead will host its first Edgar Allen Poe festival as part of the continued effort to revitalize the waterfront village. The festival was proposed and planned by Sal St. George, the Medford playwright who has organized the annual holiday Charles Dickens festival in Port Jefferson for 13 years. Village officials jumped on the proposal, which was suggested for 2015, with just one lofty alteration: the push to premiere the festival for 2014. The goal is to energize the public toward gravitating into Riverhead for weekend events, thus boosting revenue for the theatre, brewery, farmers market, restaurants and shops that line Main Street and the Peconic River waterfront while celebrating one of the most notable scribes in literary history and the thrills of Halloween horror.
This year's festival will present a double feature at the Suffolk Theatre on Sunday, which will include two of Vincent Price's classic film performances in the Edgar Allen Poe tales, "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." On Halloween night, the theatre will be showing one of the season's traditional films, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Also on Halloween, there will be trick-or-treating along Main Street in the afternoon, followed by an evening costume parade. A fireworks display will take place on Saturday night.
Also planned are a monster mash music party, haunted storytelling, plenty of Poe impersonators, and portrayals of Poe's literary characters will roam the streets. Be sure to embark on a haunted boat ride along the Peconic River. Local dancing feet have taken to the street to rehearse their number for a mob dance show to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and the Peconic Ballet Theatre will present their ghostly Nightmare On Main Street performance.
There will be presentations in which other classic macabre authors, including Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Washington Irving, will be the focal subjects of discussion. Film buffs will enjoy presentations that delve into horror filmmaking and highlight the genre's veteran actors, including Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and more. The Suffolk County Historical Society will be displaying an informative Edgar Allen Poe exhibit. Featured contests will include pumpkin carving and lamp decorating.
Appropriately, the Edgar Allen Poe festival commences on Friday, Halloween, at 3:00pm and will continue through Sunday, November 2. On Saturday, be sure to stop at the Riverhead farmers market, which makes its indoor debut for the season in its new spacious location on the corner of East Main Street and McDermott Avenue. Duck into the Crooked Ladder Brewing Company for a refreshing seasonal pumpkin ale. There are plenty of options for dining, including Tweed's, Dark Horse Tavern, Digger's Ales N' Eats, Blue Duck Bakery and Cafe, Star Confectionary and Joe's Garage and Grille. Many of the area eateries will be featuring menu items that tie into the spooky thriller theme and will host live readings of various works by Edgar Allen Poe. Check out www.riverheadbid.com/edgar-allan-poe-festival-halloween/ and download the flyer for a detailed listing of all festival activities.