After last year’s event attracted 500 people downtown, the Derby Cultural Commission wants to hold another “Haunted Lantern Walk” next month.
“Last year was such a big hit, we want to do it again,” said Dani Soto, the co-chairman of the Cultural Commission.
The commission sent a letter recently to the Derby Board of Aldermen asking for permission to hold the event downtown the nights of Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20. Rain dates are scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.
(NOTE: Rich DiCarlo, co-chairman of the commission, sent a message to the Valley Indy Sept. 27 saying his commission’s letter to the Aldermen is incorrect and that Saturday, Oct. 20 is the only date).
The Aldermen will ponder the request at their Sept. 27 meeting.
Derby has become a paranormal hot spot in recent years, especially after the Sterling Opera House was probed by “Ghost Hunters,” a television program that aired in April 2011.
Video from the Derby episode is posted below.
About 1.5 million people watched the show — and 200 readers participated in a Valley Indy live chat the night it aired!
In addition, the Derby Public Library has become a popular spot for paranormal peeps trying to track down the ghost of Holton Harcourt Wood.
Both the library and the opera house will be among the Derby spots visited during the lantern walk, Soto said.
According to the letter from the Cultural Commission to Aldermen, other stops on the tour include the former Lincoln School, the carriage house at Adzima Funeral Home and the Irving School.
The tours are scheduled to go from about 6 to 10 p.m.. They start on the Derby Green at the gazebo, where participants will get a description of what “a ghost sighting or apparition” might look like, according to the letter.
“It’s good for all ages. It’s nothing gory, no one’s jumping out from behind bushes or anything like that,” Soto said.
The main attraction, though, is the Sterling Opera House, which is the last stop on the lantern tour, Soto said.
Once inside, the small groups (of about 10 people) will listen to actual audio captured inside the creepy building.
The commission is also hoping they can convince a few food vendors to set up shop during the tours.
Proceeds from the $5 lantern tours will be donated to the Sterling Opera House restoration fund.
The Cultural Commission members are also in the very, very early stages of planning — possibly — a “First Night” event on the Derby Green.
The highlight of that New Year’s Eve event — a giant hat ascending the Sterling Opera House, according to a letter from the cultural commission. The letter says the idea is to broach the subject with the Aldermen.
Soto said a First Night event could be expensive, so he’s not sure it’ll be something they can pull together quickly.
The Derby Aldermen meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers in Derby City Hall at 1 Elizabeth St.
As noted above, cultural commission co-chairman DiCarlo said his commission’s letter had mistakes in it.
