SAVE HALLOWEEN 22: DISCO DE LOS MUERTOS
By Rafa Carvajal & Michael W. Sasser | Photos by Carina Mask
For more than two decades now, the estimable community group SAVE has brought together the South Florida LGBT community and friends for an annual celebration of all things spooky and colorful for Halloween.
This year will see yet another evolution of the wildly popular event as the spookiest and sexiest ghouls and ghosts in all of South Florida meet on the dance floor to benefit LGBTQ equality at Magic City Casino on Friday, October 28, at 9 p.m. for SAVE Halloween 22: Disco de los Muertos, proudly sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Bacardi, Grey Goose, and Magic City Casino. Tickets will be sold at the door for $150 for general admission and $200 for VIP. Prices for drink tickets at cash bars will range from $4-$8 and will only be available for purchase at the event. You can visit www.savehalloween.org for tickets and information. Wire Magazine readers can access specially priced $100 VIP open bar tickets or $75 general admission tickets using promo code: WIREMAG.
SAVE invites guests to dance the night away with several hundred of South Florida’s scariest and sexiest undead disco divas – with flowing cocktails by Bacardí and Grey Goose for VIPs, mesmerizing beats, and drag performances by Tiffany Fantasia, Athena Dion, Fantasia Royale, T.Lo Ivy, and Missy Meyakie LePaige. As always, SAVE is hosting the best killer Costume Contest at the best Halloween party in South Florida, presenting over $1,000 in cash and prizes to contest winners. For the hardest of partiers, DJ Alex Ramos, DJ Sushiman, and DJ Bill James are scheduled to serve nonstop undead disco inferno, throwbacks and electronic dance beats until 3 a.m.
Wire Magazine sat down with SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima, to get the scoop on this year’s SAVE Halloween 22: Disco de los Muertos.
Rafa Carvajal: Tell us about this year’s SAVE
Halloween Ball.
Tony Lima: This year will mark the 22nd annual
SAVE Halloween Ball. We’re so proud to have become one of the most anticipated
LGBTQ focused events in South Florida all year. We’re really excited to be back
at Magic City Casino’s Stage 305 for a second year and can’t wait to deliver
our best Halloween Ball yet! When you consider that this party started as a
small fundraiser for SAVE Dade in the ‘90s held at a private home in Belle
Meade and has evolved to the highly produced dance party for close to 1,000
people, you know you must be doing something right!
RC: What is the theme and how did you choose it?
TL: This year’s theme is Disco de los Muertos (Disco of the
Dead). While staying true to a classic Halloween theme, we were really excited
about mixing in the hedonism and sexiness of the disco era! Think Studio 54
meets Night of the Living Dead. Let your imagination run wild!
RC: What should guests expect at this year’s Ball?
TL: #SAVEHalloween22 guests should expect an amazing venue
at Stage 305 Magic City Casino, wonderful music, free flowing Bacardi and Grey
Goose if you choose to buy an all inclusive VIP ticket (otherwise you can buy
your drinks at the cash bar), dazzling lights, plenty of space to dance and the
most amazing costumes you will ever see. Our partygoers really take time to get
their outfits together in hopes of being selected to participate in our $1,000
costume contest that happens after midnight. This year, we also have more
entertainment than ever! We’ll have performances by fabulous drag queens T.Lo
Ivy, Athena Dion, Missy Meyakie LePaige, Fantasia Royale and Tiffany Fantasia,
sexy dancers and open format, retro and house music from DJs Alex Ramos, Bill
James and Sushiman. Leading sponsor AIDS Healthcare Foundation will also be
providing free HIV screenings for all guests. Sponsor This Free Life will also
have an animated photo booth so that partygoers have a live photo moment from
the event.
RC: Why did you decide to host this year’s party at the
Magic City Casino?
TL: Magic City Casino is a huge supporter of LGBTQ equality
and have been long time supporters and funders of SAVE and the work we do to
help achieve true equality in our state. The venue also happens to be one of
the best event venues in South Florida, with an amazing concert quality stage,
lighting, a thunderous sound system, room for over 1,000 people and plenty of
free parking. After the success and popularity of holding the event there last
year we knew that we wanted to return again to celebrate the 2016 Ball.
RC: How will this year’s Ball differ from last year’s?
TL: After the great reaction we had to the incorporation of
live entertainment at last year’s Ball, we’re bringing in extra dancers from
Jojo Vela productions and will be including some really exciting choreographed
dance pieces with our drag queens. We’re also working with Kent security, which
have generously provided us with additional security staff to ensure a safe and
enjoyable experience for all.
RC: Why is it important for members of the LGBTQ community
to attend this party?
TL: SAVE is the longest serving LGBTQ rights organization
in South Florida working to advocate for and secure the rights of our community
at all levels of government. We can only continue to do this work with the
support of the community at large. When you consider that in 2012 SAVE helped
prepare and elect our first openly gay State Representative, David Richardson,
in 2014 SAVE and the ACLU of Florida sued the State for marriage equality and
won, and now we’re close to helping secure work protections for the LGBTQ
community statewide this coming legislative session, the investment in our
organization is well worth it! Your ticket purchase will ensure that we can
continue to work towards full equality for LGBTQ South Floridians.
RC: How are the funds raised by your annual SAVE Halloween
Ball put to work?
TL: The money raised from this event goes directly back
into fueling the work that SAVE does. This includes our support for
pro-equality candidates and our grassroots work educating the community about
LGBTQ issues through phone banking, canvassing, lobbying, writing policy and
community outreach. All of the costs associated with the event are graciously
subsidized by our sponsors so that all of the funds raised at #SAVEHalloween22
go directly back to fund our work.
RC: Where should our readers go to buy tickets?
TL: Please visit www.savehalloween.org to purchase tickets!
Wire Magazine readers can access specially priced $100 VIP open bar
tickets or $75 general admission tickets using promo code: WIREMAG.
RC: Is there anything else you would like to share with Wire Magazine readers?
TL: Follow us at
www.save.lgbt or at SAVE’s Halloween Ball on Facebook.
This article was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 42.2016