Every once in a while I get the urge to live near a big city, like Reno, or New York, but then I remember I’m practically broke, and can barely afford to live in any city, let alone a tourist attraction city like Reno. But, the urge comes from events like the one in the title. For the last three years, the city of Reno has held its annual ‘Valentine’s Vampire Crawl’, during which all the fangers and fangbangers, get out of their coffins, don their fangs, and head to the streets of Reno for some good old fashioned undead fun. For some, it’s like Halloween, –there’s a chance to dress in your best vampire costume twice a year, and most people go for the sexy pop-culture vampires, while some prefer to stick with traditional old school classic Victorian-era vampires, and the rest, get dolled up in plaster and toilet paper for the scary, “eat-your-guts-shower-in-arterial-spray” sort of vampire.
Lucky for us, the local news, KTVN Reno, was there to catch all the action:
“The vampires were out of their coffins and roaming the streets of Downtown Reno. It may not be the most traditional way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but organizers said, that is the point.
“The Vampire Crawl just happened because nobody really likes Valentine’s Day,” Vampire Crawl organizer Ed Adkins said. “So let’s do something fun with it.”
This was the third annual Vampire Crawl, and bar-goers from all over town broke out their fangs and capes to celebrate. This year’s event had 16 bars participating, serving up drinks with names like “The Blood Transfusion” or “The Vampire Bite.”
The Vampire Crawl joins the ranks of Reno’s other themed pub nights, like the Santa Crawl, the Zombie Crawl, and the Superhero Crawl.
“It is fun,” Melting Pot Owner Eric Baron said. “It’s really fun to storm downtown with a bunch of santas or vampires or bunnies.”
“Just go out and have some fun,” Reno pub crawler Rick Miller said. “Let your hair down!”
The costumes ranged from the traditional vampires, to the pop culture variety.
“It’s mostly the sexy vampire,” Vampire Crawl volunteer Louise Brock said. “[There are] some cool full-on masks, a little Halloween-esque. It’s fun.”
“There is a lot of room for self-expression in there,” Baron said. “You can create your own look and then add some fangs and maybe a little white face makeup.”
All this vampire debauchery is welcome to many of the businesses downtown. Some say they rely on big events like pub crawls to keep their doors open.
“For some of these bars, these crawls are what keep them going,” Adkins said.
The Vampire Crawl also benefits one good cause. The proceeds from the drink special cups go to the Reno Collective, which helps local startup businesses and entrepreneurs.
“All of that goes to help support a worthy cause,” Adkins said.
Just about anything goes at the Valentine’s Vampire Crawl. Anything–except for a few key rules.
“Don’t litter,” Adkins said, “stay off the street, and pee belongs in the bathrooms.””
I wish I lived in a big city where stuff actually happens, and yours truly is actually moving very close to Kansas City soon, but really, unless you consider the semi-daily drive-by shooting a big event, there’s not a lot of fun activities. Reno apparently has about five different big pub crawl events every year, and if you live in the area, and are of age to drink, of course, I suggest you attend. On the other hand, I just can’t help but find it hard to believe that Reno, a big casino city, has any trouble keeping the doors to its bars open. If you attended the Valentine’s Vampire Crawl last night, drop us a line, tell us what you thought! …and if you peed anywhere other than a bathroom?
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