By Hayden Seder
For the fourth year in a row, Ketchum resident Nick Harman has taken it upon himself to save the annual Halloween event, Nightmare on Main Street. While the City of Ketchum formerly footed the bill for the party out of its annual budget, it now only pays for Main Street to be closed between 2nd and 4th streets. This year’s event will take place from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 27, with music playing from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.
“I used to create really elaborate costumes for the Halloween Main Street event,” Harman said. “They would take about six weeks. Four years ago, about 10 days before Nightmare on Main Street usually happens, I couldn’t find any advertising for it and the costume contest, so I called the city. They told me they weren’t putting on the party this year but that, as an individual, I was welcome to take on the event.”
Since moving to Ketchum, in 1994, from England, Harman has been to every Nightmare on Main Street, an event that used to be notoriously raucous back in the days of Slavey’s saloon.
Harman took on the job, raising the $2,000-$2,500 necessary to pay for the stage, security and music. He also went through the process of getting the correct permits and finding someone to insure the event, the key hurdle. Each year, Harman raised funds for the event through the crowd-sourcing site, GoFundMe. For the first two years he put the event on, Meg Vorm, of the former Cornerstone Bar and Grill, on Main Street, Ketchum, insured the event, taking out the necessary insurance to keep the party going. This essentially meant filling out the application as an event for The Cornerstone that happened to spill out into the street.
“Sometimes local business has to step in when government can’t,” said Vorm, Cornerstone’s former owner. “We love Halloween, and this event is a great tradition, so I was honored to step in for two years and do what I could.”
The main sponsor of last year and this year is Warfield Distillery & Brewery, which also supplies the necessary insurance. Ketchum Works is the event’s other head sponsor this year, after making a large donation on this year’s GoFundMe site. The goal for the fundraising this year was $1,500, which has, to date, been surpassed. Other sponsors for the event are Sushi on Second, The Sawtooth Club, The Cellar Pub, Whiskey Jacques’, Grumpy’s, The Casino and Sawtooth Brewery.
The costume contest portion of Nightmare on Main will take place at 10 p.m., with judges perusing the crowd from 8-10 p.m. and handing out tickets for people to enter the contest. There will be five categories for costumes: scariest, sexiest, most creative, best group and best overall. Prizes will be gift certificates from the various event sponsors.
As in the past, DJ Loco will play, but new to the lineup this year is DJ Doc Rock, an ER doctor who will add a laser light show to his set. This year the emcee will be Lynn Mason-Pattnosh, of Eye on Sun Valley. Pattnosh will co-host with Alyssa Claffey, who volunteered to help the event in any way possible.
“I think it’s important to have the event, so if it takes me to organize it and put it together every year, so be it,” Harman said. “We’ve had great participation from bars, restaurants and individuals.”
Harman’s ability to put on events stems from his last 12 years at Smith Optics, where he worked trade shows and events. In addition to Smith Optics, Harman has worked for the water company, Vyykn, and put on several Indian-restaurant pop-ups in town.
For updates on Nightmare on Main, visit facebook.com/groups/nightmareonmain.