Sid & Nancy’s Hollaween Explosion: Good music and good costumes for a good cause

Sid & Nancy’s fifth annual “Hollaween” Explosion is a costume party that draws an expansive and inclusive crowd, from college students to young professionals.

Heather Burns, co-owner of Sid & Nancy, said last year’s best costumes included a group that came as characters from the reboot of “Mad Max” and a guy who came dressed as famed PBS paint-by-numbers artist Bob Ross, complete with a painting palette.

This year, the costume contest categories are: Most creative, scariest, best group, best dead celebrity and most basic.

“People every year have great costumes,” Burns said. “There have been a lot of celebrities that have passed away recently so I’m sure we’ll see a lot of that. That’s a category we added this year.”

The event will be held at Music Farm to accommodate the ever-expanding number of partygoers. And with Music Farm comes the promise of music. Lots of music.

Garage rockers Debbie and the Skanks, indie folk band Barnwell, and The Deadbeat Club (a B-52’s cover band) will perform. Spinning on the ones and twos will be local DJs Alejandro Florez, Siji, and Bakari Lebby, aka QT Kapowski.

Proceeds from the event will go to Girls Rock Columbia. The organization is part of an international Girls Rock camp alliance that provides music programming and mentorship to girls, trans and gender nonconforming youth.

Burns said last year they were able to donate $1,800. Her hope is that with the larger venue they’ll be able to donate an even larger amount.

“We think (Girls Rock) is great for the community,” Burns said. “A lot of their campers shop with us.”

THE VIBE: A costumed dance party with live bands, DJs and did we mention the photo booth? You could end up in a picture with a who’s-who of dead celebrities or a who-knows-what costume from someone’s imagination. There’s only one way to find out.

THE VERDICT: Possibly one of the hottest events around town that night. It checks all the boxes if you’re looking for a fun Halloween party that also supports a local non profit. Consider it the cherry on top of the head of the guy that came dressed as a sundae.