6 Halloween & Day Of The Dead Activities At UTEP

The University of Texas at El Paso campus will be swarming with Halloween and Day of the Dead activities beginning tomorrow through Halloween.

The following activities are fun, informative and most often free events that are open to everyone interested at UTEP to celebrate Halloween and the Day of the Dead.

• TALK: Acclaimed Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros will talk about the creation of a ceremonial altar to celebrate Day of the Dead during a 15-minute broadcast at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in UTEP’s Centennial Museum and Welcome Center.

• MOVIE: Catch Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2 at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Union Cinema. The cost is $1 for faculty, staff and students and $2 for the general public. There will be a 10-minute intermission between films, which are rated PG-13.

• LIVE EVENTS: UTEP’s Academic Technologies (AT), has scheduled live events from 11:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, in the UGLC and its outdoor patio. Organizers have scheduled live musical performances and a deejay, arts and crafts booths, games such as lotería (Mexican bingo), and a small “cemetery” where people can use electronic devices to scan the QR codes on tombstones to learn more about significant Hispanics through history. There also will be portable recording kiosks where people can share a story about a dead acquaintance. The stories will be archived and added to a Day of the Dead area on the AT website. The official welcome starts at noon in UGLC Room 106. UTEP’s Chicano Studies program is one of the day’s co-sponsors.

• COSTUME CONTEST: On the other side of campus, students, faculty and staff will participate in this year’s Halloween costume contest at noon Friday, Oct. 31, at the Union Plaza. Those with the best costumes and the top group will earn prize packages that contain UTEP-related clothes, souvenirs, show tickets and gift cards. http://klaq.com/halloween-parade/

• CARNIVAL: Everyone is invited back for an afternoon and evening of fun starting with the Trick or Treat Carnival from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, in the Tomás Rivera Conference Center on the third floor of Union Building East. Student organizations will hand out candy at the free event and operate carnival-style game booths. Families can purchase tickets to pay for the different games. Proceeds go to the participating student groups. Community service organizations have been invited to operate information booths. http://klaq.com/klaq-haunted-house-2014/

• MOVIE: Free screening of Hotel Transylvania on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Union Cinema. Tickets for the PG-rated film are $1 for staff, students and faculty and $2 for the general public.