September 15, 2014

HighBall is the nation’s fiercest costume party. Staged in the fashion capital of Columbus, this yearly event for the Halloween season bridges runway style with the culture of the Short North Arts District. Be a part of the HighBall street spectacle and model yourself on High Street. At HighBall, you are what you wear.

Now in its seventh year, HighBall has grown from a grassroots cultural event into what FoxNews.com declared in 2013 as “the single most elaborate Halloween event in the country…one of the country’s coolest, most fashionable costume parties.”

“I’ve been at every HighBall – it’s THE event of the year in a city that is teeming with creative energy,” said Jeni Britton Bauer, President & Creative Director, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. “The costumes, fashion, and the DIY brilliance on display from people of Columbus and, more and more, from those who come into Columbus for this night, is nothing short of inspiring.”

2014 marks the second year that the event will occur over two program-packed nights on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 on High Street between Nationwide Boulevard and Goodale Street in the acclaimed Short North Arts District.

With the generous support of event sponsors including pagetech limited, IM Creative, L Brands Foundation, Out of the Closet, The Kroger Company, The Gateway Film Center, Ketel One, Bud Light, Goose Island, and more, HighBall has grown into a signature celebration of creativity for the City of Columbus, drawing over 25,000 attendees to see and be seen in their most outrageous costumes on High Street.

“HighBall captures the creative, open and fun-loving essence of Columbus – it’s our more fashionable and sophisticated version of Mardi Gras,” said Brian Ross, President and CEO, Experience Columbus. “With the national media attention it has been getting, we expect HighBall to continue growing as a major visitor attraction.”

HighBall 2014 will feature the following mix of programming audiences have grown to love with several new twists:

  • A fresh new visual identity with a new tagline expressing HighBall’s key proposition of fashion-as-fantasy: You Are What You Wear.
  • HighBall Headquarters (HBHQ), a pop-up space funded by the Create Columbus Commission located at 1127 N. High St that will serve as part young-professional social space, part shopping experience, and part educational community center which opens before the event at Gallery Hop on October 4 and closes after the event on November 3.
  • HighBall: On The Rocks, the new focus for Friday night programming at HighBall featuring local bands and one national headliner performing original and cover sets of songs that pay homage to artists or genres of music that have inspired fashion and design through the ages. This year’s inaugural HighBall: On The Rocks theme is THE BIG 80’s. Band line up will be announced in early September. Attendees are encouraged to rock their gnarliest look from the 1980s.
  • The 7th Annual Costume Couture Fashion Show, HighBall’s signature program on Saturday night featuring the following talented teams of veteran and first time designers who will each put forth a collection of spectacular runway looks to dazzle audiences and compete for cash prizes: Shiree Houf & Ashley Willis, Aaron James, Isolde Marie Meade, Lyndsey Merryman, Olivia Mitchell and Todd Perkins, Horatio Nieto, Ira Tecson & Lauren Primm, and Bryston Walters. This is the night for attendees to live their fantasy in creatively inspired costumes of all shapes and sizes, or to simply take in the street spectacle around them.
  • National Endowment for the Arts-funded Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, programming planned in partnership with local non-profit Global Gallery that will include experiential and costumed tributes to the Latino tradition of honoring loved ones who have passed.
  • HighBall Runway Run, a timed and costumed 5K that starts and ends at HighBall on Saturday evening. Run alongside an eclectic fashion mob of fellow HighBallers, and cross the finish line on our runway stage at the nation’s fiercest costume party.
  • $50 VIP Packages available for Friday and Saturday night, offering exclusive stage-side views, warm tents, private bars, indoor bathrooms and more.
Important HighBall 2014 Information

What:
HighBall 2014
presented by pagetech, limited

When:

HBHQ
Saturday, October 4, 2014 to Saturday, November 1, 2014
Specific Hours of Operation will be announced in conjunction with programming in September

Main Program
Friday, October 24 – 6:00pm to 1:00am
Saturday, October 25 – 4:00pm to 1:00am

Where:

HBHQ
1127 N. High St

Main Program
On High Street
Between Goodale St in the Short North Arts District and Nationwide Blvd in the Arena District
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Admission 
$5.00 General Admission at the gate; also available at HBHQ and other partner locations TBA
$50.00 VIP admission online in advance or at the gate
$40.00 HighBall Runway Run admission online in advance or $50.00 at the gate

Hotel Packages
Standard and VIP Hotel Packages will be offered for Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. Booking information will be released in early September.