City of Soda Springs hosting Halloween-themed ‘Spirit Search’ festival
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SODA SPRINGS — The city of Soda Springs is inviting all to eat, shop and be haunted at the Soda Springs Spirit Search.
The event will include food and craft booths, medium and palm readings and the opportunity to investigate one of the most haunted buildings in the state. Colleen O’Hara, with Pocatello Paranormal Research, pitched the event to the city of Soda Springs as a fundraiser, and, she said, the city has taken it and run.
“It’s blown up into a much bigger deal than we initially planned — the city keeps adding more and more events,” she told EastIdahoNews.com. “The city is actually going to springboard this event into bringing back the winter carnival, which is great.”
A block of Main Street directly in front of the Historic Enders Building Museum will be closed for the event, allowing those in attendance to mingle on the normally busy road. A liquor allowance has also been approved for the day, meaning alcoholic beverages can be consumed in the area.
The festivities begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 and will include booths and food trucks until 6 p.m. Then, starting at 7 p.m., there will be a costume contest and live music until midnight.
Beginning at 2 p.m., event-goers will have the opportunity to investigate the Enders Building — originally a hotel built in 1917. It is one of the most “active” paranormal places O’Hara and her team have ever investigated.
Until 2 a.m., the Pocatello Paranormal Research team will be taking small groups through the building in one-hour blocks.
“It’s kind of, a tour slash investigation,” O’Hara said. “We’re going to take them to the notorious hotspots and see if we can’t get some activity for them to be a part of.”
Admission to the Spirit Search event is free, but tickets to be part of the investigation can be purchased at the event or online — at PocatelloParanormalResearch.ticketleap.com.
All proceeds generated by this portion of the event will go to the Hope and Recovery Resource Center — a drug addiction treatment center — in Soda Springs.
Since the city of Soda Springs took over control of the Enders Hotel, O’Hara says they have been very open about allowing visitors and her team into the century-old building.
“Just for the opportunity to be inside of this hotel as many times as we’ve been there, it’s incredible,” she said. “They’ve been very kind to us; that’s why we approached the city about doing this event.”