EVENTS IN OCTOBER : Goblins to Haunt America’s Streets

October is the time to enjoy state fairs, house tours, music festivals, a riverboat festival and, best of all, Halloween celebrations and fun. A sampling of things to come:

Florida

Key West celebrates Halloween like no other place in its annual Fantasy Fest ‘92, Oct. 24-Nov. 1. Highlight is the Halloween night Twilight Fantasy Parade with a theme of “Halloween in the Devil’s Triangle.” Bands, floats and elaborate costumes move through Old Town on Duval Street.

“The Masked Madness and Headdress Ball” offers valuable prizes for original facial ornamentation and outlandish headdress design. Competitors in two other pageants, “Pretenders in Paradise” and “Masquerade Fantasies,” wear complex full-body costumes that can exceed 20 feet in length. Other festival features include special masking workshops, a parade of costumed pets, afternoon beach concerts and the climactic King and Queen Coronation Ball.

For a festival brochure and information on accommodations, call (800) LAST-KEY or write Fantasy Fest ‘92, 402 Wall St., Key West, Fla. 33040, (305) 296-1817.

Mississippi

During the Natchez Fall Pilgrimage, Oct. 3-23, about 30 beautiful Antebellum homes are open for tours. Southern belles in colonial costume serve as guides. Tours are offered 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1:30-5:30 p.m. daily. Adult tickets range from $14 to $28.

Evening entertainment (for an extra $8 per person) includes the “Mississippi Medicine Show, Moonlight and Magnolias” dinner theater.

For complete details, contact Natchez Pilgrimage Tours, P.O. Box 347, Natchez, Miss. 39121, (800) 647-6742.

New Mexico

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Oct. 3-11, will see more than 600 hot air balloons in various shapes and sizes make mass ascensions from the Balloon Fiesta Park, Saturdays and Sundays starting at 7:30 a.m. Various associated events and a parade are also planned. For admission costs and details, call (505) 821-1000.

New York

It’s back to Halloween with the fun and campy Halloween Parade, Oct. 31 in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Ghosts, goblins, witches and things that go bump in the night come out for this annual parade.

The parade route goes from Sixth Avenue and Spring Street to 23rd Street. There’s no charge to watch, but get there early. For details on how you can join the line of march, call (212) 758-5519.

Ohio

Cincinnati plays host to riverboat history with the Tall Stacks ’92 celebration, Oct. 15-18. The sternwheelers will sail into Cincinnati on Oct. 14 at 4:15 p.m. in parade formation. Cannons will boom, bells will clang, stacks will steam and calliopes will play to start the festivities.

Each day thereafter, activities begin as early as 6 a.m. and continue through 10 p.m. at the city’s Public Landing. Some 15 sternwheelers will steam out of Cincinnati, stopping at other Ohio River ports in Ohio, Indiana and northern Kentucky.

Land concerts, offering Dixieland, jazz, bluegrass, barbershop, ragtime, and country music daily, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., on six different stages adjacent to the Public Landing, will augment a variety of special cruises, and each evening a laser light show is planned. There will be Tom Sawyer Days at the Children’s Pavilion, food pavilions, exhibits and riverboat races.

Special passports will be sold for $10, enabling visitors to enjoy a variety of events. Cruises cost extra, ranging in price from $12.95 for a one-hour harbor cruise to $39.95 for a dinner cruise. A similar Tall Stack event was held in 1988 for Cincinnati’s bicentennial.

For complete details, contact The Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commission, The Midland Building, P.O. Box 1256, Cincinnati 45201, (513) 721-0104.

Texas

It’s state fair time in Dallas, Oct. 2-25. Now in its 107th year, the fair will offer not only traditional events, such as livestock judgings, food exhibits and a midway, but also top art exhibits, Broadway shows and the Texas-Oklahoma College Football Classic. The event is held at Fair Park and officially opens with a huge parade. The fair theme is “Spirit of Discovery.”

Admission is $8 per adult and $4 for seniors and children under 12. For a complete fair schedule, contact the State Fair of Texas, P.O. Box 150009, Dallas 75315, (214) 565-9931.

U.S. Virgin Islands

The first-ever St. Croix Jazz and Caribbean Music & Art Festival will be held Oct. 15-25 in Frederiksted. Concerts will be at the Paul E. Joseph Stadium and will feature top performers, including Spyro Gyra, Charlie Sepulveda, Mongo Santamaria and Roy Hargrove.

There will also be art exhibits, an open-air fair, a festive Art Walk along Strand Street, a beach barbecue and fireworks. Festival tickets run $25-$35 per person. For more details, call (800) 321-9458.