As a parent to a 4-year-old, I’ve come to realize that, when it comes to finding things to do, the Halloween season can be tricky. Scoping out a spooky-themed event for a possible family outing becomes a recon mission. How scary is it going to be? Too scary? Not scary enough? Going too heavy on the horror risks creating a core memory your children may need to unpack in future therapy sessions. But the sound of spending a day at a completely de-fanged “not-so-scary” event aimed at toddlers activates my own fight-or-flight response.
Enter The Howling music festival in Nevada, Iowa just outside of Ames. Held in and around the Shipley Schoolhouse, a restored historic venue first built in 1916, this Saturday, Oct. 18, The Howling describes itself as a “musical festival with Halloween spirit.”
Incidentally, it’s the ideal autumnal event for the young (the poster’s wolfman graphic, designed by Taylor Burnside, would feel right at home on a kid’s overstuffed Halloween bag) and their parents. (Legit music acts! Tacos! Booze!)
With the event slated for this upcoming weekend, we talked with Chase Abner, a local musician playing in both Foxpin and Lady Revel, and producer of the upcoming festival.
Could you talk about the inspiration to start The Howling?
After the Maximum Ames Music Fest ended in 2023, I started daydreaming about what might take its place. Around that time, some musician friends in Alabama started a Halloween-themed music festival, so I got the idea to do an Iowa version. I love Halloween and I love music. It just seemed like a great fit.
The Shipley Schoolhouse is such a perfect backdrop to an event celebrating music and Halloween, how did you land on the venue?
Ever since I first visited the Shipley Schoolhouse, my mind had started spinning on how to host a music event there. I started that conversation with the owner Logan Pejsha-Davis and we both started brainstorming. Around June, the idea started to take shape.
There’s definitely a scary spectrum when it comes to Halloween-themed events, was having this event be friendly family a goal from the start?
First and foremost, The Howling is a music festival and I don’t want to keep anyone from the music. I’m a dad and appreciate events that are all-ages so that my kids can be exposed to all types of music. I don’t think there was ever a point where we considered anything else. At the same time, I know Halloween themes don’t fly with all families. We’ve taken care to communicate that parents/guardians should expect spooky costumes, Halloween decor, flashing lights and fog. And we’re providing a calming space for anyone who might get overwhelmed. But there will also be booze. Make sure your readers are aware.
The Howling has an assortment of local music acts. Bands Foxpin, the Mourning Belles and Mango Soul on one stage, while solo acts like Chris Patterson, Patricia Holly and Fred Love on another. How did the music lineup come to be? Any conversations on what vibe would fit for the first iteration of the Howling?
From the start, we wanted to focus on Iowa artists. In our early conversations, volunteer Craig Kaufman and I talked about having an Americana focus considering we were gonna be in the middle of cornfields during harvest time. But as we further explored the Halloween theme, it just made sense to broaden the genres. I think we’ve done a good job of including country, folk, alt rock and funk/R&B. We hope that we can have rap, jazz, hip hop and more in future years. Iowa has some great acts across the board and we want to be as inclusive as possible.
What do you hope people will experience at this festival? I know we’re still on the other end of the first iteration, but any hopes for the future?
At the end of the day, I hope people are able to escape the stress of life in 2025, indulge a little whimsy, discover some new music and experience joy with new people. I think that’s something that music can uniquely do. Throw on a layer of Halloween, and it already helps folks to let their guard down a bit and get into a playful mood. In the future, we just hope that we can keep bringing more and more people together for that purpose.
