Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have to cancel The Haunting this year. We will be issuing refunds beginning today through Ticketleap so you should see your refund in 3-5 business days. Unfortunately Ticketleap does not refund their fees but the Downtown Orillia Management Board would be happy to refund these to you. If you would like your fees refunded please visit us at the downtown office, 33 Mississaga St. E. If you purchased tickets at our office please come by the office and we will be refund your money.

We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to run the event again in future years. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely, 

Downtown Orillia 

Halloween Isn’t Just for Kids…Anymore!!

On October 23rd, venture (if you dare) into Downtown Orillia and experience all things that go bump in the night! You will be led through Haunted Halloween tours at the Orillia Museum of Art and History and Orillia Opera House and will continue throughout frightful spaces in Downtown Orillia. Tour guides will be on hand to help you navigate the darkness to and from your tour destinations. Even more bloodcurdling features have been added this year so BEWARE! Features may be hidden here and there (and everywhere) just to get your blood pumping!

Here’s a highlight of what’s planned during The Haunting:

Nightmare on Peter Street Tour     

Presented by the Orillia Museum of Art and History & The Experiencer Support Association (T.E.S.A)

The Sir Sam Steele Memorial Building is the current home of the Orillia Museum of Art & History. Over its 125-year history, it has housed other, more sinister, guests. The staff at OMAH take care of the building, but know to never go into the basement at night as there have been stories of strange happenings after hours. On October 23rd, they will make an exception and lead you into the darkness of the museum’s basement, where ghosts from the building’s past are said to still wander the halls each night. Can you survive an evening with the prisoners on Peter Street?

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T.E.S.A investigates all items belonging to the global phenomenon of highly strange and foreign experiences which carry many implications of the existence of intelligence other than our own. After each investigation, T.E.S.A provides recommendations towards supports that will assist you in accepting and living with the phenomenon. T.E.S.A filters the difference between fact and fiction, with every intent to bridge the connection between UFO and Paranormal phenomena. T.E.S.A will be at OMAH conducting a live investigation with their paranormal equipment detecting energies & spirits along the way during the Nightmare on Peter Street Tour. Have your own haunted artifacts? Bring them along because T.E.S.A will want to take a look. If you would like to submit a paranormal report to T.E.S.A prior to the event visit www.tesacan.org/the-reporting-system. For more information on T.E.S.A visit www.tesacan.org.

Phantom of the Orillia Opera House Tour

Presented by Orillia Opera House, Orillia Public Library and The Old Dance Hall Players

You will be led through historical spaces throughout the iconic Opera House and enlightened with ghostly stories of spirits who still dwell there.

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The studio theatre at the Opera House will be transformed into a graveyard with spooks and kooks and tales of fright and the things that go bump in the night! The Old Dance Hall Players invite you to be part of 30 minutes of spooky, improvisational comedy based on your suggestions! So join the feast, a nightmare spree, a place to flee to fantasy but remember… there – are – such – things!”

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Get into costume and pose for a memento of your time on the inside! Take a creepy green scream photo offered by the Orillia Public Library. Be sure to share your Haunting pictures on social media using #downtownorilliahaunting for a chance to win FREE tickets to the 2020 Haunting!

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The Hocus Pocus doesn’t end there!

Other Features

* Participating downtown businesses, restaurants and pubs will also offer interactive (and spooky) Haunting features, Halloween themed food + spirits + trick-or-treats!

* Passports will be given to all tour participants to complete throughout the course of the night so be sure to hit all the haunted locations for a chance to win tickets to an Orillia Opera House Show. Passports can be left at either tour location or in the Downtown Orillia office mailbox located at 33 Mississaga St. East on the night of the event or the week following the event.

Other Frightening Details

* Two tours will be offered over the course of the night beginning at 6 & 8 pm. Groups will consist of 30 participants and the complete tour will take two hours in total with participants spending one hour at each location.

* Participants will begin their night on the Nightmare on Peter Street tour or The Phantom of the Opera House Tour at 6 or 8 pm then switching to the other location at 7 or 9 pm. From there, participants will troll up or down the street toward the Orillia Opera House or Orillia Museum of Art and History where they will embark on the second spine-chilling tour of the night. End your haunted evening at one of the many downtown businesses offering Haunting features or at one of the many restaurants and pubs offering Halloween fare and wicked spirits.

* Tickets are $25 and include all of the above.

* Ticket holders must be 16+.

* More haunted features and details will be announced so stay tuned for more terrifying features + a full list of participating businesses in the weeks to come!!!

* Tickets are now on sale and are limited so don’t delay, get your tickets fast!!

To purchase tickets visit downtownorillia.ticketleap.com/downtown-orillia-presents-the-haunting2019/. Please note there will be a $2.63 additional charge per ticket. 

Don’t miss out on this hair-raising Halloween event in Downtown Orillia!! Stay tuned to the Downtown Orillia Facebook and Instagram pages for tickets info!

Catch two time Mariposa Alumnus, Zachary Lucky on October 25^th as he brings the sounds of his new album “Midwestern” home, to the Orillia Opera House for one night only.

Bring the family, dress in costume and join us for this fun, FREE costume parade & contest!

Where: Meet us outside Studabakers beachside, 211 Mississaga St. East dressed in costume at 12 pm on Saturday, October 26th for a chance to win the BEST COSTUME prize. The best costume contest will occur at 1 pm in the Orillia Public Library courtyard, 36 Mississaga St. West.

Details: We will parade up the main street on the sidewalk collecting spooky treats along the way! Be sure to bring something to collect your treats in and be prepared to make your way up the street with hundreds of other trick-or-treaters. The parade will go all the way up to Albert Street ending at the Orillia Public Library courtyard where there will be an opportunity to make Halloween themed crafts with the best costume announcement occurring at 1 pm.

You will also be provided with a Halloween passport to be stamped at all of the participating downtown shops and restaurants offering tricks, treats and spooky sweets! After all the Halloween fun, make your way back down the main street to finish trick OR treating and have your passport stamped at participating downtown merchant businesses for a chance to win a prize! Passports can be dropped off at the Downtown Orillia office mailbox located at 33 Mississaga St. east at the end of the event or during the week following the event.

Participating businesses include:

• Allstate – 10 Peter St. N, Suite 202
• Avaia Spa & Spa – 9 Front St. S. #2
• CC Fashions – 50 Mississaga St. W.
• Era 67 – 64 Mississaga St. W.
• Fionn McCool’s – 2 Front St. N.
• OC Emporium Inc. – 121 Mississaga St. E.
• Perfect Timing Inc. – 106 Mississaga St. E.
• Three Crows Speak Studio – 9 Peter St. S.
• 6 Doors Up Interiors – 96 Mississaga St. E.

Stay tuned to our website, Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on participating businesses.

Orillia Silver Band will perform a Benefit Concert for Hillcrest lodge, offering assisted living for seniors in need.  The concert will feature the music of Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Lovatt-Cooper.

Mariposa Arts Theatre is pleased to bring this little tongue-in-cheek naughty-potty humour then urine in for a good time.

Urinetown-The Musical is about a world where private washrooms are forbidden and you have to pay to go.  Hilarious fun that’s about as far away from Sound of Music as you can get.