There’s only one place in Baton Rouge where a person could find the cast of “Jersey Shore,” three dozen pairs of exposed butt cheeks and frat guy Jesus with a jug of Franzia marked “H2O” all at the same time: Halloween on Carlotta Street.
For more than 25 years, Carlotta Street played host to one of the wildest and most memorable parties in Baton Rouge. However, this month authorities pulled the plug on Carlotta because of permit issues, leaving students like theatre junior Jennifer Downs fuming.
“Carlotta is a Baton Rouge tradition,” Downs said. “Letting us know that it’s canceled the same month as it was supposed to happen is shenanigans.”
With so many students suddenly left without a classic Halloween standby, many have been scrambling to find a new plan for the weekend.
Bailey Matens, a theatre senior, said Halloween just isn’t the same without Carlotta, and without it, there aren’t many worthwhile places to celebrate.
“What else am I gonna do?” Matens said. “Go door to door?”
In the days since the news of the cancellation broke, “anti-Carlotta parties” have been springing up to try to replace the annual block party blowout. Solo cups have flown off the shelves. Trucks have been loaded with kegs. Text messages and Facebook invitations have been filling inboxes, competing for the most outlandish descriptions and fighting to keep the spirit alive.
Spencer Bagert, graphic design junior, will be co-hosting one such party. Bagert was once a regular attendee of Carlotta, and he knows firsthand what students will be missing out on this year.
“I used to go every year. My first year, I made my own Sexy Tin Man costume,” Bagert said. “You always see crazy stuff there. It’s such a huge tradition. I didn’t think they could actually cancel it.”
Bagert and his co-hosts had originally planned their Halloween party as a follow-up to Carlotta, but now they have to live up to the job of main event.
“We were kind of hoping that Carlotta would get everybody riled up, and then we would just keep the party going with ours,” Bagert said. “We’re a little nervous.”
The party Bagert and his friends have planned seems to be aiming to impress. It’s a Harry Potter-themed extravaganza with an invitation that sounds more like a “Saturday Night Live” Stefon sketch and advises partygoers: “Practice safe magic. Use a Wandom.”
“We went all out,” Bagert said. “We’re having butterbeer and pumpkin potion. We have a band that’s going to be playing, and we’ve decorated the whole apartment. Everybody’s getting really into it.”
Anti-Carlotta parties come in all shapes and sizes, though. Brett Sollberger, international studies senior, will be co-hosting a more traditional party with his co-workers from the University Faculty Club and sticking to classics like kegs and beer pong.
“We throw a big party every year, but this year, we waited a little later to start planning it, and when they announced that Carlotta was off, people kept asking me, ‘When’s the party? What are we going to do?’” Sollberger said. “Everybody’s looking for somewhere to go.”
Tim Michell, landscape architecture senior, will be racking up the billiards, cooking pork tacos and creating a dance playlist for 30 to 40 of his displaced friends this Halloween. “I wasn’t planning on attending [Carlotta], but many of my friends were,” Michell said. “So it’s a shame it’s not being put on.”
Big or small, kegs or butterbeer, low-key or high-drama, shindigs like these hope to ease the sting of losing such a signature University event this year. It seems that even without Carlotta, students will always find an excuse to turn out in spandex-swaddled, face-painted droves for the Halloween festivities.
