Halloween is the weirdest holiday ever. It’s also one of the most awesome.

For kids, it’s about getting all the delicious candy you can fit in a bag (and your pockets, and your shoes), and having a free pass to gorge yourself on it for weeks. It’s about becoming a superhero or a goblin, or a princess for a night. It’s about fun and friends and in general, is one of the best nights of the year.

For us adults, it’s pretty much an extension of the same thing. We just trade the candy for beer or a different kind of spirits, and there’s a little more of an escapism or exhibitionism element to it all. Oh, and the costumes are a little bit weirder.

Fayetteville always seems to deliver some awesome Halloween weekend activities, and since Halloween falls on a Saturday this year (and on daylight savings night no less) we get two full weekend nights, and a Sunday to recover this year. Awesome.

It all starts this afternoon with Trick or Treat on the Square from 3-5 pm. Square merchants will be handing out candy to the kiddos, and there will be carnival games and a pet costume contest. Put a costume on your dog.

If you havent seen the Ceramic Cow Halloween show “Radio Dazed! Dracula -vs- Old Man Winter!” at the UARK Bowl yet, you’d better get down there tonight. There’s more info about the show on Facebook.

Wanna rock? There’s a Halloween-themed rock show at the Boom Boom Room tonight. The Good Fear will be dressing up and doing a set of Tom Petty tunes as Six Tom Petties, and Little Rock’s The Moving Front will do an REM set. Can’t wait to see Jeremy Brasher as Michael Stipe. Todd and I will be two of the Tom Petties.

The Smoke and Barrel has Hosta and David’s Pegasus tonight. Two great bands that taste great together.

George’s Majestic Lounge is turning 82 this weekend, and they’ve got a pretty impressive lineup. Tonight, you can catch Full House, The Nace Brothers, Oreo Blue, The Poggs, and Where’s Lawrence. Should be bitching.

Or if your Halloween costume includes dancing shoes, you could head to Speakeasy for Beat Bachs’ Halloween Dance Party. Beat Bachs (duh), Tanner Beam, and Baby Armie (formerly Luminfire) will be providing the booty-shaking incentive. Last year this party was “off-the-hook.”

Also tonight, Fayetteville is having a Zombie Crawl downtown. From the Facebook event, a Zombie Crawl is “basically a pub crawl, except we shuffle around and eat people’s brains. We’ll have a mapped route, with stops at specific watering holes, where participating victims will be waiting for their zombie overlords to chow down. The crawl will end with a rousing rendition of Zombie Macarena in front of the Walton Arts Center.” Sounds freaking awesome.

All of that, and it’s not even Halloween yet.

Halloween day, you could go to the Farmer’s Market dressed as a zombie, and no one will even think it’s weird.

The Razorbacks will be in action at 6:05 against Eastern Michigan. It’s also the Homecoming game, and costumes are encouraged there as well.

Saturday night, you’ve got about 1,000 options for Halloween fun.

Legendary Fayetteville band Punkinhead will be at George’s for a rare show. In fact, I think Pumpkinhead only plays Halloween now. After that, they turn into a pumpkin frog pumpkin?

There’s another Halloween-themed show at the Boom Boom Room Saturday night, with The Great Scotts dressin’ and playin’ as AC/DC.

The Flipoff Pirates are at Smoke and Barrel, and we’re hearing there are some surprises in store there as well.

If you’re in a dancing mood on Halloween Night, maybe you should head to the UARK Bowl for Boom Kinetic. Also, one of your friends is (probably) throwing a Halloween party, so you should stop by there.

You know what else is awesome about Saturday night? It’s daylight savings time, so you get an extra hour to party on Halloween, or an extra hour to sleep it off on Sunday.

Sunday is day-time music day. Beth Stockdale will be at the Greenhouse Grille for Lunch, and in the afternoon the Walton Arts Center presents An Afternoon with George Winston.

There’s a ton more going on this weekend. What are you guys gonna do for Halloween?

Friday, October 30

Bordino’s: 8 Foot Jump 

Herman’s Ribhouse: Stark N’ Green 

Rogue Pizza Co.: Randall Shreve 

Ella’s: Timothy Paul 

Fayetteville Square: Trick or Treat on the Square 3-5 pm

Fayetteville Town Center: C.A.T. TV Kids Halloween Spooktacular 4-7 pm

JJ’s Grill n Chill: Jamie Wolfe 

St. Paul’s Episcopal: Halloween music w/ Miho Oda-Sakon 6:30 pm

Greenhouse Grille: Walter Savage Duo 

Mellow Mushroom Pizza: Tiffany Christopher 

Qdoba Mexican Grill: Effron White, Emily Kaitz, Stan D’Aubin 7 pm

Drifters: Another Fine Mess 

George’s: Full House, The Nace Brothers, Oreo Blue, The Poggs, Where’s Lawrence 

GoodFolk: Bill & Michael Hearne 

Smoke & Barrel Tavern: Hosta, David’s Pegasus 

Boom Boom Room: Good Fear (as Six Tom Petties), Moving Front (as REM) 

UARK Bowl & Ballroom: Ceramic Cow Halloween Show 7:30 pm

Walton Arts Center: Edward Simon & Afinidad 8 pm, 10 pm

Fayetteville Town Center: C.A.T. Masquerade Ball 9 pm

Speakeasy: Beat Bachs’ Halloween Party 

Saturday, October 31

UARK Bowl & Ballroom: Boom Kinetic 

Uncle Gaylord’s: DJ Remix, Absolute Pleasures 

NWA Mall: Mall-O-Ween 6-8 pm

Rogue Pizza Co.: Groovement, Funkzilla 

Powerhouse: Funking Astronauts 

Qdoba Mexican Grill: Ozone Players 

George’s: Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance, Punkinhead, Mountain of Venus 

Smoke & Barrel Tavern: Flipoff Pirates 

Teatro Scarpino: Costume party 

Grub’s: Halloween Party 

Boom Boom Room: The Great Scotts (as AC/DC) 

Sunday, November 1

Mellow Mushroom Pizza: NWA Kickball Association Party 

Sang House: Kurt Vile & The Violators 

21st Amendment: Ren Lovely 

Botanical Garden of the Ozarks: Cooking in the Garden 1:30 pm

George’s: Tim Reynolds, Isayahs Allstars 

Greenhouse Grille: Beth Stockdale 

Walton Arts Center: An Afternoon with George Winston 2 pm