“Bloomington’s really fun around Halloween, and we always go to haunted houses and do fun stuff, so we were like, ‘Oh, we should just have our own fest, like at the same time as the Fest,’” Clavin said. “As a joke, we called it Punktober Fest and just kept the joke going — have this thing that’s like a Halloween party-slash-fest and just get regional bands.”
The joke kept running through three festivals, and now Clavin is preparing for Punktober Fest IV, which begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at Rhino’s All Ages Club. The lineup includes 14 bands, and entry is $6 at the door.
Clavin said Punktober Fest tries to book bands on the darker end of the musical spectrum — goth, post-punk — to keep with the Halloween theme. Many of those bands weren’t available this year, he said, but aside from a few indie-pop bands, most of this year’s lineup falls under the punk banner, keeping the show “loud and scary and fun.”
This year’s Punktober Fest is also a benefit for the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project.
Clavin said he’s been involved with the charity, which collects donated reading material and sends it to prisoners, for several years, and while the group has plenty of people volunteering donations or physical help, it needs money to ship books.
“I think it’s a great cause, and not to mention, a lot of people are in prison for the wrong reasons or shouldn’t be there, or they’ve been in prison too long, and it’s just miserable to imagine — we’re putting you in a room, and we’re not going to let you use your brain either,” Clavin said.
Clavin said Pages to Prisoners will have an informational booth set up at Punktober Fest. A vegan candy-and-sweets sale is also scheduled, and in past years the festival has also displayed horror- and Halloween-informed work by local artists.
Clavin said the potential art show is still coming together, as are other Halloween-related activities.
“Most of my friends do a lot of real last-minute things,” he said. “... Hopefully this week, some chaotic, last-minute fun things will be added to the list.”
Because of the festival’s venue, the show is all-ages and alcohol-free. Clavin said those elements are especially important for a festival like this.
And while many older music fans may dislike the choice of venue because it won’t allow them to drink, Clavin said it’s vital to have occasional all-ages shows.
“I think it’s super cool to have shows in good public spaces that are sober and all-ages and open to everyone,” he said. “And then those kids can go to those shows for a while, and then you can be like, ‘Oh, there’s also these (house) shows.’ Some integration can happen.”
