Sydney’s Australian Museum is gearing up for a night of drag, DJs and a dash of science with the return of Jurassic Lounge: Halloween Edition on Saturday 25 October.
The adults-only after-hours event will feature live performances, hands-on workshops and a playful mix of science and spook. Tickets for the Halloween spin on the popular series are already in demand, with early waitlist releases gone within three days.
MC and DJ Aunty Jonny will set the soundtrack alongside longtime collaborator Jason de Cox, delivering “pulsing beats and monster mashups”. Under the museum’s giant whale skeleton in the Wild Planet gallery, guests can join a “Silent Scream Disco”, surrounded by taxidermy from across the world.
Sydney Drag Royalty will bring their own theatrical flair, performing throughout the night before leading a “dance of the damned”.
The museum is also highlighting the creepier side of science. Taxidermist workshops will explore “life after death” in a Mortuary Makeover session, while comedian AJ Lamarque teams up with scientists from the Australian Museum Research Institute in Dying on Stage – described as a “chillingly funny meditation on death and what lies beyond.”
Locked cabinets will open for Exoskeletons in the Closet, featuring shiny and spiny specimens, while performer Sara Khan will share bush yarns and supernatural tales in The Fright Stuff.
Creative workshops are also on offer, including drawing sessions with scientific illustrator Sami Bayly, special effects make-up with the “Scab Lab”, and horror-inspired paper folding in Horror-gami. Costumes are encouraged, with prizes for the most inventive looks.
Entry also includes access to the museum’s RELICS: A New World Rises, a LEGO® exhibition by LEGO Masters winners Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler, which imagines a post-human world ruled by Minifigures.
The event runs from 6:30pm to 10pm on 25 October and is restricted to ages 18 and over. Tickets are $38 for members and $48 for non-members.
