Halloween, horror, and heavy metal. It’s a match made in, well, hell. It’s also the first time the three have fused together for a brand new seasonal festival taking place here in West Michigan this month.
The vision of Clownpit Entertainment promoter Eric Britz – better known in the Michigan metal scene as Rockso The Pit Clown – the Carnevil Metal Fest will debut Oct. 5 at the New Salem Corn Maze, 4516 24th St., in Dorr (about 20 minutes South of Grand Rapids).
The event will feature 12 bands on two stages, with acts from all around the state, as well as bands from Maryland and Ohio.
The lineup will include headliners Revision Revised, Voids, The Outliers, Final Confession, Walking Down Main, Idol Kings, Sever The Crown, Elswhr, Approaching Autumn, Hyporium, He Who Dwells, and Shake Down.
“I’m 43 years old, and I’ve been going to shows for like 20 years of my life, if not more by this point, and I’ve been in the pits for a long time,” Britz said of his dedication to the hard rock and heavy music scene.
Often getting told that he’s too old to get in the mosh pit, he decided just last year to create an alter ego. Disguising his real identity, by donning his now famous mask and vest, he became Rockso The Pit Clown, and began attracting attention at every show he attended, even if that wasn’t his initial intention.
“I’m a very introverted person,” Britz said. “So it’s kind of twofold. Like, I did it to hide my identity, but in the same way, I found myself through it. Like, now with the clown, I can’t go to a show here in Michigan without being recognized by somebody.”
Posting photos and videos and other content as Rockso on social media, Britz quickly gained a large following. He soon shifted to becoming a show promoter over the past year. And early on, he said he started hunting down haunted houses to see if he could make his dream festival a reality this fall.
When he reached out to the family-owned haunt at New Salem, he found the perfect partner to make it happen.
“They have their own event the weekend before actually called Wurst Fest,” Britz said. “So they have a stage out there at a haunted house, and I thought this will work. I contacted them and they called me out one afternoon back in the spring, and we discussed. I gave them my sales pitch over a case of beer, and they were like, ‘Hey, I was once a dreamer, too. I want to help you out. Let’s do this.’ And they were sold on it. They said basically, ‘I got a plot of land on the side of the haunt, just make it your own, and do what you can.’”
The 100 percent DIY fest will feature full production from its mainstage headliner, who Britz said plans to bring pyro and other effects to the stage. Britz himself will host the event as Rockso, and he’s debating on whether he will attempt to breathe fire himself, in addition to bringing other carnival-like theatrics to the stage.
He added that he hopes to model Carnevil Metal Fest after the Blue Ridge Rock Fest in Virginia, which has grown from a small self-produced event into “North America’s largest rock and metal festival” in just a few short years.
“Hopefully I can plant a seed, and it will grow,” Britz said. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
The Carnevil Metal Fest will also include a costume contest, food trucks, beer tent, and horror vendors on site.
“Come in costume,” Britz said of how attendees should prepare for the fest. “I want everyone there in costume. I’m really trying to sell the Halloween aspect of it all, and I want everybody there in costume. It’s definitely a Halloween event, and it’s my favorite time of year myself.”
Trying to recapture the dark magic that Halloween held for him as a kid, that Britz said he feels has died off from the holiday, he wants Carnevil Metal Fest to become a celebration of spooky season in every wicked way.
“Even driving out there to the location, it feels like you’re going to be in a horror movie,” Britz said. “(It’s a) small dirt road drive, and you’re thinking, ‘Where am I going right now?’ But it’s definitely going to be an experience. It’s going to be unique… and for a $20 bill, I don’t think you can really go wrong. I mean, you can’t even go to the movies for that.”
Clown Pit Entertainment Presents
Carnevil Metal Fest
New Salem Corn Maze
4516 24th St., Dorr
Oct. 5, 4 p.m. doors, all ages
