Organizers plan to move a huge Halloween rave dance party after owners of a Dawson County resort said the event couldn’t be held there.
More than 1,800 people had said on Facebook that they planned to attend the event, which was set from 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 until 7 a.m. Oct. 31 at the Jackson Lake House Estate, an 8,500-square-foot mansion on 45 acres near Dahlonega.
What started out as a gathering of a few dozen friends ballooned in recent weeks to a mega event, organizer Luke Blavescuinas told Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday evening. He said he and his friends had spent a lot of money arranging the event, which they began planning this summer. Blavescuinas could not be reached for comment Thursday.
“It was nothing that we couldn’t control,” he told Channel 2. “We had security hired. We had people who were going to be walking around all the time, just making sure nothing was getting out of hand.”
Organizer Jared Parfreys told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday that the event will go on and that organizers plan to announce a venue by the end of the day Friday.
He said the event won’t be a rave, but a Halloween/costume party fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior project.
“This won’t be some secret warehouse event. It’s being done very professionally with top-notch production and security.”
He said the organizers are a group of soldiers who recently returned from a stint in Kosovo and decided to hold the fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior project.
Edwin Alexander, who manages the Dawson County resort, said Blavescuinas told him in July that he wanted to lease the resort for a gathering of a few Army buddies and their girlfriends and two kids.
“He said there’d be no more than 12 people,” said Alexander, who typically rents out the house, which is on a lake and is ringed by the north Georgia mountains, for family reunions, weddings and church events.
Planners had hyped the “biggest Rave/house party of the year”event on the Internet, including plans to offer free shuttle buses from Gwinnett County, midtown Atlanta and Kennesaw State University.
Although the event has been moved, Alexander is still a bit concerned a large crowd may show up at the resort.
“I want them to know the gate will be closed when they get here,” Alexander said.
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