1. NEW YORK'S HALLOWEEN PARADE GOES ON AFTER TERROR ATTACK: Hours after a terror attack that killed eight people and injured 11, New York's annual Halloween parade still took place, but with heightened security. Associated Press: "Security was heavy as the Greenwich Village parade stepped off Tuesday about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away and four hours after the truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along the bike path near the World Trade Center memorial. But the raucous spectacle rolled along with its floats, bands, anything-goes sensibility and thousands of spectators. Police said they added extra officers, heavy weapons teams and sand trucks as protective blockers along the parade route. But officials emphasized that New Yorkers should feel safe. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited the route as the parade started, and Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio assured residents and visitors earlier that police were out in force. The parade, which is open to anyone wearing a costume, began in 1973 with a puppeteer marching with his family and grew into a televised extravaganza. Ghosts, goblins, zombies, superheroes, men on stilts, a bunch of human bumblebees and a float of topless people were among those making their way up Sixth Avenue as spectators bobbed to drumming and Caribbean music. Still, the crowds seemed thinner than usual to Tamia Gholston. As for why: 'the terrorist attack, maybe,' said the New Yorker, who was dressed as Batgirl." http://bit.ly/2z8rCfC
2. WHY HIGH-END HOTEL BARS ARE SERVING NONALCOHOLIC COCKTAILS: Hotel bars in cities such as New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and London have started a new trend—serving creative nonalcoholic cocktails. The New York Times: “’I consider our nonalcohol cocktails to be as complex and as important as our ones with alcohol and refer to them simply as cocktails,’ said Ryan Chetiyawardana, the founder and owner of Dandelyan, at Mondrian London at Sea Containers hotel,which offers four nonalcoholic drinks. ‘Mocktails, on the other hand, have a negative connotation. They tend to be overly sweet and an afterthought at bars.’ The bar sells an average of 50 to 100 nonalcoholic cocktails a day, and this number is only growing, according to Mr. Chetiyawardana. ‘The people ordering them aren’t necessarily teetotalers,’ he said. ‘They’re often drinkers who want to take a night off from alcohol but still want to go out and socialize.’ The American Bar, at the Savoy, offers five nonalcoholic cocktails, and all use another Seedlip product called Seedlip Spice, a blend of allspice berries, cardamom, oak and lemon and grapefruit peels. One example, which they refer to as the Art Deco, also includes citric acid, eucalyptus, peppermint syrup and soda water. … Well-made nonalcoholic cocktails impart the same feeling of relaxation as ones with alcohol, said Philip Duff, the education director for the New Orleans festival Tales of the Cocktail. ‘An artistic drink is an artistic drink whether it has alcohol in it or not, and both will chill you out,’ he said. Hotel bars are the ideal setting for serving virgin drinks, he said, because compared with other bars, they tend to have bigger spending budgets and access to more ingredients, which the bartenders can use to craft creative drinks.” http://nyti.ms/2z79CCe
3. TICKET SALES FOR WINTER OLYMPICS ARE STILL DOWN: The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, begin in less than 100 days, but the event has barely managed to sell a third of the tickets available. Fortune: "'It’s a bummer,' said 55-year-old motel owner Oh Young-whyan, who spent about $360,000 refurbishing his 15-room property close to the Olympics Plaza. Oh, other hotel owners and local authorities say political tensions with North Korea and China have chilled foreign interest in the Games, which open on Feb. 9 just 80 km (50 miles) from the world’s most heavily fortified border. Tourists are reluctant to commit to the event as North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump trade insults and threats of mutual destruction after the North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September. Ticket sales are weak, with 341,327 sold, or 32% of the total on offer, as of Oct. 24—much weaker than during the run-up to the last winter Games in Sochi, Russia. More than 70% of Sochi’s tickets were sold before the opening ceremony. Pyeongchang Organising Committee Secretary General Yeo Hyung-koo says there is still time to catch up. The Olympics torch relay, which began in Korea on Wednesday, will ignite domestic interest, he said." http://for.tn/2iUnolS
* LOCAL NEWS *
ATLANTA: Generosity Atlanta, a multi-charity 5K run/walk fund-raiser, will take place March 25 in Piedmont Park.
CHICAGO: Destination management company AlliedPRA has appointed Susan Sell chief financial officer. Sell, who previously was chief financial officer of SAP Fieldglass, will work out of the company’s Chicago office.
LAS VEGAS: Therapy restaurant will offer a specialty gin drink called the "Violet" during the month of November in honor of Alzheimer's Awareness Month. All proceeds from the $10 drink will go to Keep Memory Alice, a local nonprofit.
LOS ANGELES: The Belasco Theater debuts its new fine dining restaurant, Les Coulisses, today. The remodeled 3,500-square-foot space accommodates 150 guests; a second-story mezzanine can be booked for private parties of 50 people.
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa will host kick off its 25th annual Festival of Lights on November 24 with the “Switch-On” ceremony, which will include a fireworks display and surprise activations. New light installations this year will include a gingerbread replica of the hotel, a 30-foot mega pixel tree, and an immersive “Candy Stroll.”
For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles
NEW YORK: The Lungevity Foundation’s fifth annual Celebration of Hope Gala will take place November 2 at Mandarin Oriental.
Twenty-one-time Grammy winner Jay-Z will be presented with the Grammy Salute to Industry Icons award at the 2018 pre-Grammy gala, held at the Sheraton New York Times Square on January 27.
For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork
TORONTO: The 13th annual Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, which took place October 26-28, raised 3.5 million in support of scientific research and key program areas at University Health Network’s Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals.
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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.
BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
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