6th Annual Murphys Witch Walk Festival Details

September 25, 2022

Good Afternoon, 

We’re pleased to provide the Murphys Business Community with details about the 6th Annual Murphys Witch Walk.

If you have any questions, suggestions, etc, please contact…  

… yours truly, Christopher Buttner, Co-Owner and Executive Producer, by sending me an email through the inquiry form below (which will add you to the email newsletter list) or for immediate service, reach me at the office, number at the bottom of this page. 

The 6th Annual Murphys Witch Walk will take place Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 11 am to 8 pm. 

The Murphys Witch Walk Wicked Goods Bizarre Bazaar will run from 11 am to 7 pm at two locations: 

• The Native Sons Hall at 389 Main Street (admission $5.00). 
• The TOAST of Murphys parking lot, 75 Big Trees Road. . 

These two vendor bazaars will feature a combined 40 vendors. Additional details are below.

The Murphys Witch Walk, LLC is a privately-owned sponsorship and self-financed event that generates its revenue covering production, marketing and other expenses through the sale of vendor booths, vendor raffle and bazaar admission tickets, as well as branded and other merchandise. 

As is stated below, and is worth reiterating, the primary objective of the Murphys Witch Walk is to put enthusiastic and motivated paying customers into all Main Street businesses at NO expense to the Murphys business community.

This is especially important, as members of the Murphys business community have reported that due to the lingering effects of Covid-19, the high price of gasoline, and a brutal week+ long heat wave, business was down by 5% to 30% during the summer of 2022 compared to the summer of 2021. 

About the Murphys Witch Walk: 

• Americans spent 10.14 BILLION dollars on Halloween in 2021 for an average of $102.74 per person. https://nrf.com/topics/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/halloween/halloween-data-center 
• The Murphys Witch Walk is produced at NO expense to the Murphys business community.
• The Murphys Witch Walk is a decentralized, family friendly event that allows the business community to creatively participate without any direction or supervision from the Murphys Witch Walk producers; Christopher Buttner and Teresa Rodriquez. This maintains the uniqueness of the event. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk was established in 2016 as a Friday Costumed Girls Night Out where women could dress up, eat, drink and shop as a means to support local Main Street businesses in Murphys. 
• In 2021 the Murphys Witch Walk brought between 3,000-ish costumed attendees to town over the course of the day. We’re expecting that much in 2022.  
• The Murphys Witch Walk has grown to become the single biggest retail shopping day of the year with business owners reporting the event brings in 200% to 300% more business than their next best shopping day of the year.
• The costumed attendees are the entertainment and the businesses are the destinations in a festival event where Everyone’s a Star and All The World’s a Stage. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk does not feature street vendors that set-up physical barriers on Main Street that obstruct potential customers from entering businesses. Our vendor bazaars are off of Main Street and spaced far apart, therefore people walk through town and by your business. It’s up to you to draw them in, because the primary objective of the Murphys Witch Walk is to put enthusiastic and motivated paying customers into all Main Street businesses.  
• We do not ask the Main Street businesses to offer discounts, coupons, specials, giveaways, etc., as we believe Murphys and her businesses stand on their own merits. 
• We highly recommend you host entertainment, music and/or decorate accordingly, displaying your creativity to create very festive and engaging destinations throughout town that draw attendees into your stores. As examples, one business hosts a dance party with live music, custom car presentations and a free BBQ, while other businesses host their own craft fair ‘pop-up’ outside their businesses. 
• It’s recommended that wine tasting rooms, pubs and bars feature special guest musical acts and other entertainment. As another example, several businesses are hosting Tarot card readers during their regular operating hours. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk is a ‘long term profits over short term gains’ event. If half the people come to Murphys specifically for the Murphys Witch Walk without knowing anything about the town, these individuals are quickly captivated by the quaintness and community friendliness Murphys has to offer and return soon after to spend more time exploring and spending. 
• Murphys Witch Walk Social Media Audience Statistics: Instagram: 85% female and Facebook: 92% female. 
• 2022 sponsors and Murphys Witch Walk vendor participants are Black Oak Casino Resort (https://www.blackoakcasino.com/), the Bay Area-based The Menageries Oddities and Curiosities Market (https://www.themenagerieodditiesmarket.com), Cal-Waste (https://cal-waste.com), Whispers of a Witch Podcast (https://www.witchvoice.com) and Friends Real Estate Services (https://www.friendsrealestateservices.com). 
• The Murphys Witch Walk is being  promoted through publicity, radio interviews, and viral social media efforts, as well as paid online and print advertisements. 
• The current issue of Witches Magazine from England features a full page Murphys Witch Walk advertisement (Murphys is now a globally-recognized Traveling Witch Destination): https://www.witchesmagazine.com. This magazine will be for sale at the vendor bazaar, but quantities are limited. We suggest you advance order online and pick it up at the festival - details below.  
• The Murphys Witch Walk has taken an advertisement in the Ledger Dispatch of Amador and Calaveras Newspaper “Best of Calaveras 2022” supplement, which is now available. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk is being featured on LocalWineEvents.com and is being promoted to their regional followers through their weekly newsletter. https://www.localwineevents.com/go/e/795385/thejuice 
• Listen to Christopher Buttner interviewed by Jennifer Anne Scott on the Whispers of a Witch Podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murphys-witch-walk/id1449946829
• The Murphys Witch Walk is now a multi-award winning festival event:
  BEST CALAVERAS ANNUAL EVENT- 2022 Ledger Dispatch "Best of Calaveras" Reader’s Choice Award Winner and BEST MURPHYS FESTIVAL EVENT - 2021 Calaveras Arts and Entertainment Award Winner. 
• 200 11x17-inch posters will be distributed in the tri-county Amador, Calaver and Tuolumne region, as well as Modesto and Lodi. Please refer to the poster sample below or the one that is now in your storefront window.
• CalWaste provides an additional seven 90-gallon waste cans and seven 90-gallon recycle cans at no charge. 
• Two additional porta-potties with cleaning stations will be placed in the TOAST of Murphys parking lot and in front of the Union Public Utility District Building at 339 Main Street, who were nice enough to grant us written permission to do so. 
• The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department provides exemplary law enforcement and security throughout the day. In 2021, eleven Calaveras Sheriff Volunteers, two Sheriffs and one CHP officer patrolled the event and they reported only one minor tripping incident and a dehydrated senior who suffered a very mild case of heatstroke. Attendees reported they have never felt safer at any Murphys festival event ever, which is especially important to the primarily female audience. 
• Average spending power of the attendees is between $150 to $300 per attendee which pumps between $600,000 to $1.2 million into the local Murphys economy over the Murphys Witch Walk weekend.
• The Murphys Witch Walk pumps up to $75,000 in Transient Occupancy and Sales Tax revenue into Calaveras County. 

The 6th Annual Murphys Witch Walk Wicked Goods Bizarre Bazaar at the Native Sons Hall and the TOAST of Murphys parking lot. 

• The items our vendors are selling are curious, odd, eccentric, esoteric, spooky, Pagan, spiritual, sacred, and witchy collectibles, baubles, trinkets, ornaments, novelties, ephemera, knickknacks and assorted works of art designed to limit competition with merchandise sold by Murphys’ Main Street retailers. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk will be raising funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California in honor of “Super” Wyatt Walker and the Walker Family of Murphys. “Super” Wyatt, as he has come to be known due to his resilience to adversity, was diagnosed in December 2021 with Medulloblastoma Brain Cancer, at which time he underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor from his brain. 
• For the first time ever, the Murphys Witch Walk will be charging a $5 admission to the Vendor Bazaar. 
• Advance admission ticket buyers will get 6 raffle tickets, a Murphys Witch Walk tote bag and two commemorative bumper stickers. 
• We are also offering for sale two higher priced, limited edition, goody bags that will feature a commemorative event poster, a copy of WITCHES MAGAZINE from the UK, and additional raffle tickets. 
• The Murphys Witch Walk will donate a portion of the proceeds from every Goody Bag and admission and raffle ticket sale to Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California in honor of “Super” Wyatt Walker and the Walker Family.
• We make NO guarantee that Goody Bags will be available at the Vendor Bazaar, as they are now a available for advance sale online and selling quickly, so if you want one, here is the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/419316917187 
• Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northern California will be participating in the vendor bazaar and donations may be made directly to their staff members attending the Murphys Witch Walk. 
• Additional raffle tickets will be available for sale at the vendor bazaar. Prizes to be announced the day of the festival. 
• Vendor Bazaar Date and Time: Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 11 am to 7 pm.
  Set-up is on Friday, October 14, 2022 from 2 pm to 7 pm and Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 8 am to 11 am. 

Please follow and share Murphys Witch Walk social media accounts: 

Website: www.murphyswitchwalk.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MurphysWitchWalk 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murphyswitchwalk 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MurphysWitchWalk 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurphysWitchWlk 

Thank you for reviewing the Murphys Witch Walk event details. 

Respectfully, 

Christopher Buttner 

Co-Owner and Executive Producer

Teresa Rodriguez

Co-Owner

P.S. The Murphys Witch Walk presents the 125th Anniversary of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Tuesday evening, October 4, 2022 at the Bret Harte Theater in Angels Camp. 

Best selling horror author and vampire historian Dacre Stoker is bringing his 125th Anniversary of Dracula to the west coast just in time for Halloween with appearances in Oakland, Burbank, Sacramento, Angels Camp, Astoria, Oregon and San Jose.

Dracula Historian and Best Selling Horror Author, Dacre Stoker, in a Very Special Personal LIVE Onstage Appearance with Multimedia Presentation, Tells the Riveting Story of the Creation of His Great Grand Uncle's Literary Masterpiece and Iconic Vampire Character, DRACULA, by Bram Stoker.

How was Mark Twain connected to Bram Stoker’s Dracula? Attend and find out…

Order tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/421670145757 

Murphys Witch Walk, LLC

PO Box 494, 

Murphys, CA 95247

Office: 209-736-8955

Email: info@murphyswitchwalk.com 

Web: www.murphyswitchwalk.com