by Kellie Carpenter

Lexington’s largest costume ball will be held on the eve of Halloween.

The second annual Beaux Arts Fall Ball will open its doors at Buster’s Billiards and Backroom on Saturday at 8 p.m., and the ball is scheduled to last until 3 a.m.

The Fall Ball marks the halfway point before the larger spring Beaux Arts Ball.

The Beaux Arts Ball is open to the public and has become one of the largest student-run, non-profit charity events in the state.

“The Fall Ball was created in 2009 as a fundraiser for the larger spring event,” Board of Directors member and architecture student Donovan Justice said. “The money that is raised from Fall Ball will ultimately provide for the production costs of the 2011 Beaux Arts Ball.”

Justice and fellow architecture students Madelynn Ringo and Geoffrey Sorrell are planning the event with help of volunteers.

The Beaux Arts Foundation has raised more than $50,000 that has been donated to local charities in the past and continues to raise the amount by striving for a bigger ball each year.

Ringo said the charities for the 2011 spring Beaux Arts Ball will be chosen next semester.

The ball is also about celebrating the arts, whether through eclectic costume designs, creative artists or music performances.

Five local and international artists will perform at this year’s Fall Ball, including Milyoo, Nemo, Fair Heron, The Chaotic Good and Le Castle Vania.

The artists produce a mix of house, R&B, hip-hop, indie and electronic music.

Local artists are selected to fit within this eclectic vibe to shuffle the types of music people want to hear.

“I like the BAB because it usually houses a ton of really great music and artists under one roof at one time,” integrated strategic communications senior Gretchen Fangman said.

The Beaux Arts Ball highly encourages creative costume designs.

“We don’t restrict the costumes because we want people to release their inner creative genius,” Justice said. “That is always our theme for Beaux Arts Ball.”

At the Beaux Arts Ball in the past few years, people have worn scandalous costumes for one night.

“The possibilities are endless,” Justice said. “This is your chance to be as radical as you can be.”

Participants in the past haved painted their faces with ornate makeup, glued feathers to their bodies and put on multicolor wigs. Some even dressed themselves as robots and comic book characters.

“Last year there was some chick that rolled in covered head-to-toe in googly-eyes,” Ringo said. “That was pretty awesome.”

“For past Beaux Arts Balls, I have just gone with crazy makeup,” Fangman said. “I like that look.”

The ball will have a costume contest, and the winner will receive two free tickets to the spring Beaux Arts Ball.

Guests can sign up with Joe King, a local artist who will be doing live black light painting and raffling off his work throughout the night.

The popularity of the Beaux Arts Ball has grown since its start in 1969, and people have begun traveling from all over the state to attend the annual event.

More than 3,500 people attended the 2010 spring ball, and more than 4,000 are expected to attend the 2011 event.

“The Fall Ball on Saturday will be capped at 1,000, so tickets are limited,” Ringo said.

Tickets are $20 for presale and $25 at the door.

Tickets are available at POPS Resale, CD Central and TicketFly.com

For more information about Fall Ball and the 2011 Beaux Arts Ball, visit www.beaux-arts-ball.org.