When Marty McFly and Doc Brown soared the DeLorean into the future, the dashboard read Oct. 21, 2015. That date falls this year and The Masquerade is hosting the party to commemorate the fated event.
The party is being produced by Markster Con Productions & Events, a company that throws pop culture themed parties and events. Mark Baggett, the owner of Markster Con Productions & Events, has considered this party for quite some time now.
“Over the past 25+ years, I’ve often wondered what would happen on Oct. 21, 2015 and how the “future” would actually be,” Baggett said. “When I started producing events several years ago, the date often came up. So once I reached a point in my event production capability with Markster Con, I believed I’d be able to host an event worthy of fellow ‘Back to the Future’ fans time and attention.”
The Masquerade event is the only publicized “Back to the Future” party of this magnitude in the Atlanta area. The party is for ages 18 and over. They are expecting several hundred people to gather and for those turned off by it being held during the week, the party will begin earlier than most at 8 p.m.
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The Cause
The star of “Back to the Future”, Michael J. Fox, has solidified his presence in media as a beloved actor and an activist. Fox is a sufferer of Parkinson’s Disease and devotes a lot of time into searching for a cure. Team Fox, the charity he started, has already raised over $450 million dollars for research funding.
“I also thought the event would be a great opportunity to support Team Fox,” Baggett said. “Both my father and grandfather suffered from Parkinson’s Disease so anything that we can do to help find a cure or treatment, I’ll support.”
Team Fox will receive 100 percent of the event’s proceeds, after the initial expenses for the event have been paid. No personal profit will be made. The charity drive will be culminating at the party. Fund have been gathered for months, with a goal of $5,000.
To get involved, one can join the team at BTTFatlanta.com. Additionally, at the “Save the Clock Tower” booth during the party, you can donate into Team Fox.
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The Party
Without giving too much away, there are some guarantees for the soiree.
1 – The event will be broken up into separate “time jumps.”
“For attendees that are there for the duration of this event, they should expect to see some staple visuals from the different time periods represented in the movies,” Baggett said. “The 1950’s were a very innocent time in our country so we’ll be visiting that era sn we’ll also ‘time jump’ into the 1980s for a good while and then eventually find ourselves in the ‘future’, 2015,”
2 – A packed dance floor with music from all of the represented eras, along with performances.
“We have some great DJs lined up for the event already, with each time period being their own forte/genre,” Baggett said.
The performance troupe “Art to Life” will be presented at the party with dancers and Dragon Fire Events will be bringing in a light show which will acclimate to each stage of the three decades.
3 – There will be “geek-themed” vendors and artist on board. They will be displaying their themed creations.
4 – Professional photography.
“We plan to have several professional photographers out and about to capture the event as it unfolds,” Baggett said.
5 – “Back to the Future” themed drinks for the 21 and over crowd.
6 – A DeLorean.
“The most exciting aspect for me is that we’ll actually have a Time Machine DeLorean on site,” Baggett said. “We are bringing one in from North Carolina that is owned by Razorfly Studios and will have it set up outside The Masquerade for personal photo opps. The car is pot on, even with a Mr. Fusion,”
The help of professional photographer Troy Nelson, of Hero Drams Imaging, will be offered.
7 – Contests
Throughout the night, there will be contests the partygoers can participate in, including a costume contest later on in the night.
“We know there will be some die-hard ‘costume-rs’ on hand that want to show off their wearable creations as well as get some great photos,” Boggett said.
Future Markster Con Parties
“Since I started producing parties in the Atlanta area, Markster Con have hit many different fandoms,” Baggett said.
Upcoming events include the following themes:
- Star Wars: “Bash of the Empire”, Dec. 12
- Harry Potter: “Wizard’s Ball”, Nov. 21 “Hogwartz Pub Crawl”, Dec. 4
- Dante’s Labyrinth, Dec. 31, making it the last New Year’s Eve party at The Masquerade.
“I believe a good bit in creating one’s own reality so I throw myself head-first into my productions and host events that myself would love to go to, knowing that there are many others in the Atlanta area who’ll come out and share in the event with me,” Baggett said.
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For those unaware of “Back to the Future”:
“Although ‘Back To The Future’ is woven into our pop culture tightly, it’s not one of those fandoms where you see it celebrated often,” Baggett said.
“Back to the Future” is a comedic sci-fi film in the 1980’s surrounding teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) discovering a time traveling DeLorean with eccentric partner in crime, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). The film has since earned iconic success with amusement rides and video games being created. In a twist of fate, they get stuck in the era they find themselves in every installment. The first film lands them in the past, the second one takes them into the future and the last installment travels all the way back to the Wild Wild West. “Back to the Future” deals with McFly running into past generations of his lineage and running into the same villain, no matter the decade.
