For 17 years, Voodoo Arts & Music Experience has wielded the local flavor and unique culture of New Orleans to stand out in an increasingly dense post-Coachella landscape of seemingly identical music festivals in the U.S. The Voodoo Experience, while giving an obvious nod to voodoo’s spiritual roots, has crafted its festival vision more around mainstream Halloween iconography than real voodoo. Think American Horror Story meets music festival, not spells from a voodoo priestess.

Voodoo Experience represents its diverse yet unmistakable hometown charm by dividing its offerings across three stages: Le Carnival, which is a performance art space that represents the underground burlesque and circus scenes of New Orleans; Le Flambeau, which is devoted to the local music scene ranging from Dr. John to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band; and lastly, Le Ritual is home to huge headliners and mainstream acts that, this year, included The Weeknd, Porter Robinson, G-Eazy, Tool, Cage The Elephant, Ghost, The Chainsmokers, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, and many more. These three distinct channels have allowed Voodoo’s spirit to remain undiluted while attracting tens of thousands of fans annually.

Such bewitching tunes inevitably bring out the Halloween spirit in everyone, as evidenced by costume wizardry everywhere you turn. From trolls to ghouls, devils to clowns, Voodoo's festies each year prove that sometimes getting weird at a festival is even easier when you're proudly incognito.

Enjoy our gallery of colorful costumes and festies in full Voodoo revelry below, captured by the talented Linka Odom.