Today, UTEP Union Programs hosted their annual Halloween costume contest at the Union Plaza stage.
For some the Halloween costume competition took precedence over going to class. Junior mechanical engineering major Italia Valles, who dressed up as a Sailor Moon from the popular Japanese comic/TV series “Sailor Moon,” took third place in this year’s contest.
“As a little kid, ‘Sailor Moon’ was my favorite show growing up,” Valles said. “It was a lot of fun, they just stopped me and asked if I wanted to join the contest, so I didn’t go to class.”
Edwin Martinez, took first place in the contest by basing his costume on an inflatable fly guy. The contest was judged on creativity more than anything else, and making a costume was more important than buying a costume.
“I just saw ‘Family Guy’ with a commercial they made with this, so I looked it up and made one,” Martinez said. “This was great, I didn’t expect to win, and I just wanted to have fun. I saw the flyer for the contest and just said I’ll join for fun.”
Julian Ochoa, sophomore theater arts major, had one of the most terrifying costumes dressed as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” series. He took second place and said he was surprised by his finish considering the amount of people competing with great costumes.
“I thought I was going to lose,” Ochoa said. “I didn’t actually think I was going to win second place, there were a lot of good costumes out there. I’m really happy that I won second place, I definitely thought I was the scariest.”
There were many people in costumes, ranging from serial killers and princes to early 20th-century people. The Plaza was filled with a large crowd that watched, while students in costume paraded and performed as music was played by DJ Mike Dee.
