Janelle Monae Continues Holiday Dominance At 'Wondaween Festival'

Bacardi x Janelle Monae's Wondaween Festival — Source: Jenna Burke / BFA.com / Courtesy

Janelle Monae was made for Halloween, and every year she proves that it is her holiday. This year, she partnered with Barcardi for her inaugural Wondaween Music Festival and made it a fright night to remember.

The theme of this year’s event was “Vampires at the Beach,” and to make sure people got the message, Janelle posted herself in full vampire glam with a cocktail and colorful robe, to boot. Though the original marketing marked the location as “secret,” she later revealed that the horrifying spectacle took place on the Santa Monica pier.

Janelle was the hostest with the mostest as she sported a shirtless illusion vampire costume complete with fangs for the evening.

“I’m still trying to gather my words,” she said in a post about the event. “So many to thank but I must say thank you to the Wondaful spirits who flew into the country and from around the country to make it a SOLD OUT experience! You guys never leaked the location. You are etched in MY HEART for life! More posts coming about YOU.”

She took Allure magazine behind the scenes for her big night, showing the process for her full transformation into “the world’s most eligible vampire.”

“So, I do a lot of prosthetic, and I had to really transform,” she told the mag. “I use my girl Sharni Darden’s moisture-boost plumping serum because when I’m doing prosthetic, I can’t have oil or any real moisture on because we have to stick the prosthetics on.”

The event was open to only 1,000 Janelle Monae fans and was first-come, first-served; however, fans flooded her comments to say how much fun they had partying with the Hallow Queen. No word yet on who else performed on the night, but Janelle seems to be prepping a full event recap.

The Halloween vibes didn’t stop with her event. Janelle also got in costume as Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas to help the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles bring joy to its patients. While there she painted, read books and spent one-on-one time with the children and their families. We love a charitable queen.

In a Halloween-themed cover story for Paper Magazine, Janelle explained why the holiday is so important to her and why she wanted to do something special for her supporters.

“I told my team I didn’t need a number-one hit or millions of fans. I just needed 500 people who understood what I was doing,” she said. “I’m a theater kid, a musical lover, a cinema lover — I want life to feel like a movie, like we’re staging our own play. Halloween gives people permission to do that.”

On top of her vampire-themed function and stop at the children’s hospital, she also gave her fans another memorable Halloween costume, donning Dr. Seuss’ classic character “Cat In The Hat” for a fun photoshoot.

One thing about Janelle, she goes all-in on every single character. And every time, it’s a 10/10 with no notes.

Check out more fun photos of Bacardi x Janelle Monae’s Wondaween festival