Tessie's at Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe sets $4,000 Halloween costume contests for Oct. 24 and Oct. 31

Tessie's Cocktails & Chords, the live-music lounge that opened on the casino floor of Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe in July, will hold its first Halloween with costume contests on two consecutive Saturdays, Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, and $4,000 in combined prize money, the venue announced on Sept. 25.

The first contest is part of the resort's Fright Night Halloween crawl on Oct. 24. The second, on Halloween night, turns the room into what the venue calls a "haunted saloon," with a three-place costume contest and a late set from Reno cover band Full Blast built around Michael Jackson's Thriller album.

For South Shore visitors, most of whom drive in from California, Tessie's sits a short walk from the state line in Stateline, Nevada, and about five minutes on foot from Heavenly Village, according to the venue. It is the newest addition to a Halloween weekend that already includes the Fright Night crawl across Caesars Republic and Harrah's Lake Tahoe.

Tessie's Halloween schedule: Two Saturdays, $4,000 in prizes:

Saturday, Oct. 24: Fright Night crawl, $1,000 scariest costume

Caesars Republic and Harrah's Lake Tahoe run Fright Night as a multi-venue costume crawl across both properties. Tessie's piece of it starts at 9 p.m., when guests can enter its costume contest. The scariest look wins $1,000.

Saturday, Oct. 31: Haunted saloon, $3,000 contest and a Thriller set

On Halloween, the lounge opens its themed night at 8 p.m. Full Blast, a Reno-based cover band that plays funk, soul, R&B, neo-soul and jazz, takes the stage at 10 p.m. with a set that includes the Thriller album.

The costume contest runs in two rounds, and winners are named at 12:15 a.m., technically the first minutes of Nov. 1. Prizes are:

• First place: $1,500
• Second place: $1,000
• Third place: $500

Together with the $1,000 prize on Oct. 24, that is the $4,000 figure in the announcement.

Reservations, hours and parking at Tessie's Cocktails & Chords:

Tables can be reserved through TessiesTahoe.com, and the venue says walk-ins are welcome. Self-parking at Caesars Republic is validated for guests who run a bar tab of $30 or more, a rule stated in both the announcement and on the venue's hours and location page.

The two sources differ on hours. The Sept. 25 announcement says Tessie's is open from 5 p.m. to late Thursday through Monday, while the venue's website lists 5 p.m. to late daily with live music at 7:30 p.m. Both Halloween dates fall on Saturdays, so the difference does not affect either event, but visitors planning a midweek stop should check before going.

The release does not state an age policy for the Halloween nights. Last year's Fright Night crawl was restricted to guests 21 and over, and Tessie's sits on the casino floor.

Getting to Stateline from California:

The venue's own directions put it about two hours from Sacramento on US-50 East and about three and a half hours from the Bay Area via I-80 East to US-50 East, or via Highway 88 over Carson Pass. From Reno-Tahoe International Airport, it is about an hour by US-395 South and US-50 West.

Late-October travel over the Sierra can mean early-season storms and chain controls. Drivers can check Caltrans chain controls before leaving, and our 2026 chain requirements guide covers the rules.

What Tessie's is: A Clique Hospitality lounge built around a lake legend:

Tessie's takes its name from the serpent that local folklore places in the depths of Lake Tahoe. The room was designed by New York's Celano Design Studio Co. in a vintage-ski-lodge style, with an 1886 fireplace, a late-1800s Brunswick bar in mahogany with Corinthian columns, and a serpent chandelier with programmable color-changing light, according to the venue. The programming runs from solo artists and duos to full bands, alongside a cocktail list, rotating local draft beers and a wine list.

It is a joint project between Caesars Entertainment and Clique Hospitality, the Las Vegas group founded by Andy Masi in 2014 that also runs Caspian's at Caesars Palace and The Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at The Cosmopolitan.

"We conceptualized Tessie's to capture the heartbeat of Tahoe, great music, strong cocktails and rock and roll energy from the moment you walk in,"

Masi said in February, when Caesars first announced the lounge. Local station KOLO reported the opening in the first days of July.

Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe: The former Harveys, one year into its new name:

Tessie's is part of the second phase of work at the former Harveys Lake Tahoe, which Caesars Entertainment rebranded as Caesars Republic on July 1, 2025, as part of a $160 million renovation. The property traces its start to 1944, when it opened as a small café and gas station with three slot machines, and Caesars calls it the oldest continuously operating casino at the lake. The same Phase Two announcement in February listed a new pool and lounge, expanded meeting space and a fitness center for summer 2026.

Fright Night at Caesars Republic and Harrah's Lake Tahoe: The crawl's third year:

Fright Night began in 2024, and last year's edition, on Oct. 25, 2025, offered $10,000 in total cash prizes across contests for scariest, funniest, best individual, best couple and best group costumes, with the individual and group winners taking $2,500 each. Caesars has not yet published a full 2026 prize list and venue lineup that California Today could read. Tessie's $1,000 scariest-costume prize is double what the 2025 crawl paid in that category.

Details for other venues on the crawl will be posted on the Fright Night event page.

Tessie's Halloween at Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe: Key dates:

• Oct. 24, 9 p.m.: Fright Night crawl; $1,000 scariest-costume contest at Tessie's.
• Oct. 31, 8 p.m.: Haunted saloon night begins.
• Oct. 31, 10 p.m.: Full Blast, including the Thriller set.
• Nov. 1, 12:15 a.m.: Costume winners named; $1,500, $1,000 and $500.

Updates are posted on TessiesTahoe.com and on Instagram, Facebook and X at @TessiesTahoe.

Details are as announced by the venue on Sept. 25, 2026, and current as of Sept. 27, 2026. Event times and prizes are set by the organizer and may change.