About 2,500 people are expected to turn out this Saturday to MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa’s Freaker’s Ball, Lake Tahoe’s “bawdiest, boldest, weirdest costume soiree.”

The event began in 1979 and bounced around before finding a permanent home at MontBleu (then Caesars Tahoe) in 2001, said Dave Davis, MontBleu’s director of food, beverage and entertainment.

“If you can only go out one night a year in Lake Tahoe, this would be the night and the event to attend,” Davis said.

“The party has grown over the years and now encompasses four venues; Opal, Blu, The Zone Bar and the 10,000 sq ft convention center,” he added. The area including the sports book will also be part of this year’s party, and the casino’s Blu nightclub will be turned into “Boogie Nights,” its ‘70s- and ‘80s-themed iteration, Davis said.

More than $10,000 are offered during the event’s costume contest. The most creative, homemade costumes are often the ones rewarded with prizes, according to Davis.

“We expect the most outrageous costumes imaginable,” Davis said.

“The bawdiest, boldest, weirdest costume soiree at Lake Tahoe has become legendary in the region thanks to imaginative costumed partygoers who take mind-bending gaudiness to the limit then go back for seconds,” according to a press release from promoters. “Zany attire spans from astronaut balancing on the moon, Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots, headless horseman, un-canny impersonation of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Madonna, legendary superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Adam’s Family, KISS and even the Grateful Dead complete with moving life-like skeletons to accompany the dead-head.”

The event has sold out for the past five years. Davis said he expects this year to be no different.

Glam Cobra will play the big room this year. The over-the-top ‘80s cover band gives hair metal bands their due, with a song list that includes multiple cuts from Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, among others.

“After saving for 9 years, I counted all the money under my mattress and I had just enough to buy the Tommy Lee signature drum kit with the upside down spinning cage,” according to drummer Troy Thunder’s online biography. “You’ll see it on our next world tour. The crappiest pawnshop in town had the best drum kit in the world, so I bought it! As I was loading the upside down cage, I looked over and saw Niki Faith trying on a women’s leather vest and man pumps for this band he was in. He said they needed a drummer but no one in town had an upside down drummers cage. We quickly befriended each other and Glam Cobra was formed!”