Costumes allow us to escape our dreary normal identities for a while, whether we’re accountants, postmasters general, or suspects in the largest ketchup-smuggling operation in history. Indulge your secret self with today's Groupon: for $15, you get one admission ticket to the Castle Carnevale masquerade celebration on February 26 at Castle McCulloch, located on Kivett Drive in Jamestown (a $30 value).

Inside Castle McCulloch’s nigh-impenetrable walls, the fire-spinning, belly-dancing revelry of Castle Carnevale takes place every year. Kings, queens, court jesters, and spitting images of Calvin Coolidge line the drawbridge to adorn guests of the bacchanal ball with free masks, while fireworks illuminate the festival grounds and guide adventurous souls through the merriment of the Mardi Gras of the Carolinas. Creative Carnevale patrons can showcase skills at craft tables or earn costume-contest awards for best traditional Venetian outfit, most provocative, and most likely to stand out at a crossword convention.

After partaking in the ambrosial vittles and nectars, rug cutters and turkey trotters with the urge to frolic will find solace in the pulsating cadence of live DJs and music acts. Meanwhile, palmists and tarot readers will mysteriously materialize to predict a jovial evening full of absurdity and free of impending attacks from kingdoms of the north.