Bette Midler Shares Details of Annual 'Hulaween' Benefit Gala

In an interview with PEOPLE, Bette Midler shares details of her annual star-studded Halloween benefit gala, this year titled "Hell Night of Hulaween Island". The event takes place at New York City's Waldorf Astoria. (Tickets are available here.)

"It's going to be weird," the 'Hocus Pocus star tells PEOPLE of the annual event, which this year will include performances by Nile Rodgers and Chic. "I don't know what's going to happen this year."

She continued, "People go all-out. Sheryl Crow came as a policeman in a very short, abbreviated policeman's costume. Sting came as an alien from outer space and Trudie Styler came as an enchanted fairy and a kind of woodland nymph. Elton John came as the devil with glue-on horns. I came as the corpse of Chanel one year. Nobody even knew who I was!"

The annual gala raises funds for Midler's New York Restoration Project, which she founded 20 years ago. "We started picking up garbage in public parks and we never looked back," she explains. "Since then, we've gone from strength to strength. We've picked up thousands and thousands of tons of garbage. We bought 52 community gardens. We run gardening programs. We built the first boathouse on the Harlem River. We've built and managed several parks."

She adds, "This year, in addition to it being our 20th anniversary, we are planting the last tree in a campaign to plant one million trees in New York City. That's our big gift to the city."

Bette Midler recently released her first studio album in eight years, 'It's the Girls,' featuring songs from female groups who have had the greatest influence on her throughout her career. The album dropped on Nov. 4 via Warner Bros. Records Covering seven decades of music beginning with the 1930's, the album will feature an array of girl groups including The Boswell Sisters, The Andrews Sisters and R&B LEGENDSTLC. Marc Shaiman will produce.

Midler finished her Broadway run of I'LL EAT YOU LAST this spring, starring as the legendary Hollywood agent Mengers in her first Broadway appearance in almost 40 years. Written by John Logan, I'LL EAT YOU LAST was directed on Broadway by Joe Mantello.

Midler began her legendary career as an entertainer in 1965, in New York, where she developed the trademark act that would make her one of the most renowned talents of her generation. Her debut album, 1972's The Divine Miss M set her on the path that has led her to earn Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes and Academy Award nominations in a career that has spanned over 40 years. She has toured the world, sold millions of albums, published two books and appeared in over two dozen films, including The Rose, Beaches, Ruthless People, Hocus Pocus, First Wives Club and For The Boys.

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