Carnival atmosphere expected thanks to Halloween shows
The Highland Council’s Inverness Winter events programme gets underway this weekend with ZombieNess taking place in Inverness City Centre and Ness Islands, playing host to the 'Nights of the Living Dead' Halloween Show.
Since the Council’s Halloween Shows were first staged in 2009, the Ness Islands children’s show has not only inspired hundreds of families to dress up each year in order to help the Council scare away an annual invasion of ghosts, beasties and unmentionables; it has also been adopted by the city’s revellers as the perfect excuse to create a spectacular Halloween Carnival in the pubs, clubs and streets of the Highland Capital.
The festivities will start with two ZombieNess People Hunts which will see the un-dead emerge from Inverness Victorian Market at 19:00 on Friday and 13:00 on Saturday in search of food. Unfortunately, for many of the participants they will only discover if they are on the menu when they arrive for the show. ZombieNess is free to enter and all players hoping to be transformed into Zombies are asked to register between 18:00 and 18:45 on Friday and 12:00 and 12:45 on Saturday afternoon. Both events are expected to last two hours unless of course the Zombies prove to be particularly hungry and adept at finding their prey.
A mass Zombie dance is being arranged in the Victorian Market following the show on Friday as participants will be asked to perform to ‘Dead and Gone’, a new track by rock band The Dead Daisies, who headline the first ever Monstersfest in Inverness on 10 and 11 November. The song’s official video, already features Zombies, and has been viewed close to one million times on Youtube. The film of the Inverness Zombies will be shown across the band’s and the Council’s social media channels following the event.
After Saturday afternoon’s Zombie event, the focus will switch to Ness Islands where this year’s Halloween Show 'Nights of the Living Dead' is taking place.
The show will start at 18:30 on Saturday (October 27th) and 17:30 on Sunday (October 28th) from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Created by the Highland Council, Arts in Motion, Eden Court Creative, Limelight Event Services and Fly Agaric; the show will invite families to discover what is lurking in the bushes all around the popular Inverness beauty spot.
The Ness Islands Halloween Shows are amongst the largest outdoor theatrical events staged in Scotland,with many of the scenes designed by young performers from across the Highlands, who gather in Inverness each year to perform the show.
Councillor Calum Smith of the Inverness Events and Festivals Working Group said “We are really looking forward to welcoming families to this year’s shows and we cannot wait to see all the children in their wonderful Halloween costumes. Every year it seems like more and more people are dressing up and helping us create something really unforgettable, and we cannot thank them enough for their support."
With large crowds expected to attend this event, drivers are asked to park well away from the site to help ease congestion and note that temporary traffic restrictions will be in place during the event.