Bumper Crowds Expected for Halloween Show
The Inverness Winter Festival opens this weekend with the Highland Council’s Halloween shows on Ness Islands on Friday and Saturday (30th and 31st October).
Bumper crowds, with hundreds in costume, are expected to attend the free show which will see Ness Islands completely transformed with characters and scenes from the cinema and television adaptations of the Halloween short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
This year more than 150 young people from Eden Court CREATIVE groups across the Highlands will be lying in wait around the 1300 metre circuit to entertain the spectators who will discover a mixture of scary live performances performed alongside a number of stunning projections created for the event by Evanton based Arts in Motion.
Amongst the various things lying in wait for those brave enough to venture on to Ness Islands will be the Headless Horseman, scarecrows that will scare more than just birds, giant spiders, dancing pumpkins and a grand 17th century ghost ball in the main arena.
Since it was first staged, the Halloween show on Ness Islands has grown into one of the biggest fancy dress events staged in Scotland. Hundreds of families are inspired to dress up each year in order to help the city scare away an annual invasion of ghosts, beasties and unmentionables. It has also been adopted by revellers as the perfect excuse to create a spectacular Halloween carnival in the pubs, clubs and streets of the Highland capital.
The show will be staged on both evenings from 6.30pm until 8.30pm and once again spectators are asked to park well away from the entrances and allow themselves plenty of time to walk to the entrances. Parking in the Bught Park area is very limited and drivers are asked to note the following traffic restrictions will be in operation between 5pm and 9pm on both Friday and Saturday evening.
- Ness Walk will be closed to northbound traffic between its junction with Ballifeary Lane and its con-junction with Bught Road. Access for southbound traffic will be as normal.
- Bught Road will be closed to northbound traffic between its con-junction with Ness Walk and its junction with Bught Avenue. Access for southbound traffic will be maintained at all times.
- Bught Road will be closed between its junction with Bught Avenue and its junction with the access to the ‘Highland Archive Centre’. Access for parking will be controlled by personnel employed by the event organiser.
- Bught Avenue will be closed to southbound traffic between its junction with Bught Lane and its junction with Bught Road. Vehicle access for northbound traffic will be maintained.
These closures will affect vehicular traffic, but pedestrian access and access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times. Alternative routes for vehicles will be available using Bught Road (Part), Bught Lane, Bught Drive, Bught Avenue, Glenurquhart Road, Bishop’s Road, Ness Walk (Part), Ballifeary Lane and Ballifeary Road