We round up all the spooky goings-on in the city this year
MONSTERS, assemble, for the spooky season is upon us. In its honour, we’ve pulled together the best Halloween events happening across the city over the coming weeks so you can get your affairs – and your fancy dress box – in order. From a rave in a giant greenhouse to burlesque in a theatre basement, Liverpool certainly knows how to celebrate all Hallows Eve. In date order…
Spooky Welly Walk | Sefton Park | Saturday 19th October
Before we move on to the more macabre, we can’t compile a list of the best Halloween events in Liverpool without mentioning the much-loved Spooky Welly Walk. One of the more wholesome activities on the agenda this season, the Spooky Welly Walk sees families from far and wide flock to Sefton Park for fun and fancy dress. Even the four-legged among us hit the dressing-up box before coming along to embark on the two-mile walk in support of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Watch out for the tricks and treats en route, including yucky dip, live drama acts, puppeteers and a few ghosts and ghouls on the loose…
Sefton Park, Mossley Hill Drive, Liverpool L17 1AJ (hourly time slots 11am-3pm; tickets £4 here)
Martini Lounge Variety and Burlesque Show | Royal Court Theatre | Thursday 24th October
Inspired by the 18th-century variety entertainment genre Vaudeville and hosted by Liverpool’s most glamorous stage siren, Millie Dollar, this special Martini Lounge Halloween cabaret promises a spectacle of burlesque, circus magic and rib-tickling comedy. What’s a Halloween cabaret without a sprinkle of spook, though? Wind your way down to the subterranean basement bar of the city’s historical theatre and prepare to be amazed. More on the line-up to be announced shortly so keep your eyes peeled for that.
The Martini Lounge, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool L1 1HL (7pm-11pm; tickets from £15 here)
Halloween Pop Up Cinema | Royal Albert Dock | Thursday 24th October to Friday 1st November
The floating cinema was introduced to the Royal Albert Dock earlier this year and it went down an absolute storm. So much so, the brains behind the concept have brought it back for spooky season to screen a whole host of Halloween blockbusters. The pontoon will be playing host to a raft (yup) of family favourites during the day and turning the fear factor up a notch after sundown with an array of adult-only screenings. From Casper to Nightmare on Elm Street, these guys are ready to make you jump. Blankets will be available for huddling under (or hiding behind) but be warned, it can get chilly when that wind starts to howl…
The Colonnades, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AA (times vary; child tickets £8 and adult tickets £15 here)
Throwback Film Festival: Shaun of the Dead | Revolution | Sunday 27th October
You tend to find there are two extremes who crawl out of the woodwork for Halloween… Those who like to strip down to next to nothing and shoot blood-red spirits through test tubes until the small hours. Then you’ve got those who prefer to make a duvet den, turn off all the lights and get stuck into a spine-chilling movie marathon. This instalment of the Throwback Film Festival is for those who like to bob somewhere in the middle like a tangy green apple. Catch a cult classic and sink a few cocktails at the Rev’s Sunday screening of Shaun of the Dead.
Revolution, St Peter’s Square, Fleet Street, Liverpool L1 4DQ (8pm-11pm; tickets £10 here)
Monster Mash Halloween Disco Ferry Cruise | River Mersey | Thursday 31st October
Thought hopping onto a boat and sailing away to the sleepy peninsula of the Wirral was a safe bet? Think again. Riding the waves of the River Mersey on Hallows Eve will be the Mersey Cruises Monster Mash Halloween Disco Cruise, wreaking havoc between both sides of the water. Promising blood-curdling beats spanning all the best decades from a live DJ to provide the soundtrack to your stomping on the upper deck dancefloor, the cruise is 2.5 hours long. Fancy dress is of course, the order of the evening so kick off your comfies and slip into something a little more colourful.
Ferry departs from Seacombe (Wirral) ferry terminal at 7.30pm and from Liverpool Pier Head at 7.45pm (tickets £16 here)
Trapped in Wonderland | Hangar 34 | Thursday 31st October
Picture this: you’ve stumbled down the rabbit hole into a haunted fairytale, #EvilAlice has gone bonkers, animals are deranged and the inhabitants are throwing a rather ghoulish tea party. You’ve landed in an immersive experience of oversized props, spectacular sound and dazzling lighting, and Halloween fancy dress is a non-negotiable prerequisite for the occasion. Well, that’s one way to dodge the trick-or-treaters. Proceedings begin with a Mad Hatter welcome cocktail from 11pm to 11.45pm (when entry is cheaper), so look lively because you wouldn’t want to be late on this very important date, now would you?
Hangar 34, 34 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BS (11pm-4am; tickets £6-£16.75 here)
RAW: Halloween in the Palmhouse | Sefton Park | Friday 1st November
RAW are acclaimed for putting on the most roof-raising raves in the most obscure and diverse venues, and this time it’s a Halloween party in the Sefton Park Palmhouse. The Grade-II listed glasshouse is pretty jaw-dropping all by itself but fill it with a roster of guest DJs and fancy dress-clad ravers stomping by the light of the moon and you’ve got yourself something rather extraordinary. Expect the signature high-level production that typifies RAW and a soundtrack of house, tech and dance to carry you through the witching hour and on into the night.
The Palmhouse, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 1AP (7pm-1am; tickets TBA – join the waiting list to be the first to find out)
Twisted Circus Halloween Festival | Brockbank and Mellor | Friday 1st November
Hosted in the newly opened Brockbank and Mellor on Seel Street, the Twisted Circus showcase promises an ‘unforgettable experience’ as part of the ‘UK’s most terrifying Halloween festival’. It resurfaces this time for its sixth year running with an invasion of death-defying acts from body-stapling to the notoriously dangerous Bed of Blades. Forget candyfloss and ribbon twirling – this is an exploration of the dark side of circus which will certainly give the boundaries of your imagination a little workout. Not one for the faint-hearted; oh, and fancy dress is a must with a ‘no effort, no entrance’ rule instated.
Brockbank and Mellor, 19-21 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4AU (10pm-4am; tickets from £14.50 here)
Yousef Presents Circus Halloween | Bramley-Moore Dock | Saturday 2nd November
The Circus Halloween party surely needs no introduction. It has gained legendary status in the Liverpool nightlife calendar over the years and well, it simply wouldn’t be a Halloween weekend without it. So, here we are once again eagerly awaiting yet another monster line-up featuring sets from Daniel Pearce – better known as Eats Everything – alongside Jamie Jones, Luciano and Yousef himself, to name a few. Dress code demands the most fabulous fancy dress your imagination can muster, so don’t even think about doing it by halves.
Bramley-Moore Dock, Regent Road, Liverpool L3 0AP (2pm-11pm; tickets £31.60 here)
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