Halloween hits seventeen

Remember Halloween parties? The organisers of the Nicholson Street Halloween Festival certainly intend you do. As a prelude to an evening of trick-or-treating, held in the grounds of Nicholson Street Public School in Balmain, it is well-known both in the local community and outside.

“The Halloween Festival is such a successful event, with visitors coming to East Balmain from all over Sydney,” said Nicholson Street Public School Principal, Abbey Proud. “It is a unique and fun day for children and parents alike and captures the true spirit of our community school.”

With the annual festivities entering their seventeenth year, making it one of the suburb’s longest-running community events, the Festival is unique in attracting former parents and students alike. “It’s a big community party – old students have great memories of Halloween Festivals when they were in school,” said event co-ordinator Karen Morten. “The event is about fundraising for the school, of course, but it’s also about local businesses really getting involved. The local hardware store, for example, is donating screens for the kids to print.”

But although local business forms an integral part of the Festival, organisers are keen to point out that the festivities are not commercial. “There’s a lot of home-made ingenuity,” said Ms Morten, highlighting the tombola jars decorated in Halloween themes.

The organisers describe the Festival as “wonderful for children and the young at heart”. Events include the 12-metre-high tsunami slide, amusement tunnels, best-dressed competitions, and free entertainment on centre stage.

The Halloween Festival will be held on Saturday, October 31, from 3pm to 8pm. All are welcome to attend – and if the thought of ghosts in the dark frightens you, Ms Morten offers these helpful words of reassurance. “In all the years we’ve been doing this, nobody’s had to go to a psychiatrist yet.”