Hallowe'en in Derry 2nd November 2007

Peer pressure can be a terrible thing, but if you're a secretly willing participant then it's also a handy excuse.
Weeks ago I made up my mind NOT to venture into town on Hallowe’en night. There were myriad reasons not to go out: been there, done that; work the next day; and I’m off on a week’s holiday today. They all seemed like decent excuses to give it a miss.Besides, nothing could top last year’s Hallowe’en - the earlier hours were spent in The Brandywell. Around 90% of Derry fans were in fancy dress, City scored a bagfull and the pitch was invaded by a rather wobbly-looking Santa and Superman. There were amazing scenes, none more so than a buddy of mine who had dressed up as a bunch of grapes by sticking as many purple balloons as possible onto his person. Needless to say, the spectators whose views were blocked at the match took great pleasure in popping them with their fag ends.However, at lunch on Wednesday the decision was taken to get dolled up and head ‘over the town’ (a Waterside-ism). I could claim peer pressure was responsible for my change of heart but that wasn’t really the case. I decided to go out on a ‘professional’ basis. What kind of self-respecting journalist would miss the city’s biggest annual event!?Due to the last-minute nature of things, finding somewhere to go was proving a bit of a nightmare. The usual ‘haunts’ (sorry) were all sold out. Sandinos? No chance. Nerve Centre? Not a hope.There was no alternative but to play it by ear and so we ventured to The Gwee. I cobbled together a costume from bits and bobs in the house and pranced around the town like the rest of them.Every year the Hallowe’en Carnival receives a lot of flack and, I’m ashamed to say, I kind of bought into it this year.I had no interest in going into town only to be bottled by 11-years-old louts hammered on cheap cider, but I’m glad I went.I am sure horror stories will come out in the next few days about children having to have their stomachs pumped and wanton violence and destruction on the streets but, again, I’m glad I went.The above are terrible but nothing new. Wha
t may not receive as much publicity is the amount of sheer fun those revellers with the right intentions had. I dressed up as a ‘hick’ complete with ludicrously short hotpants, mullet and vest. My companion for the evening’s festivities was the worst-looking drag queen you could ever possibly see - (s)he was made up and decked out in a £3 dress from Tesco’s. We were joined by a gorgeous Dark Angel and a massive sheep.Buzzing city centreThere is something about dressing up in silly outifts that spawns good form and the craic was great as we posed for photos before we left the house.The city centre was buzzing when we arrived and the costumes were awesome. I saw three of my all-time movie heroes inside ten minutes: Termintaor, John Rambo, and Beetlejuice. The atmosphere on Waterloo Street was more than friendly as complete strangers complemented each other on their outfits.
We got chatting to a couple of girls from Newcastle (England, not Co. Down) who came to Derry solely for the Hallowe’en Carnival and I’m delighted to say they had a wonderful time. They were full of praise for the festival, the city and the craic and I was reminded of my pride in being a Derry-man. All too often the papers, and this colum, are lamenting the city centre because of the random beatings and pointless violence but on Wednesday night it was the only place to be.Unpleasant scenesUnfortunately, I did witness the germ of potentially unpleasant scenes in
Waterloo place at one stage but the overwhelming majority of revellers steered clear. Those responsible were dressed in army fatigues and aged somewhere between 10 and 15. It’s a familiar story and I won’t dwell on it.What should be championed is the amount of laughter that echoed around the city as people in costumes varying from the sublime to the ridiculous wandered around.A LOT of people had a great night’s craic and, hopefully, the visitors to the town were among them. If any of them had anywhere near as much fun as I had - in a professional capacity of course - then hopefully they will be back next year and the year after. The Hallowe’en Carnival has been condemned in some quarters as nothing more than a night of excess and debauchery but, thankfully, it’s much more than that. It’s an excuse for the majority to dress up and have a laugh, and there’s nothing wrong with that!