It’s Halloween, and boy, is the capital getting ready for it this year!
There are boat tours, fancy dress parties, fancy dress ice skating, art exhibits, Day of the Dead Mariachi bands and, um, of course, Abba!
It’s time to dig up your spookiest and most outrageous rags and party!
Oddity at the water’s edge
As if Halloween wasn’t spooky enough without getting out on a boat to explore the most haunted parts of the UK’s waterways! But that’s what GoBoat suggests – and they bring in a paranormal expert just to make a night of it.
Pick up around seven friends and take advice from ghost hunter Dr. Ciaran O’Keefe on where to engage in paranormal activity around Little Venice and London Zoo, Canary Wharf or Kingston.
And in case you’re a non-believer, you can take your own spirits (reasonably though – you’re on the water!) except in Paddington, which is alcohol-free. So at least you will know that you saw what you think you saw.
Various places
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Join the parade with PATRÓN this Día de Muertos
If we know one thing about Mexico, it’s that they know how to throw a big Día de Muertos celebration. Oh, and they know how to make tequila too! That’s why PATRÓN super premium tequila – handcrafted by the PATRÓN family in Jalisco – is the benchmark for the ultimate large-scale, colorful Día de Muertos celebration in London.
On November 1 and 2, PATRÓN brings Mexico’s beloved cultural heritage celebration to life with an immersive parade through the heart of the city – a sight to behold and an exciting opportunity to learn more about the celebration and its origin.
Customers with tickets can board a marigold-adorned bus and raise a glass with a PATRÓN Paloma Roja signature. Joining the parade will be an assembly of performers led by Miguel Torres Umba of Secret Cinema fame – including Mexican dancers and skull puppeteers – which means the celebrations will frankly be off the scale.
If you can’t make it to the parade, don’t worry: there are plenty of bars with special food and a PATRÓN cocktail menu, including Hacha, Satan’s, Whiskers, Raffles, Bulgari Hotel and Arcade – so you can keep going. celebrations after the parade. .
Join the parade for £10 each, with four time slots to choose from. Tickets include Mexican snacks and two PATRÓN Paloma Roja cocktails per person on board.
Starts Tanner Street, Ludgate Hill, SE1, 6pm/7pm, tickets £10
Squad Ghouls
Perhaps the coolest part of the whole city of London is hosting a series of Halloween events where you can dress up in sexy/scary clothes. Yes, Peckham Levels fans, there’s The Scissors of Oz, a HalloWellness night on Saturdays, with tarot readings, themed healing sessions and performances (free entry, by the way).
Then there’s Anti-Diet Riot Club’s Spooky Boob Printing, where you can print body parts, not to mention Rilla’s 8th birthday party, which will be a full dress-up show on Saturday.
Many Times, Peckham Levels, 95a Rye Lane, SE15
Here, there and every fear
You don’t want to take this whole Halloween thing too seriously, do you? We don’t. And that’s why we’re working on costumes for Club de Fromage, the outfit that describes itself as “the clown princes of pop.” But we don’t know which of this Saturday’s events to opt for.
The first is the traditional Murder on the Dancefloor CdF in Islington, where it will be a mix of pop and respectable guitar music from Not Another Indie Disco – and you can only imagine how the venue will look.
And then there’s the all-new Cheese on Ice Spooky Skate at Ally Pally with prizes for best dressed, chants and magic wands. Don’t force us to choose!
Saturday, various locations
dancing cry
Now, there are people – idiots, no one we know – who think the idea of an entire Abba Gantry party is scary enough. But it’s them.
We personally love the idea of an Abba-themed Halloween party, complete with an Abba tribute act, pumpkin-spiced daiquiris, buffet dinner (what’s that? A wedding reception?) And obviously as much Waterloo and Mamma Mia and Day Before You Came (our personal favorite) as you can cram into an all-in-one Lycra outfit with abundant VPL – and there’s a price for the best dressed so don’t skimp. Or DO skimp!
And if you can’t get enough, they start again on Sunday with a daytime party where kids are welcome.
Saturday (and Sunday), 40 Celebration Avenue, E20
Spice up Your Life
Do Día de Muertos the Mexican way at Los Mochis, Notting Hill’s beautiful Mexican/Japanese fusion venue.
They’ve taken over the place with facilities and offer specials like the Count Taco-La, which is a honey-glazed pumpkin with pineapple-jalapeno salsa, a casket made with chocolate brownies, and the Los Muertos Margarita, which, we can imagine, being mortal…
Oh and on November 2 there will be a live mariachi band, just to heighten the Mexican vibe even more.
Until November 3, 2-4 Farmer Street, W8
Monster mash
No, not the state of British politics at the moment, but a new show at one of our favorite places in London, Somerset House. The idea behind The Horror Show! A Twisted Tale of Modern Britain is an exploration of how ideas rooted in horror have fueled the last half-century of creativity in the UK.
We’re talking bizarre costumes from Leigh Bowery, Gareth Pugh and Pam Hogg, art and film from Derek Jarman, graphics from Jamie Reid – who invented the Sex Pistols’ punk queen thing – all split into three sections , namely Monster, Ghost and Witch.
It’s gonna be cooler than that squirt of ice you put on tense muscles.
Until February 19, Somerset House, Embankment Galleries, Victoria Embankment, WC2
Have a real shock
This is a series of New Orleans-themed Halloween events featuring Southern Comfort whippings at one of our favorite locations, so you really need to start planning this outfit as * check the watch* now! And it’s not just an event.
It takes the whole weekend, so you may only have time to reapply your lipstick/slash to your neck before heading back home. DJs, a free Southern Comfort Sour Cherry Smash on arrival, a Halloween edition of the Famous First Words music quiz, a Bottomless Brunch of Horrors, pumpkin carving, works…
14 Lillie Road, SW6
artistic evening
Start your art collection this weekend with one of Jemma Rowe’s delightfully colorful paintings, which will be on display out west from tomorrow.
Basically an explosion of color and sunshine right there on your wall, the paintings depict architectural spaces with many platforms and ladders as if they were being built right before your eyes.
Of course, we’re no art experts, but that’s not enough to describe their impact… Prices start at £400 – go ahead, brighten up your winter. You may even need to wear sunglasses inside!
Until November 11, TM Lighting Gallery, 7 Cubitt Street, WC1
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