The Samhuinn Fire Festival in the Old Town takes place on 31 October 2017. It is run by the Beltane Fire Society and will take you back to the pagan celebrations marking the end of the harvest and beginning of winter.
From 9-11pm the unticketed event processes from the Royal Mile to West Parliament Square
You can volunteer as a steward at the festival which means that you look after those performing and those watching on. Liaising with police and security this is a good way to understand more about the Beltane Fire Society and what it does.
Here is the Winter King :
Get into the true spirit of Halloween in Edinburgh this year by visiting Escape Reality, Scotland’s newest escape room experience.
With two of the scariest escape rooms in Scotland, Nosferatu and The Asylum, you will need to be brave, calm and calculated.
Challenging Nosferatu you will have to use your skills to identify the world’s most dangerous vampire known to man. If bloodsuckers aren’t quite your cup of tea then maybe escaping an asylum might be better instead? The derelict building has been abandoned for many years and you just had to go and investigate it. Now you’re lost and need to escape, you might not be alone…
Both escape rooms are rated four-star difficulty so you will need to assemble your A-team to play.
For two weeks, Escape Reality are also offering customers 20% off with a special discount code – HALLOWEEN20 available to use between 16th – 31st October. Additionally, players will be able to take part in a Murder Mystery competition with the chance to win a free game.
If you are going on the sleeper near Halloween then look out for witches and ghouls!
Guests of Caledonian Sleeper are in for a treat as storytellers from The Real Mary King’s Close– climb on board to tell the unnerving tale of Burke and Hare.
Themed for Halloween and set to take place on the overnight Edinburgh-bound service from London on Tuesday 24 October, the on board event will offer guests a unique insight into the murders committed by the notorious pair in 1828.
Renowned for telling the real stories of Edinburgh’s fascinating history, The Real Mary King’s Close is an award winning social history tour which takes guests through a unique warren of 17th century streets, frozen in time beneath the Royal Mile.
The storytelling event forms a calendar of on board events organised by Caledonian Sleeper and its partners to offer guests a series of Scottish-inspired experiences.
Ryan Flaherty, Serco’s guest experience director at Caledonian Sleeper, said: “We’re really excited to be hosting the storytelling event in partnership with The Real Mary King’s Close. Scottish history fascinates people from across the world and this event will really bring to life an intriguing and dark time of the countries past. We hope guests enjoy the event and aren’t too unnerved to get a good night’s sleep.”
Friends of Starbank Park are having a party! More details here.
Make your Halloween Costumes at a special sewing class with Edinburgh Sewcial on 14 October 2017. Ideal for children according to the organisers.
Annasach’s Halloween Ceilidh
27 October 20.00 at The Pear Tree 36 West Nicolson Street EH8 9DD. Tickets here.
Fancy dress encouraged, but not required, and there will be a prize for best costume. Tickets are priced at £8 (adults) and £6 (concessions). Students will need a valid ID to claim concession. Retain your receipt from the ticket purchase, as it is needed.
Massaoke
Live band at Summerhall smashing out anthems from the eighties and beyond.
Giant screen with a room full of partygoers on 27 October 2017 from 21.00. Tickets here.
Edinburgh Horror Fest
Loads of horrible things to do at a variety of locations across the capital! Attractions include a Resident Evil live playthrough, ghost stories and spoken word horrors. Over-18s only- please present a valid ID at the door of events.
At the Botanics
At the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from Friday 13 October – Tuesday 31 October, 10am-4pm, Halloween trail – £2 per trail booklet
This Hallowe’en help Caley the good garden witch and her cat, Mi-agh as they plan a very special party for the the Garden’s animal friends. Follow the trail to work out which creatures have been invited to the party and what they would like to eat. Complete the trail and you will be rewarded with a tasty treat too!
The Georgian House
At the Georgian House hear tales of gore and misdeeds in the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town. Behind its grand Georgian exterior lies a darker past: this is, after all, the city that inspired the Gothic horror of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. And as you make your way through the house in the late evening, you’ll delve into the tragic past of its former owners, the Lamont family.
The Pumpkin Run
On 22 October there will be a chance to get out for a good autumn run – either 1k or 5k depending on your age and ability! Click on the picture to register for the event at the Royal Highland Centre to raise funds for When You Wish upon a Star
The Real Mary King’s Close
Visit The Real Mary King’s Close this Halloween, for the return of the 2016 sell out tour Condemned. Join a character guide and travel back to a time when Mary King’s Close was open to the skies. Fear and suspicion lurked around every corner, and witch trials were a regular occurrence. Hear how the inhabitants of Mary King’s Close and the surrounding streets were implicated in witchcraft, and the fate that befell them.
A late night tour experience, Condemned offers a unique insight into Edinburgh’s fascinating history with the occult, telling the stories of its infamous accomplices and most ardent opponents. Condemned will take you on a journey through Scottish history, documenting how and why attitudes changed over time. Make your way into the 18th century and see how the Enlightenment introduced new ways of thinking, changing perceptions and bringing relief to those who would have once have hidden behind closed doors.
With themes of witchcraft being explored more and more in popular culture such as Outlander, Condemned will challenge perceptions and go beyond what we believe to be true.
Tour creator Keith Baxter commented: “Condemned offers a different insight into the history of Mary King’s Close, exploring Edinburgh’s historic fear of the unknown; where it originated and how it came to be a part of everyday life. With this tour we wanted to dispel the myths and tell the real history of the occult in Scotland, it proved so popular in 2016 that we just had to bring it back to The Real Mary King’s Close, bigger and better.”
This Halloween, who will you believe and who will you condemn?
Condemned will run Friday 13 October, Saturday 14 October, Thursday 19 October, Friday 20 October, Saturday 21 October at 22.15pm and is priced at £16.95 per person.
Advance booking is recommended and tickets can be booked online at www.realmarykingsclose.com, by phone on 0131 225 0672 and in person at The Real Mary King’s Close.
Spooky Pictures
At Lauriston Castle on 15 October 2017 come and create a spooktacular gothic photo frame using some monstrously messy Modroc and decorate with terrifying things with Lauriston Castle staff.
10.30-12.30 For families.
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Halloween at St Mark’s
Featuring an ‘in-church’ screening of
John Carpenter’s 1987 Horror classic
‘Prince Of Darkness’
With live music support from
TST: The Southern Tenant
Friday 27th October 2017
Doors 6:30pm – TST onstage 7pm
Venue – St Mark’s Unitarian Church, 7 Castle Terrace
Edinburgh, EH1 2DP
This Halloween Braw Gigs & Edinburgh Zombie Club are joining forces to put on a special one-off movie event, an ‘in-church’ screening of John Carpenter’s horror classic ‘Prince Of Darkness’. Itself filmed in a church in Los Angeles it was screened two years ago in that very same church (now an arts centre) – this Halloween we’re going for a similar atmosphere but will be screening the chiller in a working church here in Edinburgh, St Mark’s on Castle Terrace.
Carpenter’s movie, about a mysterious cylinder found in the basement of an abandoned church and the subsequent scientific investigation into its contents, was poorly received at the time but has since, deservedly, gone on to become a cult classic alongside his other 80’s work like The Thing and They Live. Written after Carpenter had researched theoretical physics and atomic theory it concerns the points where religion and science meet and addresses some of the conflicts between them. Plus there’s insect attacks, a zombie siege and much more amidst that trademarked Carpenter-ian creeping dread.
As it is Halloween, fancy dress will be encouraged with the film providing many options such as priest, scientist, moustachioed hero, zombie and more. Plus there will be special lighting, fog and effects brought in to enhance the spooky Halloween feel of this special event.
Support comes from Edinburgh electronic duo ‘TST: The Southern Tenant’ and they will be playing an original live synth soundtrack to some brand new footage they’ve shot of Edinburgh late at night.
Tickets on sale here – http://www.wegottickets.com/event/414847
The Southern Tenant comprises Pat McGarvey and Steve Ironside, both longtime fans of movie composers (like Franco Micalizzi, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Fabio Frizzi, Lalo Schifrin & Tangerine Dream) and is an electronic spin-off from political folk/bluegrass band Southern Tenant Folk Union. Their debut concert was in May 2014 supporting US synth artist ‘Umberto’ (Matt Hill) and they have being playing irregular concerts around Edinburgh ever since. They recently released their debut album ‘The Horror Of The Right’ to much acclaim.
Listen here to ‘Horror Of The Right’ streaming in full –
https://soundcloud.com/the-southern-tenant/sets/the-horror-of-the-right
What the press said about TST’s recent album ‘The Horror Of The Right’
“This album, which evokes the gloriously ominous soundtracks of John Carpenter, can now be added to that list of retro themed reactions to the new, emerging right.” Joe Lepper, Neon Filler, 8/10
“An instrumental synthesizer soundtrack to the sadly imaginary yet remarkably prescient fright flick The Horror of the Right. Director/composer John Carpenter owns this territory, but Pat McGarvey and Steve Ironside of TST are intimately acquainted with its every ominous pulse, chorus effect and doomy analogue synth frisson.” Fiona Shepherd, The Scotsman, ****
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