The City of Perth’s fourth annual Carnival Macabre will celebrate All Hallows Eve and Day of the Dead with a four day program of Halloween themed films, activities and Mexican cultural celebrations for all ages, 28 October – 1 November 2015.
Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said free events would be hosted at Northbridge Piazza & SuperScreen, while Carnival Macabre would also include events from participating Northbridge businesses.
“Like other cultural celebrations, this is a time of year that encourages families to get together, dress up, and share some good fun, good food and, in this case, some free entertainment put on by the City to facilitate the gathering of our community,” Ms Scaffidi said.
The City’s four day free events program at the Piazza begins by welcoming the inaugural Viva Mexico Film Festival Australia, screening some award-winning Latin American short films and features on the SuperScreen and upstairs in the Piazza’s Community Room.
Another first in this year’s Carnival is the opportunity for filmmakers to have their short horror film screened as part of the Piazza’s Killer Shorts Competition. Short-listed entries will be shown on the SuperScreen at 10pm Halloween night and be in the running to win $1,000 of production services and equipment. Entries to Killer Shorts close midnight 25 October.
Carnival Macabre will also bring some Hollywood horror cult classics to the SuperScreen for Halloween, including Alien and The Shining and beginning with Beetlejuice on 28 October as part of the Piazza’s regular Date Night series, themed Winona (Ryder) Wednesday once a month.
In another Carnival first, the Piazza invites you to join in a free interactive gaming experience called Zombie Tag, 30 and 31 October. Players on team ‘zombie’ and team ‘human’ are each armed with a light-up Playstation Move controller, in a battle of agility to ‘survive’ and win.
Mexican Day of the Dead Celebrations take over 31 October, showcasing cultural dances, music and films, traditional regional Mexican food for sale by local vendors, and free sugar skull craft activities for kids. You can also view a traditional Day of the Dead shrine – colourful altars believed to act as a portal for departed loved ones to return for one special night of the year.
Continuing into Saturday evening will be face painting for all ages to complete your Halloween get-up; and a chance to witness a larger than life game of chess using humans as the game pieces.
Halloween night will culminate in Carnival Macabre’s pinnacle, the Zombie Masquerade Ball, where zombified swing and mysteriously masked salsa dancers will perform and lead the crowd in learning some bone-shaking moves to the tunes of the Nuevo Salsa Orchestra and Junkadelic Brass Band.
On Sunday, the Carnival concludes with a Halloween edition of the City’s free monthly activity day Piazzarama, inviting families to bring the little horrors for some freaky family films and fun including cupcakes and craft, roving characters, Museum of Scary Creatures and Skeleton BMX displays.
“In recent years Perth people have really embraced the multicultural origins of Halloween and Day of the Dead, as we celebrate sharing our different cultural understandings of life after death,” Ms Scaffidi said.
For detailed what's on listings and more participating Carnival Macabre events see www.visitperthcity.com
Carnival Macabre | 28 October – 1 November
Northbridge Piazza, cnr James & Lake Street, and surrounding venues
Images, interviews and more information available.
Media Contact: Di.Star@cityofperth.wa.gov.au | 9461 3371