On with the cracker costumes

If you venture into the city of Derry tomorrow night, don't be surprised if you bump into Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams supping pints of the black stuff as served by Superman.

Over the past couple of months, people in Derry have been planning their Hallowe'en stunts and costumes with the precision of a ghoulish military campaign. Secrecy is paramount and the attitude is as far from "stick a black plastic bag over your head, slap on the eyeliner and go as a punk" as it could be.

Certainly, the town will see the usual cliched clobber of clowns, witches and scary monsters but in recent years Hallowe'en in Derry has become ever more outrageous and inventive, as costumes have come to stretch the imagination - if not necessarily the pocket. When a new rubbish disposal method was introduced to the city recently, an enterprising reveller dressed up as a wheelie bin. A couple of years ago, at least one person painted himself blue from head to toe and went as a Viagra pill.

Hallowe'en in Derry is a night when you are likely to be stopped by rather inebriated groups of "RUC men", setting up mock checkpoints and wielding beer cans rather than batons.

No-one is exactly sure how Derry of all places came to corner the Hallowe'en market, though its famous walls lend the annual festival an authentic air. Up to 40,000 are expected to flock to the city while similar, smaller events will take place all over Northern Ireland.

Hallowe'en has always been big business in the North. Latecomers to the disproportionately large number of costume-hire shops here have found very little left to choose from, the best gear having been booked by the beginning of September. There are Hallowe'en shops selling nothing but fireworks. Cafes, restaurants and shops have been getting into the spirit of things for weeks - some offer customers mini-cauldrons of monkey nuts. Even posh eateries such as the Michelin-starred Shanks in Co Down are known to serve toffee apple creme brulee.

Derry man Tony Devine is convinced his city's obsession with Hallowe'en can be traced back more than 30 years to when he and his friends revived the tradition which goes back to pagan times. "Back then, we used to do a pub-crawl in Derry, starting at the Bluebell Hill Bar. At the time we just used to put soot on our faces. It was a laugh. The looks you would get when you would ask for a drink in the pubs! Gradually, we noticed more and more people doing the same," he says.

After a few years "the whole family joined in and we started to come up with cracker costumes". Today, Devine and his costume-mad extended family hold meetings to discuss what artistic direction they will take. This year, they are rooting out outfits that had been languishing in their attics from years past. Devine is thinking of going as a Greek soldier, while his wife has made an outfit from worn-out leather jackets and wants to take to the streets as Xena, Warrior Princess. "I love the element of mystery and surprise. You are talking away to someone and then they take off their mask and you realise it was a neighbour or somebody you know really well," he says.

Not that Hallowe'en has been hijacked by the adults - Devine says that for Derry children it is the highlight of the year. "When the kids knock on the door we don't just give them the sweets and nuts, we bring them in and make a big fuss of them. We have three basins sitting in the hall for apple dunking. It's great because when you answer the door, you are dressed up as well as them," he says.

These days, the Hallowe'en celebrations are a fully fledged festival organised by Derry City Council with highlights including a massive fireworks display on the River Foyle, a street carnival and a masked ball in a local hotel. Since Thursday, there have been spine-tingling ghost tours of the city featuring actual local spooks such as the Demon Bride and the Whispering Man. Today, the city hosts extreme sports events featuring bikers and skateboarders. On the night itself, Elvis will rise from the dead to perform outside the Guildhall along with other tribute bands such as The Korrs.

WHILE there is no getting away from the fact that this Hallowe'en fiesta is an ingenious excuse for a five-day party, it also makes sound economic sense for a city anxious to attract tourists. According to Catherine O'Connor of the Derry City Visitors and Convention Bureau, last year almost every hotel and guest house in the area was booked. "This festival has given us the opportunity to build up a short-break package which this year coincides with the midterm break and the Bank Holiday in the Republic. As a result, we see quite a lot of repeat business at other times of the year," she said.

"Hallowe'en as a big fun night in Derry had been going on for years in an unstructured way but around 12 years ago we decided to bring it out of the closet," explains Gerry McColgan, Acting Director of the Recreation and Leisure Department of Derry City Council. "At that time, we were still in the middle of the Troubles and we wanted to raise people's morale with something we could all take part in together."

Because few would dream of stepping out of their front doors in Derry sans costume, the night has been compared to the masked ball in Venice; others say it's more like Mardi Gras.

"You can be whoever you want to be at this time of year," says Festivals Officer Nuala Magee - an interesting concept in a town blighted by sectarianism over the years. "You really are an oddity in Derry if you aren't in costume. Everyone from babies to Grannies joins in. If you don't you feel totally left out." It's not just about costumes, either. Particularly committed citizens deck the halls with pumpkins, tree branches and electric lights and fight it out for the spookiest home award.

The holiday hasn't been entirely trouble free, with the usual problems caused by underage drinking and concerns about the danger of fireworks. And in 1993 Hallowe'en was cancelled altogether when, on October 30th, a group of loyalists burst into the Rising Sun pub in a village a few miles outside Derry shouting "Trick or Treat", opening fire and killing seven people.

In the past couple of years Belfast has begun to embrace Hallowe'en with Derry-style vigour boasting a similar programme of events. "There is no doubt about it, they are copying us," says O'Connor, adding that she is interested to see whether the Belfast festivities affect the numbers coming to Derry.

The best advice for those wanting to join in, says Nuala Magee, is to make sure your costume is warm. This is sensible when you consider that despite the autumn chill most of the fun takes place out of doors. To date, the weather has never stopped people prancing about in strategically placed pieces of black lace teamed with killer stiletto heels - and that's only the men. Scary stuff indeed.

Information on tomorrow night's events from Derry City Council: 048 71376504.