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Officials were battling last night to control Halloween celebrations as the UK Government issued guidance to parents, and the Welsh Ambulance Service (WAS) monitored a growth in emergency calls.
Across the world fall out from the occasion grew as the authorities lashed out.
In China it was particularly severe – even before the event itself, police in Shanghai had escorted a man dressed as Buddha out of festivities, another disguised as a giant turd emoji was taken away from a dance in a public park, and a further reveller in a Kim Kardashian costume was bundled into a police van.
Bars were told to cancel costume parties, and over the weekend of October 26 and 27 throngs of police were sent to downtown areas where people tend to congregate.
Videos posted on social media showed that as well as the ‘Buddha‘, the emoji, and ‘Ms Kardashian‘, Chinese police officers also detained ‘Batman’ and ‘Donald Trump’.
The crackdown in China extended to Beijing too, where events were cancelled.
A comedy club in the city recently published a notice on social media asking audience members not to dress up or paint their faces.
In Wales as well there has been growing concern, with WAS urging people to take care over the Halloween period.
Last year, WAS received 4,682 calls to 999 over Halloween and a further 10,500 non-emergency calls to NHS 111 Wales.
Sonia Thompson, WAS Assistant Director of Operations (Emergency Medical Service), declared: “Halloween can be a very busy time for the Welsh Ambulance Service.
“…it’s important to prioritise safety for ourselves and our loved ones so please only call 999 for serious or life-threatening emergencies”.
The service issued strong advice to help make the celebrations as safe as possible.
This included:
-
Brightly coloured costumes were meant to be worn at Halloween Be seen, be safe: When stepping out in costume, brightly coloured clothing should be chosen or reflective tape added to enhance visibility, especially if walking near roads. A torch should be carried, or the phone’s light feature must be used to illuminate a path if it is dark.
- Responsible celebrations: Adult Halloween partygoers should drink responsibly and always have a designated driver or plan for alternative transportation if consuming alcohol.
Meanwhile tests on 128 costumes aimed at children under seven found more than 80 per cent failed basic safety tests, including ones for flammability and strangulation from cords.
As a result UK Government officers issued a stringent warning, and families were reminded of the dangers of buying costumes from untrusted sources.
This came as it emerged that Halloween celebrations this year were bigger than ever, with preparations by businesses and households being made weeks in advance.
Houses were bedecked with giant spiders’ webs or bats EVERYWHERE!
Greggs offered a ‘Halloween biscuit’, with other enterprises also seizing the opportunity.
One Welsh organisation summed it all up extremely well, proclaiming online: “Get ready for a spine-chilling adventure like never before at Gower Fresh Christmas Trees Farm!…But beware, from October 26th to October 31st, things take a terrifying twist. This year we have new adventures for you, new scary characters”.
Another ran a ‘ghost ship’ tour around Cardiff Bay the night before Halloween.
But apart from selling goodies (and elsewhere they have included trick-or-treat sweets which had to be kept by the door), Halloween has an important historical origin.
One theory holds that many ‘traditions’ were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals (particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain), which are believed to have pagan roots.
Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been ‘Christianised’ as All Hallow’s Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.
Whatever the truth, it is beyond doubt that Halloween is now bigger than ever, so warnings are likely to grow tougher, such as the one now about the UK Government ‘advising’ parents, while WAS monitors an increasing number of emergency calls…
The memories of our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry’s decades long award-winning career in journalism (when major events were always marked – but not Halloween!) as he was gripped by the incurable neurological condition, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
