WATCH: One of the busiest weekends of the year is in store for pubs, costume shops and RCMP as pre-Halloween revelling gets into full swing. So RCMP are urging the public to keep safety in mind as the party spirit sweeps over Vancouver Island. Skye Ryan has more.
Friends Amber Davidson and Alexis Parker are going all out this Halloween.
“Yes all out this year. Oh my gosh it’s going to be amazing,” said Amber Davidson.
They’re transforming their faces with gory makeup to stun everyone at the Nanaimo party they’re headed to this weekend.
“You’re not yourself, you get to be like this while other person,” said Alexis Parker. “And I don’t know it just gives you like a while different personality of who you want to be.”
At Pattie’s Party Palace in Nanaimo, aisles are full of people about to put their imaginations and lowered inhibitions on full display. Here political satire masks and superhero costumes are the hottest sellers.
“It’s our favourite time of the year,” says the store’s owner Pattie Walker. “Adults become children, children become adults they love to see their parents dressing up along with them,” said Walker.
Halloween pub crawls and parties also kick into high gear this weekend, so RCMP are amping up patrols for impaired drivers. On Halloween itself, ICBC says crashes spike by 25 per cent, and in the past has seen more than 900 crashes in BC on that day alone.
“Halloween is basically organized chaos we’ve got hundreds of kids all over the street,” said Const. Gary O’Brien of Nanaimo RCMP.
“The parents have to hold on to them tight because they’ve got an abundance of energy. Drivers, they have to have their head on a swivel because the kids are darting out left and right they have to go very slow and be looking for the unexpected,” said O’Brien.
Parents are also urged to put reflective strips on their children’s costumes and are encouraged to travel in groups, on sidewalks and in familiar neighbourhoods.
RCMP are also urging people to check their local bylaws about the use of fireworks. In Nanaimo, they’re not allowed without written approval from the Nanaimo Fire Rescue.
“Caution is always the better part of valour here you have to plan for your parties,” said Const. O’Brien. “We’ll have extra troops on the ground all weekend and including Halloween. We expect people to have fun but use some common sense as well.”
Skye Ryan
