THERE was something strange, in the Wallsend neighbourhood on Saturday night, but there was no need to call in the Ghostbusters.
More than 2000 people embraced all things dark and scary to celebrate Halloween at the Wallsend Frights festival. The Wallsend Village carpark was transformed into a haven of Halloween madness for the free ticketed family event run by the Curious Legends theatre company.
"It was massive," company CEO and artistic director Mitchell Reese said.
"I grew up in the States so I have always loved Halloween. There is something about the ghouls, ghosts, goblins and the darker side of it that makes it so much fun."
Curious Legends combined forces with WOW Wallsend, Wallsend Village, Purple Card Project and many other community organisations to bring Nelson Street alive with amazing puppet and light shows, as well as costume-making workshops and Halloween activities for even the tiniest ghosts.
"It always amazes me how many people pull their phones out to take pictures of the puppets," he said.
"We had bone digging where children could unearth a bone and give it to our Bone Lady in return for a chocolate gold coin. There was a headless, armless ghost and the kids just loved it, made friends with it, hugged it. We also had a dance battle between two groups of people and puppets and everyone got really into it."
The event was funded through City of Newcastle's Special Business Rate program and was focused around bringing the community together. The money employed more than 20 artists in the lead up to and during the event, helped with training and setup costs, as well as activities on the night such as craft, animations and sound shows.
"It is part of the creative economy," Mr Reese said.
"There is a large multicultural community around Wallsend and having free events like this is an easy way to promote community."
