Welcome to our village of the damned (for ten nights only)

Highland hamlet hosts huge Halloween hootenanny

AHighland village is bidding to become Scotland’s Halloween capital by staging a spooktacular festival.

The 10-day event is being held in Durness, Scotland’s most northerly village, with events in three “haunted houses”, a Halloween costume ball, ghost story sessions, and even a surfing event for zombies. It’s being organised by fireman and artist Philipp Tanzer, who said: “I love Halloween and I wanted to give something back to the community.”

Mr Tanzer, 39, said the festival had attracted attention from all over the UK.

One of the highlights will be a zipwire ride, suspended up to 95ft above Ceannabeinne, and expected to reach speeds of around 40 mph.

The 745-feet wire is not only on the most northerly point on mainland UK but also it’s in such an exposed position that its operation is “weather dependent”.

Smoo Cave, the largest sea cave entrance in Britain, will host two professional actors from the Netherlands for the event.

“Smoo Cave is an impressive landmark and it’s not surprising that there are a lot of stories and legends surrounding this mystical place,” Mr Tanzer said.

“Some of them are true and some not but we will try to bring them all to life with light projections.”

For children, there will be ghost stories, monster- making pottery and a kids’ costume party.

“This is the biggest and, I think, the only Halloween festival in the UK,” Mr Tanzer added.

The festival kicks off from October 22. For more info, visit www.halloweenfestival.net