The Sunday Mail
FOR many Zimbabweans, the culture of celebrating Halloween is something they have only experienced on television.
Last week, however, the capital’s party scene was buzzing with the Halloween fever, which saw numerous such events being held in the city.
While Jam Tree’s Twisted Circus Halloween Party headlined by South African superstar, Sketchy Bongo, led the pack, many other leisure spots including the Horsebox Bar, Evitro, Pabloz and Tamasha to name a few, also hosted similar parties. Users of social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram also joined in the fun with various Halloween filters being made available for those who wanted to create scary posts.
However, there has been a heated debate in various circles with some saying there is nothing wrong with hosting these parties while some are pointing out that Halloween is not part of African culture and therefore should be ignored. Some even went on to state that Halloween celebrations are satanic, something that is only observed by people who practice evil.
A bit of research and interviews with various cultural experts shed more light on the subject. Halloween is a Western Christian feast that is celebrated in a number of countries on October 31.
This period is dedicated to remember the dead, including saints or rather hallows and martyrs. However, others believe that the concept originated from ancient Celtic Harvest Festivals, which are thought to have had pagan roots, which might be the reason why many Christians distance themselves from the practice.
There might be many activities associated with this fete but the more popular ones include attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. This might have been a Western practice but globalisation has not spared other parts of the world, including Zimbabwe, from catching on to the fire. From the parties that were held to Ster-Kinekor’s screening of movies like “Jigsaw” and “Tyler Perry’s Boo2! A Madea Halloween”, it is indeed proof that this culture is becoming popular in Zimbabwe.
There was also something for the kids at Ocean Basket. The restaurant hosted a “Trick or Treat” event, which had activities that included candy collection, pumpkin curving, face painting and cookie decoration.
The Sunday Mail Society attended the Jam Tree party in a quest to find out what the whole fuss was all about. The atmosphere that characterised this fete was shockingly electric, maybe even epic. There were professional face painters and makeup artistes at the venue who were busy transforming people’s faces into their desired Halloween looks with the most popular ones being zombies and skeletons. From the scary to comic costumes and makeup, the majority of people who attended the event looked like they had just come off a Hollywood movie set.
While the host, Rob Macson got the party started behind the decks, it was the main act Sketchy Bongo who brought the house down with a playlist that included his own hit songs and other global urban hits. Rob Macson speaks on how he came up with the idea .“I lived and studied in London for several years so I got to see how people celebrate Halloween that side and how much fun it is to dress up and be a part of it.
“I noticed that we did not have such events in Zim but then felt like it would be fun to host one last year, it was a major success. This is just the second edition but this concept has grown in popularity judging by the response,” said Macson.
He adds :“To be honest, I don’t really know the history behind Halloween celebrations. All I know is that it is so exciting to dress up and come to mingle with other people who are also dressed up and just have a good time together.
“Last year we brought Chunda Munki from SA and this year we decided to rope in one of the top acts on the continent right now, Sketchy Bongo, who made the party a great success.”
Sketchy Bongo said while Halloween parties are becoming popular in his home country, South Africa, they are not recognised at a national level. “I think in South Africa people mainly do Halloween for fun and for parties in clubs and events,” said Sketchy Bongo, adding, “It’s more of a fun thing and not something the whole country does. It is mainly taken seriously in America and Europe.”
The South African producer/DJ who was also a headline act at last year’s Vic Falls Carnival said he has fallen in love with the local crowd. “Zimbabwe is a country that truly loves music and loves to party and I love to party with such great people. I’m so blessed to have Zimbabweans enjoy my music and I have really enjoyed performing in the country these two times where I performed for an amazing and energetic crowd. Everyone always say Zimbabweans are very friendly and it’s completely true, such a welcoming people,” said Bongo.
He commended both the organisers and people who attended for creating “an amazing Halloween atmosphere”.
“There was a great vibe and atmosphere with the face paintings and all the decorations resulting in a brilliant Halloween party where people were having a good time while not taking it too seriously.”
