The Inverness Winter Festival opens this weekend with Halloween shows on the city’s Ness Islands on Friday and Saturday. (Oct 30/31)
Bumper crowds, with hundreds in costume, are expected to attend the show.
The event will see the area transformed with characters and scenes from the cinema and television adaptations of the Halloween short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
This year, more than 150 youngsters from Eden Court creative groups across the Highlands will be lying in wait around the 4,200ft circuit to entertain spectators who will discover a mixture of scary live performances alongside a number of stunning projections created for the event by Evanton-based Arts in Motion.
Headless horsemen, giant spiders, dancing pumpkins and a grand 17th century ghost ball in the main arena are among the highlights.
Since it was first staged, the Halloween show on Ness Islands has grown into one of the biggest fancy dress events staged in Scotland.
Hundreds of families are inspired to dress up to help the city repel its annual invasion of ghosts, beasties and unmentionables.
The £36,000 event, backed by the city’s common good fund, has also been adopted by revellers as the perfect excuse to create a spectacular Halloween carnival in the pubs, clubs and streets of the Highland capital.
The show runs from 6.30pm-8.30pm. Spectators are being urged to park well away from the entrances and allow plenty of time to get there.
Parking in the Bught Park area is limited. Drivers should note that there will be several traffic restrictions between 5pm-9pm both evenings.
Ness Walk will be closed to northbound traffic between its junction with Ballifeary Lane and its con-junction with Bught Road. Access for southbound traffic will be as normal.
Bught Road will be closed to northbound traffic between its con-junction with Ness Walk and its junction with Bught Avenue. Access for southbound traffic will be maintained at all times.
Bught Road will be closed between its junction with Bught Avenue and its junction with the access to the Highland Archive Centre. Access for parking will be controlled by personnel employed by the event organiser.
Bught Avenue will be closed to southbound traffic between its junction with Bught Lane and its junction with Bught Road. Vehicle access for northbound traffic will be maintained.
The closures will affect vehicular traffic, but pedestrian access and access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times.