Halloween SkyTrain Party: tuning up the train

Photo: Lydia Yan

Many of you have been asking about whether or not we’ll be doing our annual SkyTrain Party this year. The short answer is that we’ve decided to take a year off.

Since 2006, we’ve held a transit party every year – and in some years, we actually held multiple transit-celebrating events. They’ve all been a fantastic success… and we’ve been hugely gratified by just how much people loved the festivities.

We have also been incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with the good folks running our transit system to make this happen. Over the years, we’ve been able to develop a very good working relationship that’s helped the event to grow from its more ‘guerrilla event’ roots into something collaborative and amazing.

An evening of saints and sinners – 2009 SkyTrain party

However, we realized after 2015’s event, that we’d passed a bit of a milestone. 10 consecutive years at anything is a pretty good run, but it’s also a reasonable time to take stock of things, and maybe look for ways to refresh – and even improve – the event. And so… we are going to take a break for 2016 to do just that.

We want to use this time to explore the best sorts of ways for an all-volunteer group like ours to throw an event that animates public space on Halloween. This could be a different take on the transit party, or it could be something all-together different – like our VPSN 10th Anniversary party in September. We welcome your thoughts on this.

There are some opportunities that come with an event like this which we also want to look at.

Last year, for example, we estimated that just as many people were left behind at Waterfront station as were actually able to make it on the party train. So we want to take a look at this capacity issue – so that we can better meet the demand for this type of all-ages, no-cost event.

Waterfront Station – 2015

There are other things to look at as well, including the technical challenges that come with events like this (our beloved battery-powered system, and the challenges of getting sound all the way down the train), as ways to make this event more sustainable (in every sense of the word) as we look to the future.

So… thank you everyone for your support over the past decade. It’s been awesome to ride the spooky, crazy, Halloween train with you, and we look forward to more fun times together at future events. Thanks for your understanding as we take this year to plan something new and exciting for the future.

2011 SkyTrain Party – Photo by Lydia Yan

Looking for something to do on Halloween?

There are a number of cool events that connect All Hallows Eve with public space. Here’s some of our favourites:

Parade of Lost Souls, Saturday, October 29 - Returning, as in tradition on the last Saturday in October, the Parade of Lost Souls is a parade of spectacle and performance, an inclusive celebration for the thousands of lost souls that join us every year to meander along its route. As it has for decades, the final parade route is kept a closely guarded secret – revealed only at midnight the night before. | Details

Decentralized Dance Party, Saturday, October 29 – Billed as “the world’s funnest spontaneous street party.” The DDP is a portable, battery-powered Party System invented by Tom and Gary – two gentlemen from The Future. It consists of hundreds of Party people, carrying boomboxes, and a DJ who wears a backpack, containing an FM radio transmitter. All the boomboxes are tuned into the DJ’s master FM broadcast, resulting in a mobile, synchronized sound system. This Open-Source dance Party roams the night, generating complete awesomeness, street by street and block by block, onto buses and subways, into public fountains and beyond. | Details

Stanley Park Ghost Train, through October 31 - Each year the Stanley Park Ghost Train takes our riders on a journey through a mystical and magical world, inspired by Hallowe’en and other spooky tales. This family event is open to all age and offers a fright free glimpse of the whimsical world of ghosts and ghouls. Plaza activities include the Haunted Maze, arts and crafts, exhibits by the Stanley Park Ecological Society, and our pumpkin match. | Details

VanDusen Gardens – Glow in the Dark, Through October 31 – Experience an unforgettable Halloween walk in the woods at VanDusen Botanical Garden. The Garden comes to life with spellbinding lights, ghoulish music, and glowing pumpkin characters created by award-winning carvers, Clive Cooper and Bruce Waugh. After the walk, costumed kids will enjoy creating fun Halloween crafts inside. Parents can pick up a pumpkin and hot apple cider at the Taves Family Farms pop-up shop on the plaza. | Details

Pumpkin Photo – Credit Lydia Yan