By Kate Hodges
27th October 2021
EVENTS FLAME INTO AUTUMN
This weekend is Halloween, or Samhuinn. This year, flaming celebrations return to Edinburgh, as the Fire Festival lights up the streets of the city. This year, however, it’s not just those lucky enough to live in Scotland who can experience the drum, ritual and pageant; there’s also a simultaneous livestream of the parade, online film and art. Preregister for the event here.
Find more ideas for in-person celebrations here and enjoy Glennie Kindred’s ideas for ways to celebrate Samhuinn at home – including a recipe for Elderberry Syrup – here and more inspiration here.
MAKE HALLOGREEN
Many Halloween costumes and decorations are a disaster for the environment, but natural decorations are gentler on our planet and can look a lot spookier! Why not take time out ahead of the spookiest night of the year to make your own? These yarn-and-branch spider webs and stick skeletons are striking enough to stay up until Christmas, and ghost leaves will lurk in corners long after Halloween. Or gather up some pinecones and make these cute bats or quirky looking owls!
Swerve shop-bought costumes and sew or make your own from existing clothes. This bat costume uses old umbrellas as wings, while there are super-cute ideas for owl wings, sharks and animal ear headbands here and spiders and skeletons here. The spooking power of the classic sheet ghost should never be under-estimated!
RECIPE PUMP UP THE VOLUME
Lantern making means that there’s a lot of spare pumpkin flying about ahead of Halloween. Don’t waste its sweet goodness - find three of our favourite ideas here! Alternatively, rustle up a batch of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and to use in waffles or vegan spice drinks. Or use the beautiful vegetable as a pot and serve pumpkin humous or baked pumpkin fondue – how pretty are these ideas?
We adore a warming pumpkin soup, spiked with chilli, and Nigel Slater’s version, which comes complete with pumpkin seed rosti is warming and cosy. Or make a pumpkin cake perfect for scoffing on dark November nights. Don’t waste the seeds - they make crunchy snacks.
EVENT LIGHT YEAR
November 4 is Diwali, the Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist festival of light. There are huge parties this weekend in Leicester, and next week in Harrow, while Edinburgh gets to party later in the month
This Sunday the National Maritime Museum in London is celebrating with a free, family friendly party that includes workshops, performances and lantern parade and the Museum of The Home will host free traditional dance workshops, rangoli-making sessions and storytelling.
Celebrate at home by making your own lanterns, create an eco-friendly rangoli https://thehittop10.com/eco-friendly-rangoli-design-ideas-for-home/ , make these delicious Diwali snacks or cup of warming vegan chai. Finally, here are five of our favourite ways to celebrate the festival
EVENT PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
Artist Anicka Yi has filled the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall with an extraordinary, super-modern vision. Floating machines that look like jellyfish and mushrooms float through the air, drifting in ‘scentscapes’ that change weekly, each odour linked to a specific Bankside era.
Coincide your visit with this Saturday’s free Power To Change workshops, where you can make an upcycled weaving or banner, have your trainers given a new lease of life, or reuse discarded items from the gallery in an illustration class. All free, but timed tickets must be booked ahead.
REMEMBER: Get prepared for clocks spinning back an hour on Saturday October 30 now! Five Ways To Cope With Clocks Going Back
WHAT WE’RE READING What is gender creative parenting? We spoke to parents who let their kids explore gender freely. ”Maher describes gender creative parenting as “choosing not to assign any gender labels.” He discovered the parenting style via a Facebook group even before he welcomed his child.
“That way your kids can basically, without any type of preconceived notion of gender, identity, discover and explore gender in all of its vastness and allow them to figure out who they are without having any type of gendered ideals pushed on them before they’re even old enough to really understand what that means.”
WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO Swot up ahead of COP26 with a podcast or two. The Climate Fringe gang cover subjects including Art and Climate and Faith and Climate, while The Guardian investigate what temperature rises might mean for us all. Sobering stuff.
