THE Light Party returns next week with “super-heroes” from around the Eastern Bay invited to attend.

After a lengthy Covid hiatus, the popular Halloween alternative is back on the region’s events calendar and expected to attract large crowds to the Whakatāne War Memorial Hall on October 31.

The theme is super-heroes, with families encouraged to dress accordingly.

There will be music, games, spot prizes, dances, and free food from 5pm. Entry is by gold coin donation.

The American history of Halloween traditions is one that initially (in the 1920s and 1930s) focused on ghosts, pranks and witchcraft but quickly deteriorated into community vandalism.

In the 1950s, it was redefined as a community event with children dressed in costumes going house to house in their neighbourhoods “trick or treating”.

Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

In very recent years, New Zealand retail outlets began advertising Halloween costumes and treats to promote the inclusion of Halloween into the Kiwi list of festivities and create a new income opportunity.

The Light Party, organised by the combined Whakatāne churches, is a response to New Zealand’s increasing adoption and commercialisation of the American Halloween tradition and the risks involved in unsupervised children going door to door, trick or treating.

Re-starting the event after Covid has required a lot of work but the committee has taken up the challenge, encouraged by the support of the many people looking forward to its return.