Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night Focus: Don't be scared to celebrate
I've been in pubs where the scariest thing is the amount of someone else's lipstick on my wine glass or the decade's-worth of chip fat clogging the kitchen air vents. Truly frightening. Pubs of this kind don't constrain horror to just the allotted date. But then neither do the customers.
As a nation, we're getting much more into the party spirit as far as Hallowe'en is concerned. From being merely a minor irritation - a night spent with the light off, not to enhance the atmosphere, but to deter would-be trick-or-treaters from paying a visit - it's now a proper calendar event.
Indeed, so excited are supermarkets and department stores that you have to wade through aisles of costumes, foods, drinks, and general Hallowe'en party tat just to find the sandwich you popped in for. The High Street can see that Hallowe'en is big business and pubs should too. Tesco announced last week that Hallowe'en is now a bigger money-spinner than Valentine's Day. It contributes £55m in sales, compared with a love-lorn £28m for Valentine's, making scaring people officially more popular than being nice.
Consumer research company Planet Retail says the British spent just £12m on Hallowe'en back in 2001. Last year we spent a colossal £235m. And Nielsen estimates Hallowe'en was worth around £300m to food and drink retailers in the three weeks to October 31 last year.
It's no fun sat at home on your own dressed as Dracula - unless that's what you're into, in which case I'm not judging.
But people want to party and get together, so give them an excuse to ditch the idea of having a house party and get down to the pub. Who wants to wake up to the scary sight of 12 strangers asleep on your living room floor and fag butts floating in the fish tank anyway? It's the stuff of nightmares.
With Hallowe'en falling on a Sunday this year and Bonfire Night the Friday after, there is a great opportunity to get people in and attract them back for both events. Of course, you have to give them a reason to come.
Make the most of Hallowe'en
Hold a Hallowe'en quiz
Theme your questions and answers, award ghoulish prizes and include activity rounds such as blindfolded guessing games. Try putting items that people have to identify in bowls of jelly or rice pudding. If you're stuck for questions try these websites for inspiration:
Use bounce-back offers
If you pack out your pub for Hallowe'en, attract people back again for Bonfire Night with special offers or vouchers that can be used on the night. You could provide a half price sharing platter of Bonfire Night goodies for anyone who orders food on Hallowe'en, for example. Promote your menus, special offers and entertainment for Bonfire Night in advance.
Pay attention to what's going on in your area
Is there a bonfire or firework display happening near your pub? Attract people back with decorations, A-boards and information about what you're doing, or speak to organisers to enquire about placing an advert or publishing any special offers in the event programmes.
There's plenty going on up and down the country for Hallowe'en too. Many historic towns and cities will play host to spooky guided walks on the night itself. Contact the tour guides, especially if your pub has some macabre history and ask them to include your pub as a stop-off. Get ghoulgling - sorry, I couldn't resist - search the internet for events near you and think how you can benefit from them.
For a guide to big events, check out the Enjoy England website: EnjoyEngland.com Events Calendar
Ham up your history
By their very nature, most pubs have a story or two attached to them, be that because of their age or that fact that if you have at least 20 people a night drinking in one place over 100 or so years, something eventful is going to happen at some point. Do some digging into your pub's history and see what you find. You could contact your local paper to let them know about any spooky discoveries or hauntings or call in a psychic or team of paranormal investigators to hold events over Hallowe'en weekend. The popularity of shows such as Most Haunted means there is bound to be an interested group near you. What's more, they generally want access to the pub in the quiet hours of the night when it is closed. Many will pay to use your site, or you can sell tickets yourself. But make sure you are covered by adequate insurance. Stumbling around in a dark cellar is never going to be risk-free.
Hold a competition
Thanks to Tesco and co, fancy dress is cheap and easy to come by, so there are no excuses. People want to get dressed up these days. Indeed, Tesco alone expects to shift 1.5 million fancy dress costumes this year. So encourage customers to don their glad-rags and award a prize for the best dressed. Or, if you're looking to cut costs when it comes to decorating the pub, then be smart about it and hold a pumpkin-carving contest too. Get customers to bring their carved pumpkin creations to the pub and again award a prize. Don't forget to post any pictures on Facebook to show any potential customers for next year what they missed.
