Pub events: who scares wins

Both Halloween and Bonfire Night are almost upon us, and coincide with British Pub Week and British Sausage Week — all perfect reasons to put on an array of tempting seasonal events. Sonya Hook reports

There's an exciting week on the pub calendar coming up, and no, it's not another plug for Christmas, or time to get your TVs set up for the X-Factor finals. The week in question is the first one in November. Why? Well, there are lots of reasons. Firstly, of course, are the two key events heading up the weekends either side of this week — Halloween, and Bonfire Night. The timing of these calendar dates this year is perfect for pubs wishing to draw in the crowds and create a fun and spooky atmosphere for two weekends in a row.

But uniquely, this year the week itself has also been earmarked as British Pub Week, which gives the on-trade all the more reason to make a greater effort with autumnal festivities — why not set Halloween events throughout the week in the run-up to Bonfire Night? Ghoulish activities don't have to be concentrated on just one day.

Some pubs have already been making efforts to take advantage of the focus on the pub trade during that week, so it's a good idea to see what the competition is up to. There are even pubs out there that have gone one step further, because not only is the week pegged as British Pub Week, but the date also coincides with British Sausage Week. So who knows? If things really take off, then pubs all around the country could be packed with ghouls and witches stuffing their faces with sausages. Stranger things have happened.

To help make this happen, we've come up with a few tips to help licensees think about how to prepare for both Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Quizzes and games​

If you already have regular quiz fans visiting the pub then setting up a spooky version should automatically appeal to this crowd. To liven things up further, why not offer prizes for the best costumes? A pub full of brooms, capes and cauldrons would also make for some good photos that can be used to promote activities at your venue in the future.

At the Peterville Inn in St Agnes, Cornwall, plans are now well underway to get prepared for Halloween 2010. The pub is hosting a fancy-dress Halloween party on 30 October with live music featuring Jose and the Love Cats. The pub decided long ago that it would make the most of Halloween falling across a weekend by running events on each of the days. So the following day, on the 31st, it plans to host its own Halloween quiz event.

French wine group Côtes du Rhône has also made the effort to set up its Halloween quiz early this year. The company will be offering everyone in the wine trade a chance to take part in its quiz on 28 October at Highlight in Battersea. It plans to make a full night of this event by starting with a "blood-red" wine tasting, followed by the lighting of the pumpkin lanterns to help kick start the quiz, and ending up with a "scary DJ" to top off the evening.

And for those who don't feel confident about coming up with quiz questions to capture the Halloween mood, there are companies out there that can help. Redtooth has a range of themed quizzes available to the pub trade, including those specifically designed for dates such as Halloween or Christmas.

Fiendish food​

Creepy and ghoulish menus can work really well to get people in the Halloween mood. Bar snacks such as "witches fingers" (chicken goujons), or "edible ears" (shrimp on skewers) are popular nibbles, served of course with a blood (tomato) dip, or similar.

Others plan to offer a different menu. Taking full advantage of the fact that Halloween runs alongside British Sausage Week, the Punch Tavern on London's Fleet Street plans to host its own Halloween night, during which it will put on a special sausage and mash deal for £5 for the whole week.

Meanwhile, Bonfire Night is typically one of the few evenings of the year when Britons are happy to stand outside wrapped up against the cold, so what better occasion to introduce some warming and easy-to-eat food options to your menu.

Food producer Big Al's suggests selecting from its range of microwaveable beef burgers, chicken grills and BBQ pork ribsteaks, which, it says, all give pubs the perfect opportunity to serve food quickly and easily.

"Wet-only outlets can also use this as a way to introduce a hot-food margin, from customers eager for an appetising snack — the range delivers a cash margin almost double that of a pint of bitter," the company points out.

"Many outlets simply do not have the budget to employ a professional chef or buy catering equipment, but want to capitalise on busy occasions like Bonfire Night," says Kepak Foodservice's business development director, Aoife Kenny. "Our frozen range just requires a freezer for storage and a microwave to cook the food. Not only that, the fast cooking time will enable barstaff to cook the burger while the customer continues to enjoy the fireworks."

Macabre mood​

Creating an eerie atmosphere is usually top of the list for those wishing to draw in a Halloween crowd, but, depending on the venue, it may seem like a daunting task — in the same way that decorating a room for Christmas tends to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" event that divides the nation.

There are companies that offer a one-stop shop service for such occasions. The Dorset-based Peeks provides pub and bar decoration packs, as well as party packs, fancy-dress options and banners for Halloween. Visit www.peeks.co.uk for more information.

Another easy way to create some atmosphere is to see what suppliers have on offer to help enhance the pub's spooky surroundings.

WKD is one company that always likes to support this occasion, with this year being no exception. For 2010 it is again launching its "Public House of Horrors" theme, which will involve supplying licensees with point-of-sale kits to decorate their outlets.

The kit includes hanging skeletons, cobwebs, bunting, window vinyls, bar-trims, giant hanging bats and washroom mirror vinyls.

In some outlets, a consumer promotion will run offering free vampire capes to purchasers of WKD.

"Halloween is becoming more and more of an event every year," says marketing director Debs Carter. "Using the WKD decoration kits to give outlets a haunting Halloween look will drive footfall, and get consumers in the mood for a fantastic weekend."

Southern Comfort also has creepy items available. The brand's Voodoo PoS kits include glow-in-the-dark posters, pitchers, coasters and banners. Staff will also be able to offer 'Trick' or 'Treat' cards to customers who purchase a Southern Comfort drink.

And cocktail bars can create the Southern Comfort Voodoo Jam, mixing the spirit with strawberry jam, orange juice and red wine.

Spooky bottles​

Halloween is the perfect time of year to create a drink that would normally make people squeamish.

Taking this concept to the extreme, Hi-Spirits is offering a special Halloween promotion to pubs and bars with its Monte Alban Mezcal. The distributor says any outlets that order three or more bottles of the authentic Mexican spirit can get a free promotional bottle of Monte Alban. These apparently contain enough worms preserved in Mezcal for every customer who orders a shot to have one.

"Halloween has become one of the biggest party nights of the year for the trade, so we're delighted we've managed to secure enough supplies of worms from the Monte Alban distillery for every pub and bar that wants to mark the occasion in traditional Mexican Day-of-the-Dead style," says chairman Jeremy Hill.

"Traditionally, the worm can only be eaten by the person brave enough to order the last shot in the bottle. This promotion means anyone who orders a Monte Alban can test their courage with a worm chaser." Worm-themed PoS material is available from the company to promote the offer.

A limited-edition Halloween bottle will also be available from Inspirit for its Opal Nera sambuca brand. The skeleton-themed bottle has been designed exclusively for th