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Shocktober Fest 2014, Dan Tester’s Book Launch, Rockinghorse Charity Halloween Quiz
‘BRIGHTON & HOVE ON THIS DAY’ launch
Author Dan Tester was interviewed, greeted visitors and spent time signing copies of his new book, Brighton & Hove On This Day, at a launch party on Friday 24 October 2014.
The event ran from 5pm to 8pm upstairs at The Eagle, 125 Gloucester Passage (Gloucester Road), just a few minutes away from Brighton station.
Brighton & Hove On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the two towns’ pulsating history, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable Brighton and Hove ‘diary’ – with an entry for every day of the year.
From Brighton’s first market in 1313 to 7,000 Brightonians feasting at the first unofficial Brighton Festival in 1817; from bear-baiting in Bear Road to digging the deepest well in the world at Woodingdean – the book pays homage to the people and events that have helped shape this marvellous cultural melting pot, long synonymous with creativity, music, hedonism, freedom and tolerance.
Brighton & Hove On This Day revisits Saturday 6 April 1974, when ‘The Abba’ won the Eurovision Song Contest at The Dome, singing ‘Waterloo’. (The Brit jurors awarded the Swedish superstars ‘nul points’!)
On Thursday 14 January 1999, Brighton was unveiled as ‘the coldest place in the universe’. A sample of gas in a lab at the University of Sussex was cooled to only a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
On Friday 4 April 1823 bricklayer Daniel Watts and sawyer James Smith competed in a famous prize fight. After an hour, Smith was knocked unconscious, and sadly died the next morning. Watts was charged with manslaughter but passed away from his own injuries before he could be brought to trial.
Wednesday 21 February 2007 saw the council warn Hove resident Stuart Conway for throwing 7,000 bottles into the sea over a ten-year period.
The free online message-in-a-bottle service said, “I like to think of myself as a sort of postman for emotions.”
About the Author: Dan Tester is the author of Brighton & Hove Albion On This Day (I and II), and has also penned a tome on ‘men named Michael’. Dan has spent the majority of his life in Brighton and Hove and has a great passion for the place. A copywriter by trade, he also puts on funk and soul nights and co-presents Radio Reverb’s monthly ‘Family Funktunes’ show.
Spectacular Fireworks display draws a close to Shocktober Fest 2014
As the Halloween season drew to a close, Tulleys Farm set the sky alight with an incredible fireworks finale to celebrate the close of Tulleys Shocktober Fest Scream Park for another year.
Ending the 19 nights of frights and thrills, thousands of scare-fans, families and friends made their way to the top field to watch a fireworks display that did not disappoint.
Choreographed to a captivating soundtrack, including music from the motion picture Frozen and hit show Game of Thrones, the stunning twenty minute spectacle was every bit as dramatic, filling the night sky with explosions of colour at every turn.
The Scream Park welcomed over 55,000 visitors this Halloween season, exceeding all previous year’s attendance and remaining firmly at the top as one of the UK’s most popular Halloween attractions.
Stuart Beare, owner of Tulley’s Farm, is delighted with how the event went. “We’ve had the pleasure of entertaining thousands of visitors with our award winning haunts, street theatre and live music, and have been delighted with seeing how the addition of our new attractions has added extra value to our offering. We can’t wait until next year, when we return with even more. Our scare fans are encouraged to keep an eye on the Tulleys Farm website throughout the year, as plans for further frightening entertainment are in development.”
A Spooktacular Halloween Quiz
Guests took part in a Spooktacular Halloween Quiz on Thursday 30 October in aid of Rockinghorse Children’s Charity.
The Brighton based charity transformed the Palm Court Restaurant on Brighton Pier into a Halloween haunt and treated their ghoulish guests to five rounds of quiz trivia and some famous pier fish and chips.
The event raised £2,976 for Rockinghorse through ticket sales and a fundraising raffle, which included premier tickets to Lingfield Park Racecourse and match day tickets for Charlton Athletic FC.
Quizmaster Gareth Sheppard entertained the 17 teams and crowned team ‘Pumkings’, made up of staff from BICS (Brighton & Hove Integrated Care Service) as the first ever Spooktacular Halloween
