The Stellenbosch streets were alive with ghosts last Friday, as Halloween was celebrated five days early on 26 October, just a few hours after classes officially ended; and before the nightmare of exams began.
Students took the window of opportunity between classes and exams to get dressed up and hit one of the various annual Halloween parties the town has to offer.
First up was the annual “Monster’s Ball” at Aandklas. The sign at the door read “Welcome Monsters,” and while there were a few princesses and unicorns dotted around the place, there were some terrifying costumes as well.
“The best thing about Aandklas’s Halloween party every year is that people really do go all out. It’s not just a simple costume, everything is to the max. It’s extreme,” said Arnold Van Der Walt, DJ and MC of the event for the last four years.
“One time a person at the party had a different costume for every hour of the night,” added Van Der Walt.
In terms of decor, Aandklas gets points for effort and grandeur.
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- DJ and MC Arnold Van Der Walt says the Aandklas Monster’s Ball is a highlight of his year. PHOTO: Lauren Dold
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- The rest of Aandklas was full of paper jack’o lanterns and masses of spiderwebs. PHOTO: Lauren Dold
“The music, the way Aandklas looks and the ‘gees’ is what makes it the best party. I know I’m the DJ but I really do think the music has a lot to do with it. It’s rock, it’s old school.”
Across town at Mystics (Die Mystic Boer), not an old school note can be heard over the drum and bass.
The bar at Mystics was never unoccupied, as the Pirate behind it kept the Romans, the Harlequins, the sailors and the zombies well-hydrated. PHOTO: Lauren Dold
“Mystics is just a comfortable place to be to hang out with friends. For me it’s the best space,” said Lawrence Wilson, a frequent visitor of Mystics.
Mystics was a favourite amongst regulars, mostly owing to the fact that entrance was free if people showed up in costume.
Cady Balie (22), Bodhi Olivier (22) and Lawrence Wilson (22) are frequent Mystics-goers, and looked forward to their first Nightmare Before Christmas party. PHOTO: Lauren Dold
Izak Berg (23), Quinta Eigelaar (23) Rune Maritz (23) waiting for the Mystics party to start. “We didn’t get the memo that the theme was ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ and now we’re unicorns.” PHOTO: Lauren Dold
“There is no entrance fee if you have a costume so that was a deciding factor,” said Cady Balie when asked why she chose Mystics over the other parties.
The decor at Mystics stayed true to it’s annual theme, Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas.”
For people in the business, Halloween is a highlight of the year.
“We actually started this Nightmare Before Christmas party in Bloem,” said Willem Coertzen, owner of Mystics Stellenbosch. “This is the 20th one.”
In Stellenbosch this was the 16th Nightmare Before Christmas party held for Halloween.
“I think it’s just the effort that we put in that people respond to. It’s become a tradition, we’ve been doing it for so long and it’s really the biggest evening of the year for us. Everyone is here the whole day, everybody works, everybody gets into it, we prep for months in advance,” said Coertzen.
“It’s always the highlight of my year,” said Van Der Walt.
Have a look at the video below to see what the party people in Stellenbosch got up to on Friday:
Although the celebrations started five days early, students were more than happy to celebrate as many of them handed in theses on Friday.
Louis Jonk and Llelani Coetzer, celebrating Jonk’s handing in of his Geology Master’s thesis. PHOTO: Lauren Dold
“Actual Halloween is on the 31st but we can’t go out because its exams,” said Rune Maritz, waiting for the party at Mystics to start.
If neither Mystics nor Aandklas is your scene, The Happy Oak threw its own party. The theme: Hip Hop Halloween Drake Fest, hosted by Magnifique.
The decor at Happy Oak had all the traditional Halloween elements like ghosts and jack’o lanterns, but it wouldn’t be Drakefest without polystyrene cut outs of Drake himself.
Alternatively, De Lapa hosted a three-day party that they called “Festival De Halloween,” the final night of which was on the same night as all the other parties.
Halloween has roots in ancient tradition. INFOGRAPHIC: Lauren Dold
If you missed out on all of the fun above, check out this interactive map below detailing some of the events happening on actual Halloween, Wednesday 31 October.