Halloween at Skelf Island
Castle Howard 2021
The Brief
Following the success of the Skelves at Halloween in 2019, we were asked to create new delivery for the 2021 season. Castle Howard wanted to extend the offer for audiences to include bookable workshops as well as a new adventure which highlighted the collection in Ray Wood.
What We Did
We met with the relevant stakeholders for Ray Wood – head of the Yorkshire Arboretum, the Ray Wood Manager and Head of Gardens to discuss how we use the site and what themes they would like to include in the adventure. We then created a new concept – Magical Beasts – to tie in all the Halloween delivery. We created both a stand-alone self-led trail and a new Adventure in which the Skelves are called to investigate evidence of magical beast incursions through a portal. With signs in the landscape to discover – basilisk scorch marks in the earth, chimera scratches on an old elm and a dragon helipad, audiences helped the Skelves with the magic required to close the portal which threatened the Ray Wood habitat. We combined this with broomstick making workshops using materials harvested by the Arboretum team
The Result
The event attracted record numbers, with the broomstick making workshops selling out a week in advance and with excellent social media feedback.
“I have to say we have had some fantastic feedback so far and I was over the moon when we sold out of the tickets by Thursday morning. We had to turn quite a few people away for Halloween itself – but a good problem to have!”
Want this for your event?
If you would like us to deliver this sort of performance at your venue, get in touch.