Halloween 2008

This year the calendar tried to give clubbers a present: one of the most recent holiday imports – Halloween, a festival that originated in Ireland and is celebrated on 31 October – fell on a Friday. Our dance clubs are, of course, indifferent to the actual holiday of the Irish pagans and use it merely as a pretext to throw a costume ball, which is why in previous years the Halloween parties were quite calmly moved from the last night of October to any convenient day. This year the convenient calendar alignment also can't be used to the full: by the decision of Russia's Chief-of-Holidays, Saturday, 1 November, has been declared a working day. Nevertheless, most clubs still decided to celebrate All Saints' Day on the proper night, except for those who moved the holiday a day later and those who, for religious and other reasons, don't celebrate it at all. We offer you a brief overview of the Halloween parties in the capital's night establishments.

The first to unilaterally declare the arrival of Halloween is the club Arma 17. Here All Saints' Night arrives exactly a week early, and the club sets aside two days for its celebration. On the first of them, 24 October, in the round building of Arma 17, beloved by many, the party Hell's Kitchen will take place, featuring the legendary Loco Dice and Martin Buttrich, and the next day, 1 November, the third Matinee Moscow party will be held there, at which the residents of the Spanish label Matinee – J. Louis, Taito Tikaro and Luca G – will hold their sabbath.

Along with Arma, Gazgolder Gallery is also in a hurry: there they meet Halloween on 24 October as well, with the party The Mystical Dance Masquerade, in the company of the legendary Trentemoller and our countrymen Miusha, Moonbeam and Mujuice. All of them will play live concerts.

On the day itself, 31 October, Moscow's nightlife will abound with gatherings of evil spirits and costumed revelers to suit every taste. In that same, time-racing Arma 17, another party will take place, Halloween Hallucination, where Koan, Ticon and Vishnudata will perform live shows. The club London on Vernadsky Avenue will hold a two-day celebration: on Friday the British guest Spit will take part in the party, and on Saturday – the Frenchmen Jakarta and Mondotek. At Pavilion 5 of the "Arma" factory the legendary Zeppelin Halloween will take place, this time styled after black-and-white silent cinema and decorated with blood-chilling scenery. Among the performers are the famous Supafly Inc. and the DJs Fashion and Smash.

On the huge site of Gaudi Arena the third, already legendary signature party Freak International will take place, which invariably presents the craziest, most unhinged and most talented artists of the electronic scene. This time, among the eminent guests are Adam Sky, JoJo De Freq, Princess Superstar and Villain.

The super-secret club "Krysha Mira", which simply adores the aura of mystery around itself, promises to be sure to notify all its friends of its Halloween plans on Friday, right before the holiday itself, in its usual way – by telephone and email mailout.

The club Ikra will present its holiday party on 1 November. It will be held under a new name, already beloved by clubbers, Re:Konstruct Halloween, and will do without foreign guests; however, among the performers are the best and most promising young minimal techno artists and DJs: the Severodvinsk native Suokas with a live set, and also the DJs Perepelkina, Vanila, the chief Cheburashka man Tim Svodnik, and others. Entry in carnival costume is completely free, but don't forget to bring your passport: security may take an interest in it.

The club Famous will try to lure all superheroes into its depths for the party Halloween "Super Heroes", where guests will have a great opportunity to meet Batman, Spider-Man and other characters who will try to save the city from crime by hunting down the criminal masterminds who terrify the citizens. However, this opportunity will only come to those who show up at the club's doors in the best costumes, in the opinion of security.

G-Club is holding the party "Night of Fears and Spirits" in two parts and lures those very spirits with free drinks: on 31 October it'll be gin and tonic, and on 1 November – whiskey of a certain brand. What's even more enticing is that entry too is free. DJ-Cafe Mio decided to combine its traditional start-of-the-month party I Love Rien, I'm Parisien with the All Saints' Day celebration. The result was the Fluokids Party, at which on 1 November the resident of the French brand Troubles, who has almost already moved to Moscow, will perform, along with the still-foreigners Pharrell, Mondkopf and Casper C.

At the club "Kult" on 31 October, Epik Electrics and its residents are holding Epik Electrics Halloween featuring Damian Stanley. On the same day, at the club Neo, the themed "Woland's Ball, or NeoHalloween" will take place, styled after the 50s-60s, where the club's residents and the German D.O.N.S. will perform, and at the entrance guests will be met by Margarita and Behemoth the Cat. At the club Persona Grata, you can drop in to the holiday party both on Friday, 31 October, and on Saturday, 1 November, completely free – but in carnival costume. In the second part of the celebration at Persona Grata the legendary homegrown DJ Arkady Air will perform.

At the new establishment called "Neft", "found" on the site of the former club Versus, on 31 October a themed party "Halloween: From Heaven to Hell" will be held, entry to which will be possible from 21:00 to 01:00. Whether those wishing to leave the festive Hell after one in the morning will be let out is not separately specified.

On 31 October the club Ray begins a trilogy of holiday parties. On Friday, at the first of them – "Halloween Trilogy: City of Angels" – besides the club's residents, the magnificent Bob Sinclar will perform; at the second part, called "Trilogy: Gotham City", planned for 1 November, the most attentive guests will notice an unobtrusive change of the club's residents: instead of Miller and Shevtsov, Dan and She will stand behind the turntables, along with Lupin, who has performed there many times before. The third day of the celebration, called Trilogy: Sin City, on 2 November, will be marked by a performance of the legendary Frenchman Martin Solveig and a new set of residents.

The club Fabrique cares about the work ethic of its visitors and begins celebrating Halloween on 1 November. At the party Big Halloween Night Part 1, in the company of the club's residents, two overseas guests will perform – Mad Morris and R.I.O. The very next day, at the second part of the celebration, Inusa & Jay will perform a live concert, along with the famous MC Stephen Davis.

On the spacious site of Pavilion Production, on 31 October, the already traditional (for the capital) Red Devil Halloween will take place, where, in the company of our DJs Kolya, Koreets and Fonar, the most glamorous Frenchman of the dance scene David Guetta and the band The Persephone's Bees will perform. And the cafe "Tekhnika Molodezhi" will meet Halloween with the party Thriller, with cups of popcorn, horror films and to the accompaniment of Michael Jackson's album Thriller and sets by the DJs Phill and Grad.

It won't be without clubs that don't celebrate this holiday alien to domestic culture. Among them, perhaps the most principled is the club "Solyanka", where on Friday, 31 October, the traditional party Nu:Gravity will take place featuring the residents Zorkin, Sapunov and Kubikov, as well as the eminent German guests Scharrenbroich and Superpitcher. And at the club "16 Tons" the traditional "Golden Gargoyle" award ceremony will take place, and as of the article's publication the club's promoters have said nothing about its connection with the Halloween celebration.

At the conceptual club "Shanti" they too are declaring a protest against deviltry and holding the party "Pure Force", the dress code for which is everything "white and/or fluffy", while the line-up of participants is still being kept secret.

So you shouldn't feel obliged to rush around strange shops in search of no-less-strange costumes or to rummage through grandma's chests and theatrical props: there will be plenty of places to go in the city without dressing up as an otherworldly force. But if you've spent the whole year waiting for this holiday to show your safely hidden inner essence of a vampire or a spider-man, there will be even more opportunities to relax and have a great time in Moscow. And remember the main thing: whatever costume you dress up in, it's important not to lose your human face and not to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.