Twelve years ago, Tropical Nannies founder Irma Levenson organised a Halloween party on Virgin Gorda.

 

She planned many activities, but only about 20 children attended. Soon she realised her mistake: Many residents had a negative opinion of Halloween, which is not traditionally celebrated in the Virgin Islands.

So the next year she changed the name of her event to a “costume party.” Problem solved.

“It is not scary: We try to make it simple,” Ms. Levenson said. “It is really a fun party for the kids.”

Halloween celebrations are relatively new to the VI, and may have started arriving as recently as the 1990s, said Elton Georges, a Methodist preacher and former deputy governor.

“For some people, it is kind of a joke,” Mr. Georges said, “but for some other people I’ve talked with, there’s a perception that this is an undesirable American thing invading the BVI: a very alien thing.”

Indeed, Halloween’s modern secular incarnation is a very American tradition, though the holiday has roots in a Christian celebration of the evening before All Saints’ Day.

Halloween

FEELING BRAVE? FRIDAY The Barking Frog in Road Town will offer prizes for the best-dressed patrons during its Halloween Spooktacula party tomorrow from 7 p.m. Deejays Tripple Xtreme and Phenom will be behind the turntable. SATURDAY Tropical Nannies’ Costume Party takes place at the Walters Recreational Park on Virgin Gorda from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday. There will be cake decorating, face painting, treasure hunts and other activities. Cedar International School will host its Monster Mash on Saturday at the school campus. There will be face painting, cake decorating, a scary vegetable competition, and other activities. Guitarist Jon Gazi will perform at The Witch Haunted Island event at The Island Last Resort from 7 p.m. on Saturday. Mixologist Xtian will be at the bar all night. DJ Wiz will provide entertainment at Chez Bamboo’s Halloween Party, which begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday on Virgin Gorda. Bamboushay Lounge will host its first Halloween Costume and Dance Party on Saturday from 8 p.m. Deejays Ian Adolphus and Push Pop will be behind the turntable. There will be prizes for the best-dressed couple, the best scary costume, and others. The Tortola Dance Project will also perform. Jamaican dancehall singer Dexta Dapps will perform at Myett’s Garden and Grill’s Hula Ween Party on Saturday. VI rapper NJAR will also take the stage at the hula-themed event, as will deejays Dre and Mac Milli. The party begins at 9 p.m. The Tortola Dance Project will also perform. VIBE as well as Kylo and the Stylee Band are among headliners for Paragon Conference Centre’s Hallow Scream Party from 10 p.m.

Nonetheless, Halloween appears to be catching on fast in the VI: A growing number of parties are hosted each year on Oct. 31, and many of them are downright scary.

Bamboushay Lounge will host its first Halloween Costume and Dance Party on Saturday, where prizes will be given for scary costumes and other categories.

It gets even scarier. Julia Rusu, a hairstylist and makeup artist at Studio One, will help transform revelers’ faces to go along with their costumes. So far at least 17 people have signed up.

Beginning last week, Ms. Rusu started brushing up on her Halloween makeup skills. On Friday, her fellow hairstylist Nicoleta Bongarth was her victim.

The Romanian-born makeup artist laid out small bottles of latex liquid, eye shadow, artificial blood, and other items on a table to make her work easier.

“I like that you can make someone look like a zombie or a monster,” Ms. Rusu said as she began covering Ms. Bongarth’s face with white powder.

In less than an hour, she had transformed her into a horrifying zombie.

But not all clients opt for such a scary look, Ms. Rusu said as she applied finishing touches with fake blood.

“You can make someone look pretty too,” she said.

Jen Hart, a manager at Paradise Club Sports Bar and Grill, agreed. The Cane Garden Bay business’s Halloween party last year was one of its best-attended events ever.

“There were zombies, vampires,” Ms. Hart said, but she added that there were just as many pretty faces too. “Rather than scary, a lot of the women like to dress pretty and sexy or flirtatious.”

Costume party

Despite Halloween’s growing popularity in the territory, Cedar International School will continue to take a page from Tropical Nannies’ book when it hosts its annual Monster Mash on Saturday.

“Some people don’t support it as Halloween: It is a costume party for the kids,” said Julie Reich, a member of the school’s Parent Teacher Association. “They love the costumes. It doesn’t have to be Halloween themed.”

In the past, the event was held at Nanny Cay and was open to the public, but it grew so popular that organising it became a lot more challenging for the PTA, Ms. Reich said.

For now, she added, the fundraiser will be open to “friends and students” of the school.

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