Braving the Ghastly Ghouls During Sydney's Annual Halloween Night Skate

The Sydney City Skaters were having fun; the party had just begun. The guests included Dracula, Where’s Wally, the Ocean Spray guy, and Kiss’ Paul Stanley…They did the skate, they did the monster skate!

An Annual Tradition

Halloween is largely an American tradition and was more of a fringe event in Australia until about five or so years ago. Bill Vertucci, the founding member of our skate crew, is American, so Halloween has always been a dress-up party night for our group. Over the years, the costumes have become more elaborate and creative. What was once a simple affair with skaters in costumes from the $2 store has turned into a jockey on an almost life-size pony skating around town, which was an actual costume from last year!.

This Years Best Costume

This year Fabrice Noel won the best costume as Dracula. Billy Dilfine deserves a special mention for his Kiss outfit. He made the whole damn thing from scratch!!!! Amazing!!

When and Where

In the past, we held our official Halloween night skate on whatever Wednesday fell closest to October 31st. These days we also skate whichever night Halloween falls on. We take a super chill route around the Sydney CBD (that’s Australian for downtown) and around Sydney Harbour. We always stop to take lots of pictures at the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge, because even though we live here, we are still impressed.

The Virus

Because it’s 2020, you are unable to talk about a thing without mentioning COVID-19. Fortunately, it didn’t impact our Halloween skate this year. Case numbers are meager, and touch wood community transmission in Sydney is almost non-existent, so groups of up to 30 can meet outside.

Next Year

I hope in 2021, the Australian national border will re-open, and you guys can come to join us for our next annual Halloween skate!

Text and photos by Annalee Unwin.

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