Dear Taipei,
What are you planning to do for Halloween? I am ridiculously excited for my first Halloween in Taipei- so much so that I put together a Go-To-Guide to Halloween in Taipei 2015.
[If you’re reading this in 2016, please check out my new Halloween in Taipei 2016 guide!]
It lists every major nighttime event in Taipei this coming Friday and Saturday. I hope the list can help make the decision easier!
Ironically, despite working on this for days and days, I haven’t yet decided myself! There are an enormous amount of events- the most I’ve ever had the chance to choose from, so making a decision is definitely not going to be easy. Ever since I lived in Japan I have taken Halloween very seriously. I know some people think it’s a silly event, but I think it is so much fun to put together a costume! Usually I have decided my costume months in advance. I like to make them completely from scratch and try to spend as little money as possible.
Take a look at my past outfits….
Halloween 2014: Katy Perry “Roar”
Halloween 2013: Roy Lichenstein “Oh Jeff..”
.
But this year I have been racking my brains for a great costume idea but to no avail- I only made a final decision today!
No joke- I was planning to go as 草莓冰 caomei bing (a bowl of strawberry shaved ice) and make a DIY costume using a fluffy white jumper I have, but thought better of it today when I was shopping for the pieces and realised that it was probably going to look like a 5 year old constructed it.
This could have been me
So I came up with a new costume idea which I hope will look good! I stumbled upon a fruit market and found the main outfit in a 2nd hand clothing shop there (I oddly make quite a few outfit purchases at these places!) and also found a crucial accessory at another stall. Both were only NT$100 each and that’s all I need to buy, so my costume has cost me only AU$8! I know it’s cheating a bit that the dress is store bought, but I think with the work I’ll put on styling it and the crazy makeup I’m planning to do it’s acceptable, right? 😉 I’ll post pics after the event!
Now back to the article, in case anyone is interested about the process of writing it. Contrary to my assumption that it would be relatively easy to compile the list, it was in fact quite an ordeal to extrapolate information from the venues. I assumed that most places would release the details quite early on, and at least have very clear and detailed information available once they did. So it was a rude shock to see not only that many places left it until very late to release their information, but that quite a number of events barely wrote anything describing their event.
Given my aim to give people a clear idea of what to expect at each event so they could make an informed choice, it was frustrating that in many cases a venue had made the effort to make an eye-catching event name and flyer, but had no substantial information about the atmosphere, theme, DJs etc… essentially the information people want! I would think if you want to promote an event, and make someone choose your event over all the others (and there are a lot of other ones…) you would try to be as convincing as possible. But what do I know, eh?
Another thing I’d like to note is that in my original article, I had all the prices listed as I believe that is a big factor when it comes to making a choice. Unfortunately, it was was all removed in the editing process as it is against the Focus Taiwan policy to publish such information. Oh editing! (By the way, no content at all was paid for, despite that it may seem like a sponsored post).
But that all being said, it was really fun to put together the article, and if I’m not mistaken it should be the most comprehensive guide to Halloween this year in Taipei! That is exciting! This kind of writing is the type of work I want to be a part of, so it was a wonderful learning experience and I’m sure I can refer to it in the future when the time comes to go on the job hunt…
I can’t wait to see everyone out and about in their Halloween best!
Happy Halloween Taipei!
-TTT
(Photo credit for top image: Woo Bar)
Typing to Taipei 