MASK 2005

The details here are for the 2005 MASK:
MASK AKA the Merry All Saints Karmaval, took place in Chester on the 29th October, 2005. By all accounts so far, it was a roaring success. What follows is this page as it was before the event...
Here's a brief run-down of events, some as planned by Gold Joinee Brake and Gold Joinee Worthington, others just happening last moment:
* Thursday the 27th - Silver Joinee Kate (JJM) (GA) and Silver Joinee Patzlaff (from Dakota, USA) arrive in Chester, and catch up with Steff in the evening, later joined by Si for pizza, a quick drink, and a game of Fluxx.
* Friday the 28th - Steff and Si make further preperations... in the evening, Steff welcomes some of the Friday night arrivals to Chester...
* Saturday the 29th - Everyone meets outside Chester Town Hall at about 12.00 (following a brief confusion about where people are meeting). Si arrives with baby. Steff arrives with 1,000 cakes. Papa Lazarou (AKA The Legendary Joinee Biddle) arrives with other Joinees who'd been waiting at The Cross. Following a brief attack by Japanese tourists eager to be photographed with a bunch of Halloween freaks, we go back to the Cross to hand out the cakes. From here Joinees wander in all directions, giving cakes and treats to passersby and shop-assistants. As the day goes on the weather gets worse, Baby Brake gets a little bored and the supply of cakes disappear, and so we retire up the road to a pub where we can get out of the cold and rest(Wetherspoons), then another less crowded pub (Number 15), meeting Gold Joinee Cooke and an assortment of Liverpool based Joinees who've just arrived... We drink, Goldy gets given a tenner by someone to go and buy more cakes, we have a drawing competition, and then some of us go off to get food, whilst others go on, drinking (at The Watergate). In the evening we all meet up again to drink more, dance to a funky little band and give out prizes.
* Sunday the 30th - we recover. Some of us play card games, such as Werewolf and Aquarius, whilst others play on the pub games machine... Baby Brake gets more attention, and then everyone heads off home, knackered...
==Original 'Rough' Details==
Just to recap, plans for the Halloween weekend:
Chester (England's most haunted city according to www.chesterghosts.co.uk) is also known for it's festivals. There is actually a Literary Festival going on during that weekend (http://www.chesterfestivals.co.uk/). But that's besides the point. I thought we could have our own festival/pub crawl.
The rough plan so far is to meet down by the river, release ducks from the big footbridge shown in the Hollyoaks credits (hey, they still do some of their filming here), and make our way along to the next bridge downstream to see who wins. From there we head straight up Lower Bridge Street towards town. There are a number of supposedly haunted pubs along the road, so there are key opportunities to drink and still celebrate the sp00ky season.
Further up the road we come to Bridge Street, and The Cross, where the high street is, giving plenty of opportunities for RAoKing and Inverse Trick and/or Treating. Then we can carry on uo through town to where there are more (supposedly) haunted pubs, there's a cinema (in case there happens to be an appropriate film on) and there's a ghost tour that starts there at 7.30pm(www.chesterghosts.co.uk/tours.htm), so we're spoilt for choice.
The Merry All Saint's Karmaval will be a dressing up opportunity. You are encouraged, nay, required to dress up. You are encouraged to form themed teams. You are encouraged to tailor your tricks and treats accordingly. And you're encouraged to start thinking ideas now! I'm thinking of putting in scary contact lenses again, but that's just me.
There will be opportunities for big games of Are You A Werewolf in pubs along the way (inc. the updated version), and I'll be doing Tarot Card readings for anyone who's interested. I'm toying with the idea of updating the Top Trump Cards for the Karmaval too.
==Themes==
Originally I was going to encourage people to sort themselves into teams for the Halloween Meet, but I figured that might actually be too much work. Instead, I'd like to encourage people to dress up according to one of the following themes:
* Pirates (always a popular choice)
* Vampires (and goths)
* Masked knife-weilding madmen
* Sci-fi (from weird aliens to sinister matrix agents and cyborgs)
* Wild animals (even if you just wear bunny ears)
* Being Danny Wallace. Just wear a Danny Wallace mask! Alternatively a mask of another famous cult member, or perhaps Raymond Price!
For anyone who doesn't have the time or money to go out on a limb with a costume, you may come as you are, and get lumped in a final category: EXTRAS. You can then join any group you want, as a innocent victim, a shuffling zombie, or the sort of movie extra who leans into shot every so often and waves for the cameras.
In the end, the themes didn't play a big part in anything. But it was fun to get dressed up. Maybe if there'd been more of us it might've made a difference, but as it was we didn't really have to split the themes into teams, as originally planned... Nor did we do anything with the Danny masks in the end, which might've been just as well...
==Attendees==
I'll need to check over who actually made it from this list, but this was how things stood before the weekend...
Confirmed:
Gold Joinee Brake & Silver (thank-you!) Joinee Lady Laura and pre-joinee sprog
Gold Joinee Worthington
Silver Joinee Bing (ga)
Silver Joinee Gatesy - you had me at Hollyoaks! 
Silver Joinee Patzlaff
Silver Joinee Kate (SJJM) - almost definitely.
Silver Joinee Knight - Yes. End of.
Legendary Joinee Biddle (ga)
Joinee Lawn - "barring major disasters."
Joinee Peck
Joinee Saral (and friend)
Triple Silver Joinee Goldy - "I am SO there"
Joinee Armitage
Joinee Torty
Gold Joinee Cooke + society (15-20 people with any luck?)
Silver Joinee Buckley-Reynolds - from Saturday avo onwards!!!
Joinee Plumb 
Joinee Wilf (GA)
Joinee Dave - I will be bringing cake!
 'Probablys': 
Gold Joineee Recabarren - Can I go? (as far as I'm concerned, yes!)
Gold Joinee A Sweeney (GA) & Joinski Spanna (GA) - might very well be coming up on the friday, gettin there for about 9
Silver Joinee Funge - omg hubby is warming to the idea I may well make it
Silver Joinee Mhairi (GA) - 90% sure!
Joinee Ella - Sounds like a plan!
Joinee Hemingway
Joinee Kennington (GA)
Joinee P Morrow 
Joinee Stacey G (& Tim)
Joinee Vixie
 'Maybes' and 'Dunno, But Interesteds': 
Gold Joinee K - Almost certainly not :( But I'll send a pumpkin. WoooooOOOOooooo!
Silver Joinee Funge
Silver Joinee Phillips 
Joinee Allen 
Joinee Hatchard (ga) - I'm still merely a "really want to go" at the moment.
Joinee Lamont - Pencil me in as a hopefully maybe...
Joinee Rem
==Accomodation==
* Silver Joinee Kate (JJM) (GA) recommended 'Chester Backpackers' - click on this link to read about it, or make a reservation...
...here's an idea for accommodation - clean, cheap, clean, CLEAN backpacker's hostel. I paid £18.50 and ended up having a room to myself WITH ITS OWN BATHROOM!
They provide all bed stuff, so no need to lug sleeping bags around.
Dorm beds are £13.50 per night, and they have a few twins and triples - sleeps 35 altogether.
24-hour access and no curfew, kitchen, free tea and coffee, and a little roof terrace.... and it was even QUIET (although the fact that it was a Tuesday may have helped, lol).