The Sefton Park skyline was filled with bobbing illuminations as the Halloween Lantern Festival took place on Saturday evening.
Thousands of people turned up to view the annual spook-fest as an estimated 20,000 spectators turned up to watch and take part.
Event organisers decorated trees and walkways in Sefton Park with specially designed lanterns by the general public, and there were performances by local drummers and dancers dressed in ghoulish attire as they took part in the city’s parade.
During the weeks leading up to the event, there were workshops being held across the city, including at Gateacre School, Isla Gladstone Conservatory, the Palm House at Sefton Park and the Black-E.
Attendees contributed £7 at the workshops to help with the costs and were allowed up to six hours to design and create their lanterns.
Lisa Mitchell, community coordinator for Gateacre School, said: “This is the second year Gateacre School has hosted one of the open workshops for the lantern company.
“Over 40 lanterns were made at Gateacre, ranging from bees and pumpkins to stars and scarecrows. It was great to see all ages working to create the beautiful lanterns and lovely to join up with everyone again at the Parade on Saturday to show them off to the rest of the city.
“We hope we are given the opportunity to host a workshop again next year.”
Video report by Karen Coe, JMU Journalism TV
Leanne Kemp, 21, a student at Liverpool said: “The night was spectacular. There were figured lantern people, it was quite scary and eerie being in Sefton with loads of floating lantern heads.”
Dorothy Parker, 62, who attended the event with her two grandchildren from Picton, told JMU Journalism: “I’ve really enjoyed myself and it’s nice to get the grandkids out of the house and celebrate Halloween as a family.”
Jackie Swanson, director of The Lantern Company, said: “Each year the annual Halloween Lantern Carnival gets bigger and better. We love bringing people together as spectators of the carnival but also allowing them to become a part of the performance and celebrate their creativity is really special.”
The Liverpool Lantern Company is taking their next adventure to Liverpool One, where they will be hosting another lantern parade on November 7th.