Ipswich and Felixstowe Scouts' spook-tacular fireworks event at Hallowtree near Nacton goes off with a bang

Over 1,500 people dressed up, carved pumpkins, and celebrated a spook-tacular fireworks event at the weekend.

Combining the best of both Guy Fawkes Night and Halloween, Scouts from east Ipswich, Felixstowe and the surrounding villages, as well as the public, played games, ate and were merry at the event on Saturday evening.

The night ended with a 20 minute fireworks display, in which over £2,000 of bangers illuminated the night sky.

Held at Hallowtree Activity Centre in Nacton, just outside Ipswich, and the headquarters of Orwell District Scouts, the event also had live music and a raffle.

Orwell Scouts' district commissioner Martin Agar said the event has changed in the roughly two decades it has been running.

It used to primarily celebrate bonfire night, with a small Halloween presence, but following the removal of bonfires from the event for health and safety reasons, the eerie elements took up a larger part of the celebrations.

He added: "It's always been a great night, and is safe and popular for the children. The goals are two-fold, the first is for us to celebrate as an organisation, and the second is to fund local Scout groups.

"The event, by design, is very family-friendly. All the games are cost-effective, and many are traditional Halloween or funfair-inspired activities.

"We want them to be cheap. We like the fact children can have several goes at a game and their parents will spend a few pounds at the most. We haven't increased our prices in nearly a decade."

"Basing it at our headquarters helps us keep the costs low. And Scout groups that set up stands and help out with the event get to keep a cut of the takings, and lower costs mean we raise more money."

Early bird tickets for the Scouts' fireworks events are discounted, and the option remained to pay at the gate in cash at the normal rate.

The event had a maximum capacity of around 1,600 people.

Originally, only the district's Scouts were permitted at the event, but it opened to the public a few years ago.

Martin noted that around 10 Scout groups set up stalls this year.

Activities on offer included a merry-go-round, a bouncy castle slide, a game to throw wooden balls at coconuts for prizes, spooky hand-made goods, and a tuck shop for Halloween sweet treats.

There was even a bicycle that only goes backwards, with a £20 bounty for whoever can ride it across the site.

However, the main event was the fireworks display.

Shortly before the display, there was a fancy-dress show and pumpkin carving competition for different age brackets.

The cost of the fireworks is taken out of the final cut, which is then pooled and split evenly among the groups.

Getting bigger and more impressive each year, the team behind the display was made up of nine people, mostly leaders from the 5th Ipswich Scout Group.

This year, the show ended with a rocket being fired at a tower filled with more fireworks for an explosive encore.

Del West, one of the leaders behind the fire show, has been doing fireworks displays for 25 years.

The team meet annually to put on a show for other Scout groups and the public.

He added: "The display takes most of the day to set up. We'll have discussion about what has gone well from previous years, and will use that to put on a more impressive show.

"Due to being at the epicentre, I can't really see the display, so I judge how well it went based on how the display sounds - you don't want gaps, where people will think it could be over.

"This one was a good one. And as always, some fireworks go a little wild, which can add to the intensity.

"Not only do we get to put on a great show, and host a lovely social event for the community, it also helps us advertise Scouting in the area, and entice parents or youngsters to join us."