Autumn 1998

Saturday 7th November sees the forces of Hanky Panky returning to the Phorpres Club to launch some dancefloor fireworks. We will be running ALLNIGHT yes that's right ALLNlGHT. The venue has agreed to allow us to keep on partying until 6am.

Our return to an allnight club coincides nicely with a time of the year that was seen by our Celtic forefathers as the beginning of the New Year. Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) was the Celtic fire-festival that celebrated the arrival of the New Year and it is no coincidence that the modern day Bonfire night occurs at the same time of the year. The Celtic viewpoint was that as the day follows the night so too did the light half of the year follow the dark half. In anticipation of the coming darkness, the Celts felt that it was a good time to reaffirm life with an allnight orgy of celebration. Huge fires burned around which there would be revelry and dancing.

Fire was seen to be connected to the sun (because of its similar colour and that it gives off heat) and it embodied the energy of the sun in an earthly form. Sometimes huge wicker men personifying the life of the land were burned in the hope that the life energy could return to the soil in the spring. Huge wheels of fire would be rolled down hills symbolising the movement of the sun through the year, and by doing this the Celts hoped to ensure the return of the sun after the dark period ahead. While we may not need to pray to the impending forces of darkness (or maybe we do) to see us safely through the winter we certainly see reaffirming life by having a bloody good dance as a top idea. The warmth of the summer may seem a long way off as we are plunged into the winter night but we will keep our spirits up by getting together and partying. We hope you can join us as and help generate some dancefloor heat. Thanks for staying tuned, the party is indoors.