Shoppers in Edinburgh are gearing up for a bumper Halloween as research shows that they plan to spend an average of £34.18 on costumes, decorations and sweets for trick or treaters – double the amount spent just five years ago.
The survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Fort Kinnaird also revealed that over a third (36%) of Edinburgh’s residents will be celebrating by donning fancy dress this year, and 16% are planning to carve pumpkins.
With this in mind, Fort Kinnaird has dubbed Saturday 29th October ‘Spooky Saturday’ as Edinburgh’s retailers prepare for a surge in scary sales – £15,701,130 in the run-up to Halloween.
In the survey, 35% of people in Edinburgh said that Facebook was their biggest inspiration for Halloween costumes and decorations, with spooky films influencing nearly a third (31%). Just 8% of people say they’ll be happy to wear the same outfit as they did last year.
As excitement builds for the upcoming Harry Potter film launch next month, it’s perhaps not surprising that witches and wizards are the region’s most popular costume choice. Nearly a quarter (24%) of those surveyed will be dressing themselves or their families up with wands and broomsticks.
Residents in Edinburgh should also expect a knock on the door from vampires (18%), zombies (15%) and to greet the odd treat-or-treating skeleton (5%).
Liam Smith, Centre Manager at Fort Kinnaird said: “Halloween has really exploded in popularity over the last few years with people buying increasingly elaborate costumes and decorations.
“We’re expecting a record number of shoppers over Halloween weekend as people stock up on last-minute sweet treats for party guests and trick-or-treaters.”
The centre is also running a Halloween Facebook competition to win a £20 voucher for M&S, £20 voucher for Smyths Toys and a £15 voucher for Nando’s. To enter, shoppers should simply submit a ‘spooky selfie’ of themselves looking their scariest using #spookyselfie and tagging @Fort Kinnaird in the post.
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