Beneath a bright full moon and exploding fireworks, a Hallowe'en parade last night wound its way from Dublin's Fatima Mansions, past Dolphin's House and through Rialto.
Red flares marked the beginning of the Rialto Pride Ablaze parade, part of the Vision of Hope festival for residents to celebrate the regeneration that is coming to the area.
Children walking on stilts led the procession. Lorna McNeill (16), said performing in the parade was great. "We never get to do things like this," she said. Alongside her was Gary Long (14), also from Fatima Mansions, also on stilts, who said he had been practising for the parade every day for the past two weeks.
Windows and balconies in the flats, which have been long associated with deprivation and social exclusion, were decorated for the night with pictures of witches, ghouls and pumpkin heads.
The people passed near a hoarding in the flats, which read: "Gone but not forgotten. Fatima changing. Fatima alive."
In the parade a group of residents chanted: "One, two, three, four, five, we will sing this place alive". Onlookers along the route watched from the front of the houses or from opened windows. Cameras and camcorders recorded the procession.
Sets of drummers helped to carry the carnival atmosphere. Mr Julien Devergie of West African Percussion said he was one of a number of professional drummers hired to help local children, who had had workshops to teach them percussion, to keep the rhythm.
Ms Maria Halloran, a resident of Fatima Mansions, said a similar type of parade last year experienced heavy rainfall. She said all the local children had got involved in some aspect of the event, from mask-making to helping with the security.
A member of Fatima Groups Unite, Ms Deirdre Reid, said the parade was "great for community spirit".
As it wound its way to Rialto, more and more adults and children joined in, the youngsters in crafted masks carrying colourful lanterns. Adults carried lighted torches.
At the end of the hour-long parade, hundreds of people from the areas gathered at the dry canal across the road from Fatima Mansions. A bonfire, which had been constructed earlier was set alight, in turn igniting a set of fireworks for an impressive finale.