Nightclub Apologises for Ebola-Themed Halloween Party

A bar in Britain has said it made of a “huge error of judgement” in hosting an Ebola-themed Halloween party. Birmingham’s Bar Risa apologised after coming under fire for the fancy-dress student event, which was branded “bad taste” and “insensitive” on social media.

An ad for the event said that the city centre had been “infected” with Ebola and that the World Health Organisation was advising people to go to the bar for “decontamination and quarantine”. The bar was decorated for last night’s event with biohazard tape and signs in red paint telling people they were in a “safe zone”.

Bar tenders and promotion staff were also dressed in hamzat-style clothing and students had to walk through a “decontamination tunnel” to enter the club.

Hours before the event, the club’s Facebook page said: “I Love Risa is back tonight with a massive Halloween party!! The venue has been designated an infection free zone. The World Health Organisation advises everyone to head to Risa for Decontamination and Quarantine!!”

Angry social media users condemned the event, with one person tweeting:

@RisaSuperclub I cannot begin to put into words how bad taste & insensitive this #Ebola party is. You are a complete bunch of idiots

— ReeRee (@NoWalkITPark) October 29, 2014

And another adding:

Bar Risa are having an “Ebola breakout party” for halloween? That’s disgusting and so disrespectful.

— Min Jhitta✨ (@minjhitta) October 29, 2014

A spokesman for the club apologised and said the bar would donate all proceeds from the evening to Médecins Sans Frontières. He told the Birmingham Mail: “The event was run by a third party promoter and we can only apologise for such a huge error of judgement on our part in letting them run the event.

“We will be donating all profits from the night to Doctors Without Borders and we wholeheartedly apologise to anyone we have offended.”

This is the second time this month that the nightclub has caused controversy. Three weeks ago, it hosted supporters of the far-right English Defence League and also ended up giving the proceeds from that event to charity.