The Irish weather usually obliges with a cloak of dark and suitably eerie October evenings as the home of Halloween gets into the ‘spirit’ of the scariest time of year.
This year, digital media will play a major role in the island’s mix of memorable fright nights, with three of the biggest Halloween festivals planning to engage, entertain and bring supernatural surprises online.
Derry Halloween
What started life as a simple fancy-dress party in a pub in the famous Walled City of Derry~Londonderry has become the most exciting Halloween celebration in Europe, with the readers of USA Today voting it as the number one Halloween destination in the world.
Derry Halloween is now an unmissable, bucket list event, with people from around the world – not to mention the otherworld – flocking there to enjoy a spectacular festival fusing ancient myth and cutting-edge culture.
Famed for turning Derry~Londonderry into a ‘City of Bones’ and shining a spooky spotlight on the city walls and all it has to offer in terms of culture, art and imagination, the 2020 event will run from 28 October to 1 November and will have a strong community and digital focus under the theme of ‘The Awakening’.
This year, the city will be invaded by large-scale inflatable monsters, visible both during the day and night, banshee bike rides, several fireworks displays that will fire simultaneously and a First Light service with music and choral experiences. There will be plenty of online content too with Little Horrors kids’ storytelling and performances, ‘how to’ tutorials on costume, mask and broomstick making, pumpkin carving, face painting, SFX makeup, recipes and cocktails.
Online storytelling, theatre and adult ghost stories will follow the festival theme, and there will also be Samhain Sessions – live music performances – and an online Kids Zone featuring arts, crafts and themed activities.