Spine-tingling festivals in the home of Halloween

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.

Bram Stoker Festival
The famous Bram Stoker Festival will once again bring fun and adventure to the Irish capital over the Halloween weekend of 30 October – 2 November as it delves into the legacy of the Dublin-born creator of Dracula. 

In a year when the stakes have been raised in unexpected ways, the programme for the 2020 celebration of all things Stoker will focus on interactive and fun experiences for all age groups, marking Dublin’s unique link to the author, the supernatural and Irish Halloween traditions. 

There will be tricks and treats for everyone, so vampires of all ages will find something to sink their fangs into from the comfort of their own castles or in Dublin itself. The full programme will be unleashed soon, so gothic fans of all ages are advised to keep their eyes peeled on the festival website and the Bram Stoker Festival social channels.

Púca Festival
At the inaugural Púca Festival last year thousands of people gathered at locations across counties Meath and Louth to celebrate Ireland as the original birthplace of Halloween. With a programme of events including a recreation of the symbolic lighting of the Samhain fires on the Hill of Ward, the festival lit up the darkness with fire, folklore, music, myth, light installations, and great food and drink.

This year, celebrations will be virtual with a broadcast of the lighting of the Samhain fires on the 31 October and a celebration of the story of Halloween’s origins in Irish and Celtic traditions told through the Púca social media channels. 

www.ireland.com