Everything you need to know

The annual Halloween festival in Londonderry is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors to the city.

Billed by organisers as the largest Halloween event in Europe, the four-day festival will include ghostly trails, parades and a fireworks display.

Over the past 39 years, the festivities in Derry have earned a place among the world’s elite Halloween destinations.

So, what do you need to know before heading to the 2025 event?

The festivities begin on Tuesday and continue until 31 October.

Organisers promise “magic and mayhem” that bring together ancient Celtic tradition, street performance and family friendly fun.

The programme “showcases the very best of our local talent alongside world-class performers”, according to Aeidin McCarter, head of culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council.

On Tuesday, festivities begin with The Awakening the Walled City Trail, which will run on each of the first three nights of the festival.

It will feature firelight processions, towering skeletons, banshees, dancers, and giant puppet.

Guildhall Square – known as Heart of Samhain at this time of year – will host live music from noon to midnight, and will be home to Uncle Doom and His Organ of Gloom who will be roaming around, along with Consuela the Living Doll and Walter’s Pet Snout.

Sliantha the Samhain Serpent takes over Shipquay Street while Bishop Street is the Halloween home to zombies, werewolves and wailing nuns and DJ Walter will host a family friendly disco at the Diamond.

On Pump Street, there will be giant pumpkins, live music, and moonlit stilt walkers, while The Bone Yard, The Awakening of Walter de Burgh by New Gate Arts & Culture Centre are being held on the city’s walls.

The biggest night is Halloween itself, when most visitors are expected to make the trip to Derry for the parade and firework finale.

The parade is set to begin at 19:00 on 31 October and fireworks are expected to light up the skies at 20:15.

From 28-30 October, Magazine Street Upper, Butcher Street, Ferryquay Street, Upper Strand Road, Bishop Street within, The Diamond, Fountain Street, Kennedy Street are closed 14:00 GMT until 22:00.

Shipquay Street, Bank Place, Union Hall Street, Magazine Street close each day at noon until 12:00 – 22:00 while New Market Street closes at 17:00 until 22:00.

Full road closures will be in place on Pump Street, London Street, Artillery Street, Upper Magazine Street from 28-30 October.

The council said road closure times are approximate but closures and diversions will be “kept to the minimum length necessary to ensure safety”.

The council advises that anyone parked in the city centre should ensure vehicles have exited before 16:00 during the festivities.

There will be no on-street city centre parking from 28-30 October.

Several car parks will be closed during the celebrations.

• Bishop Street (Motor Home Parking) fully closed 28 Oct – 1 Nov.
• Society Street, Foyle Street fully closed 28 – 31 Oct.
• Queen’s Quay will be fully closed on 31 Oct.
• Accessible parking only in Victoria Market 28-31 Oct and Strand Road on 31 Oct.

For alternative parking options, Derry City Council has a list online.

According to BBC News NI weather presenter Barra Best, unsettled and cold weather is typical at Halloween.

It will be a “mixed start” to the festivities, he said, adding Tuesday will see scattered showers.

“But it’s an improving picture on Wednesday as drier weather develops,” Barra said.

“That will be short lived with very windy and wet weather expected from the Atlantic on Thursday.

“However, for the big day on Friday the weather is set to improve. Although still quite windy and with the odd shower, it looks set to be much drier than Thursday.”

Halloween’s roots can be found in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “Sow-in”) marking the end of harvest time.

It was believed to be the time when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest and spirits roamed the earth.

Organisers of this year’s celebrations say the streets of Derry will be taken over by a cast of mythical and mysterious characters bringing Samhain to life.

While Samhain may now inspire events in Derry, there’s a more modern tale told of how Derry became a Halloween hotspot.

It all started in a city centre pub in the 1980s when a canny publican wanted punters to come ready to party in fancy dress on Halloween.

That night, the bar – and the street – inadvertently filled with cavemen, more than one incredible Hulk, a few Ronald Reagans and a Margaret Thatcher or two.

And the rest, to coin a phrase, is history – official civic celebrations started in 1986.

Now, tourism bosses say the Halloween in Derry is a “a standout celebration”.