Halloween is coming – but did you know it is Ireland we have to thank for the most popular customs and traditions that overtake this time of the year? Home of Halloween, here’s what the October evening looks like in the country.
Trace Halloween to its origins and you will arrive right back in the mists of Ireland’s Ancient East and the Celtic festival of Samhain – a great celebration of fire and feasting that marked the end of the season of light and the beginning of the dark days of winter.
Turnips, apples and apple cider, mulled wines, gourds, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, ale – the Samhain recipes concocted from the harvest brought the community together as work halted, feasting started and the Celts ate the fruits of their labour told stories and tried to predict their fortunes in the future. Irish homes would traditionally be filled with the smell of baking bread over the open fire, and another delicious treat known as barmbrack becomes special in the weeks leading up to Halloween.
As October approaches, The Irish weather usually obliges with a cloak of dark and suitably eerie evenings as the home of Halloween gets into the ‘spirit’ of the scariest time of year.
SPINE-TINGLING FESTIVALS OF 2020
DERRY HALLOWEEN
https://www.derryhalloween.com/
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 digital focus under the theme of ‘The Awakening’.
This year, the city will be invaded by large-scale inflatable monsters, banshee bike rides, several fireworks displays that will fire simultaneously, and the FirstLight 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
https://bramstokerfestival.com/
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.
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.
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.
PÚCA FESTIVAL
Celebrating Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween, Púca events normally include an impressive re-enactment of the symbolic lighting of the Samhain fire, live music and performance, amazing light installations and more.
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.
As the land of ancient Celtic traditions, wailing banshees, haunted happenings, the creator of Dracula and tricks, treats and festivals galore, the island of Ireland is a bewitching destination at Halloween time. Discover more at: www.ireland.com.
