Derry Halloween, Europe’s biggest Halloween festival, returns this year from the 28th-31st of October. 

Spread out around 14 locations in the city, as well as events in Strabane and Donegal, some 100,000 attendees are expected to descend on the North-West next month. 

Key events include Awakening the Walled City, which will see guided tours through the centre of Derry, replete with animated projections, street performances and dressed up characters at every corner.

The Forest of Shadows Trail is a 2km walk over Derry’s Peace Bridge and through St. Columb’s Park, where demons and creatures ‘emerge from the underworld’. 

Also featured is the Legenderry Food Market and the Little Horrors Family Programme for children, while there will be live music performances throughout the city with the Samhain Sessions programme. 

In Association with

The festival will be capped off by a Halloween carnival parade on 31 October, as well as a firework display to round off the festivities. 

“This is a vibrant city with a rich, mythical, creative and cultural history. When people visit for the Halloween festival, they are guaranteed to have a wonderful time at great value,” said Visit Derry chief executive Odhran Dunne.

“As always, we’re looking forward to welcoming people from all over the world to Derry once more as our festivities get back to full strength.

“The city really does roll out the red carpet for visitors. With the Halloween festivities also taking place in Donegal and Strabane, this is the perfect opportunity to visit the whole area.”

The Derry Halloween festival has grown from humble origins as a fancy dress party in the city’s Castle Bar in 1986. The last full festival in 2019 saw 140,000 visitors descend on the city. 

The 2020 festival was an online event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while 2021 resumed in part, but the parade didn’t take place due to social distancing rules.