Elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Business and Culture Committee have received a comprehensive update on planning and programming for the Council area’s 2024 Halloween celebrations.
The overall programme for the City and District will run over seven days from Friday October 25th to Thursday October 31st 2024 and will feature activity in over 50 venues.
The Derry Halloween celebrations, the largest festival of their kind in Europe, will focus on ‘Awakening the Walled City’ trail within the streets of the city centre from Monday 28th until Wednesday 30th October and will climax with a ‘Carnival of the Dead’ themed Halloween parade and fireworks display on Thursday October 31st.
Strabane’s Halloween celebrations will include trick or treat trails, street theatre, food stalls, dinosaur shows, magicians and much more in Castle Street, Abercorn Square and the Alley Theatre.
The activity begins with the Castlederg Apple Fair on Friday October 25th and Saturday October 26th and includes various community events across the district including the Halloween Hoolie in Castlederg and Newtownstewart’s Scarecrow trail.
A number of key elements to the Derry Halloween programming were highlighted for Members including In Your Space Circus’ Witchy Wonderland on the City Walls, Haunted Projections by Guildhall Production Studio on the Austins and Bishop Street Court House buildings, the LUXE hosted Elemental Garden in Ebrington Square and Rodafonio – a travelling street theatre act created by renowned American designer and musician Cesar Alvarez.
Other highlights will include Stelzen Art Time Travelers in the grounds of the Cathedral Quarter, Studio 2’s Hocus Pocus sisters in the City of Bones, a Back to the Future themed street performance by New Gate Arts, interactive performances by the North West Regional College’s Music and Performing Arts students as well as Magical Science Shows in the Guildhall.
The Haunted Harvest Market will feature LegenDerry Food in Guildhall Square and will give the public the opportunity to sample the best of locally sourced and home-grown food from across the district.
“Officers have been working closely with local providers, creatives and performers as well as international level acts to develop a dynamic and comprehensive programme for Halloween 2024,” explained Head of Culture at Council, Aeidin McCarter.
“Activity is planned across the district from Friday October 25th and climaxing on Thursday October 31st with the city’s Carnival of the Dead Halloween Parade featuring some of the city’s finest performers and culminating in the festival finale fireworks display where all eyes will be on the River Foyle for a deathly display of pyrotechnics.
“We are confident that programming for 2024 will build on our reputation as Europe’s largest Halloween Festival and an internationally renowned visitor experience at this time of year,”
Other programming elements revealed at this week’s meeting are the return of the Hay Bale Sculpture Trail in and around Strabane which will see over 12 groups and community organisations get involved in Halloween activities by creating their own Hay Bale Sculptures using a perfect blend of creative charm and spooky thrills.
Other Derry Halloween highlights include the Monster Fun Fair at Ebrington, Spark Drummers, Uncle Doom and his organ of Doom, Pop Up Choir Performances, Street Walkabouts, Haunted Houses, Live Music, Arts and Crafts, Kids Halloween Disco, Ghost Tours on the City Walls, Wailing Nuns, Wicked Windows, City Centre Dressing, City Dance’s Walter on the Dance Floor and a city centre trick or treat trail.
Members also heard that Officers have been working closely with local creative and community sectors which will also see programming from the Playhouse, Echo Echo, Nerve Centre, An Cultúrlann and Glen Community Development.
Council’s Culture and Business teams are organising a Halloween Business Engagement event on the 2nd October, to allow the business, tourism, retail and hospitality sectors to receive practical support on how to leverage the Halloween activities to enhance their business.
Marketing activities for Derry Halloween will include digital initiatives, broadcast, print, consumer engagement and collaborative campaigns with Visit Derry and Tourism Northern Ireland.
New approaches for the 2024 Derry Halloween campaign include podcast advertising, additional digital channels, a media drop, and the use of Augmented Reality to enhance engagement.
The campaign aims to work closely with Tourism Ireland to position Derry as the Capital of Halloween in their global drive to position Ireland as the Home of Halloween.
The full Halloween programme will be launched next week and will be available at www.derryhalloween.com.
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