Thousands enjoying Halloween festival finale

Thousands of people are taking part in the finale of the annual Halloween festival in Londonderry, with about 600 of them parading through the city.

Billed by organisers as the largest Halloween event in Europe, the four-day festival will culminate in a parade and fireworks display on Thursday.

The festivities in Derry have grown to global renown since the first official Halloween celebrations in 1986 and it is now regarded as among the world’s premier destinations for Halloween.

Derry City and Strabane District Council say the festival draws tens of thousands of people to the city.

The council’s Aideen McCarter said the 2024 festival has been “bigger and better than ever”.

“We have had a fantastic few nights,” she said.

“It brings millions of pounds into the local economy and we see well over 100,000 visitors here if not more – these visitors are coming back year after year.”

The main Halloween parade left Queens Quay Car Park at 19:00 GMT on Thursday along Queens Quay to Strand Road, Harbour Square Roundabout, Foyle Embankment. Water Street, Harbour Square Roundabout, Queens Quay and back to the car park.

Queens Quay and Upper Strand Road are closed to accommodate the parade.

The Peace Bridge is closed and will reopen shortly before 21:00.

A full list of road closures can be found here.

Translink are putting on a number of additional bus and rail services on Halloween night.

They will be running a number of extra Foyle Metro, Ulsterbus and Goldliner services from Foyle Street Bus Station.

At the North West Transport Hub train station, additional capacity has been added to the 21:38 train departure to Belfast Grand Central Station, followed by an additional rail service at 22:38 to Coleraine Station.

A special coach service will also operate from Belfast Grand Central Station on Halloween at 15:00, making its return journey from Foyle Street Bus Centre at 21:00.

A full list of rail services for people to get to and from the parade can be found here.

The celebrations so far have featured the return of the Awakening the Walled City trail within Derry city centre from Monday until Wednesday.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme earlier this week, festival organiser Aisling McCallion said there is something on offer for everyone.

“We have programming right across the four days for people of all ages,” she said.

“We have storytelling, arts and crafts, shows and loads of live performances.

“Personally, I am very excited we can welcome people back on the walls this year to see a variety of performances.

“There will be a queuing and one-way system in operation for people to see the attractions on the walls in a safe and managed way.”

Ms McCallion said there are many events on offer and people will be able to go around three designated zones in Derry and also be able to see a variety of attractions in Strabane this year.

She said that some of the highlights of the programme this year include a witchy wonderland on the City Walls, projections on the Austins and Bishop Street Court House buildings, and Rodafonio – a travelling street theatre act created by renowned American designer and musician Cesar Alvarez.

A full list of events on offer this year can be found here.

Emily McCorkell will be hoping to hear the sounds of a chiming cash register at her Lo & Slo food truck over the screams and fireworks this year.

Emily and her team are feeding hungry festival-goers with American BBQ style delicacies at the Haunted Harvest Halloween Market at Guildhall Square.

She said she loves Halloween and added the festival is a “terrifyingly busy” time for traders involved in the Legenderry Food Network.

Gary Moran from Umi restaurant in the city centre has said they have been “flat-out with bookings” throughout the Halloween festival this week.

“We’ve got loads of bookings, there’s a lot of customers, but we do have some room for some walk-ins but it’s definitely very busy,” he said.

“We have got people coming here for the very first time to try it, which is great to see and then from word of mouth we can then hopefully then get additional bookings from that.”

Mohamed Ali from Maiden Heaven Coffee and Ice Cream Parlour has said they have been really happy with the amount of footfall in the city centre throughout the week.

“It’s been steadily busy throughout the day and then it’s been unbelievably busy in the evening,” he said.

“We’ve had to increase our hours actually, we definitely had to increase them and we are working a bit longer over Halloween.

“We usually open until six o’clock but we are now staying open until about ten in the evening now.”

Selina Horshi, the managing director of White Horse Hotel in Campsie has said themselves and many other hotels are fully booked for Halloween.

“Halloween is one of our busiest times and while a lot of our guests would be from the island of Ireland, we do get people travelling from all over the world to stay specifically to enjoy the sights and sounds of Derry Halloween,” Selina said.

“It really has become such a huge international event,” she added.

Selina said hotels, bars and restaurants all really benefit from the huge uplift in footfall and said the four-day festival is a massive boost to the local economy.

“Because we are based just on the outskirts of the city, we also benefit from a lot of people stopping on their way into and out of the city to get a bite to eat or drink for the Halloween festival,” she added.

“I was in the city last night and every bar and every restaurant was jam-packed and that is exactly why these council-run events are so important for so many business owners and traders.”