We make no bones about it, when Derry Londonderry decides to throw a party, they do it frighteningly well and Derry Halloween is no exception.
With its historic walls, the city is the perfect setting to celebrate the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced ‘Sau wen’ in the city) and there is so much to see and do as the whole city seems to get involved. Activities will officially kick off on Wednesday 28 October 2026 and finish with a grand finalé show on Halloween itself. It’s no wonder Derry Halloween boasts that it is the largest Halloween Festival in Europe!
Accommodation and getting there
As the event is so hugely popular, accommodation gets booked out very early for Halloween night itself. At the time of writing (July 2026), there are only one or two places available for 31 October on Booking.com in the city.
So the solutions are:
- Consider visiting Derry Halloween in the run up to Halloween night; you’ll miss the fireworks and parade, but there is still a lot to see. Check the schedule below – note that many of the experiences such as the Awakening the Walled City Trail take place only in the run up to Halloween.
- Stay elsewhere and travel into Derry for Halloween:
- Book a special Halloween coach trip with Translink from Belfast. The bus picks up / drops off at Toome, Maghera, Dungiven and Claudy en route. Note that for all the traveling, you will only be in the city for a few hours.
- Book a coach trip with Belfast Mini Coach picking up at Lisburn, Belfast, Antrim. Belfast Mini Coach promises a Halloween atmosphere on the bus, and gives you a little longer in the city on Halloween.
- Catch the train or come on a regular scheduled bus. Check Translink’s regular schedule for details.
- Drive yourself – some car parks will be closed but the council says that there will be ample parking.
- Book accommodation early for 2027 (bookings open one year in advance)
Derry Halloween Highlights
The schedule below is from 2025 but will give you an idea of what to expect.
There is a VERY full programme of events so I have tried my best to break it down into something that makes sense. You can download the PDF programme or visit the event website for more details but essentially, events can be broken down into these groupings:
- A- Awakening the Walled City Trail – Free and nightly, Tuesday 28th October to Thursday 30th, between 6-9pm. A self-guided walk around the city to enjoy performances and experiences dotted seemingly on every street corner. A new highlight is the ‘Legendary Bites of Terror’ on Waterloo Place, where you can go to enjoy street food and music. See more details below.
- B – Big events and activities: such as:
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- the Monster Halloween Funfair Friday 24th October -Sunday 2nd November, Ebrington Square
- The Heart of Samhain Tuesday 28-Friday 31 October, Guildhall Square, Waterloo Place and Harbour Square – Enjoy live music on the on the Samhain Stage, a baby Big Top for the youngest festival goers, interactive street theatre, Uncle Doom & His Organ of Gloom and much more.
- On Halloween itself, Friday 31 October, the City of Bones Carnival Parade, starting at 7pm, and the Fireworks Finale at 8:15pm.
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- C – Free and ticketed events and activities organised by local businesses and organisations including a special kids’ themed selection of events.
A – Awakening the Walled City
From inside the city walls to Ebrington Square across the river, explore the city to discover spooky performances and displays. Tuesday 28-Thursday 30th October, 6pm-9pm, free.
This year the city has been split into zones to help you navigate the streets of horrors:
Performances include:
Shipquay Shriek (Red Zone)
Shipquay Street and the Craft Village
- Sliantha the Samhain Serpent – a giant glowing snake with fire pits
- A Fistful of Drums – two ghostly drummers clash in a chilling duel at Castle Gate.
- The Banshee of Butcher’s Gate – chilling song with live musicians at Upper Magazine Street
- Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun – music and dance at The Cavern, The Craft Village.
Disco at the Diamond (Purple Zone)
The Diamond becomes a fantastical dance experience with an immersive light experience, the Diamond DJ, the Walter on the Dancefloor phantom flash mob, larger than life skulls and 13-foot illuminated puppets.
Bones of Bishop Street (Green Zone)
Look out for different Halloween themed performances including dance, street theatre, a zombie circus and the Wailing Nuns. You can also try your hand at mask making at the Derry Print Workshop and pick up snacks, antiques and crafts at The Society Street Indoor Market. A light installation – Then The Monster Came – gives voice to the children of Gaza.
Pump’kin Street (Orange Zone)
Discover a Harvest Market at Pump Street (get it?) as well as more street performers (stilt walkers, a magician, a portrait puppet artist), and a photo op with a giant pumpkin!
Echoes of the Walls (Blue Zone)
Enjoy street theatre from In Your Space Circus at Artillary street, or watch phantom dancers tell the story of ‘The Awakening of Walter de Burgh’ at the Newgate Arts & Culture Centre. As well as these free events, there are two ticketed events: ‘The Experience’ at St Columb’s Hall (£12, 15 minutes) and School on the Edge of Reality at The Playhouse (£5, 30 minutes).
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Tip: Book accommodation early… unless you plan to stay out all night! 👻 Check recommendations on Booking.com*
*Affiliate link – we earn a small commission at no additional expense to yourself if you book any accommodation through this link. Thank you for your support!
B – Halloween Eve Schedule – 31 October
- The Heart of Samhain Tuesday 28-Friday 31 October, Guildhall Square, Waterloo Place and Harbour Square – As the event hub, this centre of activity carries on right through the festival from Tuesday to Halloween itself. Enjoy live music on the Samhain Stage, a baby Big Top for the youngest festival goers, interactive street theatre, Uncle Doom & His Organ of Gloom and much more.
- Legenderry Bites of Terror Tuesday 28-Friday 31 October, Waterloo Place. A new experience at Derry Halloween, Waterloo Place will be transformed into a street food and music hub where you could hope to have a little al fresco boogie.
- The Carnival of the Dead Parade – Embankment, Queen’s Quay, Strand Road, 7:00pm, free | Some of the city’s finest performers bring the story of Derry Halloween to life with a fearsome display of magic and mayhem in this a vibrant and colourful parade.
- Fireworks Display – View from Queen’s Quay (riverfront), 8:15pm onwards, free | The festival will be brought to a close with a fabulous fireworks display to brighten the skies and hopefully scare off the spookies!
C – Other events organised by local organisations & businesses
One of the reasons Derry Halloween is so successful is that everyone gets involved, and that includes local organisations and businesses. Many of the events listed below are ticketed with a charge, but others are free, simply requiring registration. Download the programme to browse all the acitivities including Freaky Family Fun, Tours & Trails, Witchy Wellness and After Dark Ghostly Gigs.
In the large section dedicated to Freaky Family Fun your’ll find a huge range of activities from bread making to storytelling, music and mask making, theatre and spooky experiences. These events all take place through the week of Halloween with some events taking place on Monday 27th October.
- Check out a series of events at the Cultúrlan uí Chanáin such as a screening of Nosferatu, a spooky tunes trad session and a Halloween-themed family day of arts and crafts and live storytelling.
- Family fun at Nerve Centre with screenings of movies such as Corpse Bride and Gremlins as well as creative learning activities.
In addition to all that family fun, there are also a series Tours & Trails to ‘enjoy’, including a cemetery tour. And if that was not all, why not take part in Chair Yoga Under the Moon as part of the Witchy Wellness series.
And finally, we get to the After Dark Ghostly Gigs an eclectic mix of ‘gigs’ from the City of Derry International Choir Festival to DJ sets and bands playing across the city.
Download the PDF programme or visit the event website for all the details!
Derry Halloween’s Celtic Origins
To learn a bit more about Halloween tradition and in particular Derry Halloween we were lucky enough to catch a chat with Mary Delargy who runs classes at Derry’s Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, including an introduction to old Celtic customs of Samhain, upon which many of our Halloween customs are based.
Samhain – the Celtic new year
Halloween has its roots in Samhain, one of the eight ancient Celtic festivals celebrated in Celtic lands which include Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall and parts of Brittany. Samhain marks the end of the harvest and the start of the dark winter half of the year, a transition that was also considered the start of a new year.
Connecting with the spirit world
The spooky Halloween element comes in because, as a time of transition, “it was also believed that the ‘veil’ that separates us from the ‘other world’ was at its thinnest,” Mary explains. “People believed that at this time they might connect with and welcome home friendly family spirits, which they did with food and fires.” At the same time the Celts would ward off harmful spirits by wearing masks and costumes to disguise themselves – and with trickery!
“People believed that at this time they might connect with and welcome home friendly family spirits, which they did with food and fires.”
Mary believes that it is only human to hope that the ones we have loved and lost are not so far away, “that we want to be able to be in contact with them in some way, and that they can see what is happening in our lives now.” It’s not surprising then that this tradition remained popular and carried on through the generations into Christian times when, in an effort to ease the transition to Christianity for pagan Celts, the church adopted the festival to become a day of remembrance for Saints (All Saints’ Day – 1st November) and a day of remembrance for other souls, All Souls Day (2nd November). Later on this festival became known as Allhallowtide (hallow meaning holy, tide meaning season) and then of course Hallowe’en is the evening of Hallowtide, the night we still mark the Celtic traditions of disguises and trickery to fool those unwelcome spirits!
Derry x Halloween – the perfect pairing
Today Derry Halloween is a huge pageant with a parade, fireworks, music, performances, fancy dress and 90,000 visitors – but it was not always this way. Growing up in the city Mary says that the focus was more on All Saint and All Souls Day, “On Halloween there would be no dressing up or going around houses ‘Trick or Treating’ and we certainly couldn’t go up on the walls because the area was closed off for use by the military. We would perhaps make a Halloween mask, which we would call a False Face, carve a turnip lantern, and we’d bob for apples.”
However, in 1986 Derry City Council introduced a small stage in Guildhall Square with some live music and this small event was to grow from strength to strength. European immigrants in the US may have taken this festival with them, making it bigger and louder, but Derry Londonderry has not been shy in bringing some of that fun back to its natural home. As Mary says, “With its dark towering walls, the eerie cemeteries alongside the walls and ominous Hangman’s Bastion, Derry provides the perfect atmosphere for a Halloween festival. It’s no surprise that Derry Halloween is the largest Halloween festival in Europe.”
About Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin:
Alongside a year-round programme of arts activity and performances, the organization has delivered several large-scale projects including the Festival IMBOLC, the traditional Irish music school Acadamh Cheoil, and the youth club Club Óige Setanta. The Cultúrlann also offers a programme of Halloween events so be sure to check their website. Learn more.
* Affiliate link.
