Halloween a devilishly good time for hundreds of thousands across Northern Ireland
Halloween proved to be de-frightful time across Northern Ireland, crowds enjoying events large and small across the province.
From massive outdoor events to shindigs in bars and clubs, celebrations of the spooky season kicked into high gear.
The combination of a Saturday night and mostly mild and dry weather added up to a devilishly good experience – which also came as something as a relief for many, as Halloween events in the first half of last week were cancelled due to poor conditions.
But spook-taculars across Ulster went ahead as planned, with Londonderry’s massive parade marking the 40th anniversary of the city’s enormous annual Halloween festival.
Organisers today praised anyone who came out to the carnival parade and fireworks, stating on social media: “Thank you to everyone who filled our streets last night, from our brilliant parade participants to the crowds in their amazing costumes.”
Some of the sights and sounds of the Eighties were dug out of the vaults as the carnival wound its way along city streets and the bank of the river Foyle, calling back to the festival’s much more humble beginnings in 1986.
With Londonderry’s Halloween now one of the biggest tourist draws in Ulster, the anniversary saw a mural has unveiled at the city’s Bishop’s Gate Hotel featuring the skeletal ‘Walter de Burgh’ – as a bony fellow who takes pride of place on the city’s coat of arms has been nicknamed.
Over in Omagh, thousands were thrilled by the return of a October 31 fireworks display to the Co Tyrone town for the first time in seven years.
Back with a bang, the free ‘Hocus Pocus Festival’ also brought live entertainment and music and family activities, drawing crowds onto the streets on a scale not seen since before Covid.
Spooky characters from the Addams Family lurched into Lisburn as the city’s Market Square hosted a Purple Turnip Festival, the afternoon of family fun boasting street performances, a samba band and a “fairytale singing princess”.
Fireworks also lit up the night sky in Ballycastle, the weather thankfully holding out to allow the event to take place – something that hadn’t been the case earlier in the spooky season, as planned Halloween events run by the same council were cancelled in Ballymoney last weekend and in Coleraine last Tuesday due to storms hitting the north coast.
Newry hosted a twilight market including a pumpkin trail, while Newcastle was home to a fireworks display.
The night was marred, however, by attacks on emergency service personnel called out to deal with fires.
In advance of the big night, the Fire and Rescue Service had called for safety while predicting a rise in “preventable incidents” over Halloween.
A spokesperson today revealed that at six emergencies, their crews were targeted by fireworks.
“Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has been responding to calls during the night of Halloween celebrations,” said the spokesperson.
“Between 6pm and 1am, fire crews responded to a total of 89 operational incidents. Several of these were Halloween related, including 23 involving bonfires.
“At six incidents fireworks were intentionally directed at attending fire crews; no damage or injuries resulted, and operational response for local communities was maintained throughout.”