From humble beginnings to 'Europe's largest Halloween festival': Londonderry celebrates 40 years of city's spooky season bash
One city in Northern Ireland has been delivering a frighteningly good time at Halloween, its name increasingly synonymous with the spooky season.
But believe it or not, 40 years ago Londonderry’s fledgling annual bash was a small local occasion, taking its first steps on a journey that would see it become renowned as the biggest October 31 party in Europe.
This year’s event climaxes on Saturday night with its now-traditional huge Halloween parade. Looking back on humble beginnings in 1986, the organisers have promised some of the sights and sounds of the Eighties will be dug out of the vaults as the carnival wends its way along city streets and the bank of the river Foyle.
In fact, Londonderry has had a touch of the dark side about it for a very long time. When it was granted a royal charter more than 400 years ago, the city created a coat of arms prominently featuring a skeleton sitting on a mossy rock, an image which continues in use to this day.
Locals have nicknamed the bony fellow ‘Walter de Burgh’, after a 13th century Irish peer who became the first Lord of Ulster. It’s unlikely to be him, however; he’s known to have died in Galway.
Despite various popular myths springing up about the image’s provenance – that he was a knight starved to death in a nearby castle’s dungeons by a later de Burgh, for example, or was an Irish chief put to death after a failed rebellion against the crown – experts are convinced the skeleton is purely symbolic, and was never intended to represent a specific person.
But the power of the image echoes down the centuries, and increasingly symbolises Londonderry’s image as the “home of Halloween”.
Marking 40 years of annual celebrations, a mural has been unveiled at the city’s Bishop’s Gate Hotel featuring the skeletal ‘Walter de Burgh’ .
Commemorating the Halloween bash’s journey from a small community event to a premier tourist draw, the work was created by arts collective Peaball and is intended to be a lasting legacy piece for the city as well as a year-round attraction for visitors.
Economy minister Caoimhe Archibald joined Londonderry mayor Grace Uí Niallais and tourism leaders at a reception celebrating the 40-year milestone, the minister described the annual festival as “a unique and compelling reason to visit the city”.
Stated Ms Archibald: “With its unique combination of culture, folklore and world-class entertainment, it remains a truly unmissable experience for visitors of all ages.
“What began as a small local event in 1986 has grown into Europe’s largest Halloween festival and one of the most significant tourism and cultural attractions in Ireland.”
This year’s bash, which began on Wednesday and finishes on Sunday, is expected to draw somewhere in the region of 120,000 people.
That level of success, said the city’s mayor, can be attributed to “strong partnerships, shared ambition and sustained investment, as well as the extraordinary creativity of the artists, performers and communities who bring the experience to life each year”.
She added: “Together, they have helped deliver significant benefits for our tourism industry and local economy.”
Full details of events can be found at derryhalloween.com