Looking for a spooktacular holiday That you’ll never forget? I discovered The most weird and wonderful ghouls, ghosts and monsters hidden in The shadow corners of Northern Ireland. There’re many places in Northern Ireland where Halloween is celebrated in a fantastic family friendly way, but now That I have seen it with my own eyes, Derry Halloween is definitely The place. Don’t be fooled by The 31st of October, Halloween festivities start at least a week before, so make sure you’ll arrive in Time, not To miss a Thing of The Thousands of years of spooky Celtic Traditions. This is where it all began back in The medieval period.

So I have pulled Together a guide of some of The Top events happening. From spooky walks To a meet and greet with some creepy crawlies, There’s plenty To give you a fright. Dust of your broomstick and have a look, if you dare…

Derry Halloween

There’s no place like Londonderry, or Derry as it’s often called, To celebrate Halloween. As soon as I had set foot in This historic walled city, I could only guess what was To come, was going To be very spooky. They call This city not for nothing city of bones and I assure you That bones are very present in This city. Even in The flag of The city There’s a skull. From shopping centres, restaurants, streets and parks, every place just screams Halloween. If you plan To visit Londonderry during Halloween, Try to squeeze in a visit To one of its historic buildings, it’s definitely worth it. All The historic buildings are dressed for The event.

Or have a walk on The banks of The Foyle river and cross The Peace bridge for unforgettable views over The city. The Peace bridge is brand new compared To The other highlights of Derry. It was build in 2011 and serves pedestrians and bikers. Try To go at Sunrise or Sundown, To see The beautiful glow of The lights over The city.

The Derry Halloween program is very extensive and suited for all ages. The little ones can go pumpkin carving or participate in one of The incredible storytelling sessions. Older children can go for a wicked cemetery walk or visit a haunted house. Young or old, There’s only one rule: get dressed in your favourite scary costume. In case you have forgotten yours at home, don’t worry There’re plenty of shops with an abundance of Halloween costumes To choose from. In case you choose not To follow This one rule, I can assure YOU will be The event of The evening. All ghosts, zombies and creepy crawlies will easily find you and give you a hard Time. A warned person counts for Two.

👉My Tip: if you want To stay overnight, which I would highly recommend, book your accommodation in Time. Lately Derry Halloween attracts approximately 140.000 visitors, not ideal if you want To book a room last minute at a reasonable price. In 2019, 99% of all accommodation in The city was booked.

👉My Tip: get you hands on one of The programs. It doesn’t only list all The activities held during Derry’s nine day festival, but it also indicates The age appropriateness per activity and The price in case The activity is not for free. Just To give you an idea, we weren’t even able To have a look at all The free activities during our 48h00 visit so if you want To economise during Halloween, Derry isn’t a bad place To be.

LedgenDerry food Festival

During The Halloween festivities, The streets of LondonDerry are Transformed into a food and drink heaven. Lucky me, because I consider myself a real foodie. Honestly This is one of The reasons I like travelling, To taste all The delicious recipes from all over The world. Yes you’re reading This correctly, I’m a 5 year old and I admit That I’m a foodie. I especially love street food, so I was overexcited To see all The food Trucks and life chef demonstrations at This award winning festival. So many different options, especially when we’re Talking about candy.

All of This comes with life music all day long. Lunch or dinner was definitely served with a Thrill. In case you’re my opposite and not so in love with street food, don’t worry, There’s a variety of nice restaurants in LondonDerry who will also be able To give you The Halloween feeling.

👉 My tip: no need To say, but if you want a seating in a restaurant, make sure you make your reservation Timely.

Awakening of The walls

During my Time in Londonderry I learned This city is The only walled city still in existence in Ireland. Isn’t This amazing? I must say These walls are very impressive To a 5 year old and even more epic They become as The sun sets. When The countdown To Halloween has officially begun, it’s Time for The awakening of The walls and The walls literally become a different place.

I witnessed The walled city come To life, using a dazzling display of lights, performances and music. My favourite display was without any doubt The light projection of The Derry girls mural. Not To be missed if you ask me.

However There’ s much more Than just light installations To get The kids entertained. Fire breathers, skeletons, mummies are just a glimpse of what I have encountered That night. Grab one of The Derry Halloween festivity maps and work you way Through The magic, while mingling with scary street performers and other unexpected characters along The way. This is The best self guided city Tour I ever did!

After a while, I realised that There’s no end To this bewitching celebration. Even The gardens Transformed into a magical world of light and sound. Take your Time and don’t rush Through The walk.

👉 My tip: From Time To Time it can get overcrowded, so make sure little kids are kept at arms length. It’s easy for Them To get lost in The crowds while being distracted by a FANGtastic character.

Halloween street festival parade

Derry wouldn’t be The Halloween Capital of The world if They wouldn’t host a spooky parade. This being said, The night of The 31st of October, I was hitting The streets To watch The parade Together with Thousands of other ghosts and ghouls. The parade itself lasted approximately half an hour and it was so good. Top notch! Many of The characters, who I encountered during The awakening of The walls reappeared in The parade. Come early if you want a place on The first row, it is so worth it.

When The parade was over, I was Treated with an epic firework show over The banks of The Foyle River. The perfect closure of a perfect night and just before bedtime. For the older kids there’s still plenty of Things to do all night long.

What an experience in Derry Halloween This year. Now I understand why They say They do The best Halloween in The world. The whole city takes Halloween very serious. Hocus pocus yourself in That fancy Halloween costume, pop on your broom and fly To Northern Ireland.

Have a hauntingly good time!

Cheerio,

Little T