Summary

  1. Where can I park?published at 18:17 GMT 31 October

    Several of the city's car parks are closed tonight:

    • Bishop Street (motorhome parking)
    • Society Street, Foyle Street
    • Queen's Quay
    • Accessible parking only in Victoria Market and Strand Road

    For alternative parking options, Derry City Council has a list, external.

  2. A magic potion for tourismpublished at 18:10 GMT 31 October

    A woman in a brown coat smiles at the camera, she has long blonde hair and behind her are market stalls.
    Image caption,

    Aine Kearney is Tourism NI’s director of events

    Tourism NI figures from Derry Halloween 2024 say 120,000 visitors attended the festival, with 36% coming from outside Northern Ireland.

    Aine Kearney, Tourism NI’s director of events, says: “We know the event generates close to £4 million for Northern Ireland’s economy with 13,000 bed nights in hotels booked.

    "When people are here, they’re staying and they’re experiencing the event – they’re using our shops, they’re using our taxis, they’re eating in our restaurants, so really there’s not one part of the industry that isn’t touched.

    “Last year I spoke to visitors from North America, Spain, Austria.

    "People come from all over the world to enjoy the festivities and that global appeal is only growing.”

  3. Howlers and growlerspublished at 17:59 GMT 31 October

    A dog dressed in a chucky the doll costume with red and white striped top and a pretend knife
    Image caption,

    Amber the dog dressed as Chucky

    Look at this Derry Halloween paw-ty animal!

  4. Rain on the paradepublished at 17:49 GMT 31 October

    Stormy weather has failed to rain on the parade as the organisers of Europe's biggest Halloween festival insist "the show must go on".

    Some events were cancelled yesterday due to a yellow warning for high winds.

    If you’re trick-or-treating or watching the parade, we’ve a window of dry, clear weather, but there’s a chance of cloud and rain from 22:00 GMT. Some of that will be thundery.

  5. 'Already I'm thinking of moving to Irelandpublished at 17:42 GMT 31 October

    A man and a woman are dressed in pirate costumes, behind them is the Foyle Bridge
    Image caption,

    Jason and Izzy travelled from Georgia

    People have travelled from far and wide to be in the city for the Halloween celebrations.

    Jason and Izzy came all the way from Georgia specifically to see the parade and have decided to do a trip around Ireland because of it.

    Two men are dressed up as Luigi and Mario from the Super Mario Bros game franchise
    Image caption,

    Joseph and Chris have arrived in Derry from Florida

    Super Mario Brothers Joseph and Chris have arrived in Derry from Florida.

    "This is the start of a two week vacation of Ireland and Scotland.

    "We decided to start with Derry for Halloween because we heard it is the best around.

    "I'm only here 24 hours and already I'm thinking of moving to Ireland. I don't know what Scotland is like, but it's gonna be hard to be better than this."

  6. Road closurespublished at 17:37 GMT 31 October

    Strand Road from Queen’s Quay Roundabout; Queen’s Quay; Foyle Embankment; Foyle Street leading to Whittaker Street and Water Street leading to Foyle Embankment are now closed.

    The Peace Bridge will be closed from 19:00 to 21:00 to facilitate fireworks.

    Additional public transport services are being operated by Translink.

  7. Why is Halloween so big in Londonderry?published at 17:25 GMT 31 October

    Organisers hope there will be about 30,000 people in the city centre tonight for the closing parade and fireworks, though the rain could affect numbers.

    About 100,000 people are expected to have taken part over the four days of the festival.

    So how did Derry become such a Halloween hotspot?

    One tale goes that it all started in a city centre pub back in the 1980s when a publican asked his regulars to dress up for Halloween.

    The bar was packed with cavemen, more than one incredible Hulk, a few Ronald Reagans and a Margaret Thatcher or two and festivities spilled on to the street.

    Official celebrations were established soon after.

  8. 'A bit of light into the darkness of winter'published at 17:08 GMT 31 October

    A man with a ginger beard and light hair smiles to the right of the camera, behind him are some Halloween decorationsdecorations
    Image caption,

    Jim Collins is project manager for the North-West Carnival Initiative

    Jim Collins says the idea for a Halloween carnival parade was first discussed among a group of friends at a pub in Londonderry’s Waterloo Street.

    “Back then, 20 years ago, things were pretty dark and grey,” he says.

    “This was just ordinary people wanting to celebrate and bring a bit of light into the darkness of winter, and to have a bit of craic.

    “We’ve been at this 20 years now and there’s just no way I could have imagined how big it’s become.”

    Jim and others start preparing for Halloween in March every year, and he concedes “it’s a lot of work”.

    But seeing people having a good is "what makes it all worthwhile".

  9. What has been happening in the last few days?published at 17:00 GMT 31 October

    More than 100,000 visitors are expected to flock to this year’s events, which kicked off with the Awakening the Walled City trail on Tuesday and Wednesday, but was cancelled yesterday because of the weather warning.

    This was when the story of Halloween was brought to life through illumination, performances, pyrotechnics and music.

    Beyond the trail, festival-goers have been enjoying ghost tours, haunted houses, storytelling, live music and community celebrations across the entire city and district.

  10. Ghoul eveningpublished at 16:56 GMT 31 October

    Man with his face painted white and black eyes is standing holding a microphone at a silver coffin made into a piano in a crowd of people

    Welcome to our live (or undead, if you like) coverage of the finale of Europe’s biggest Halloween carnival in Londonderry.

    It’s believed about 100,000 people have taken in events across four days in Northern Ireland’s north west, with festivities coming to a close with tonight’s parade and fireworks display.

    You’ll be able to witch it all later by clicking the play button at the top of this page, and we’ll have live text updates here with all the best bites from the festival (and, yes, more bad puns, most likely).