Halloween: NI Fire Service reports significant fall in emergency calls

Ghostly drummers lit up the night at the celebrations in Derry

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has reported a significant drop in emergency calls over Halloween this year.

From 18:00 GMT on 31 October to 01:00 on 1 November, a total of 68 calls were made - 26% down on the 2020 figure.

Fourteen of those calls concerned bonfires.

On Saturday night, the fire service's regional control centre handled 60 emergency calls and responded to 51 incidents.

A spokesperson said the situation had been "relatively steady".

Halloween celebrations took place across Northern Ireland over the weekend, with the biggest festival being held in Derry.

The Margey family get into the spirit for the Halloween festival

Due to continuing Covid-19 restrictions, there was no traditional parade.

However, the firework display finale over the River Foyle returned.

Aeidin McCarter, head of culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council, said that while there is no official figure, the council believes upwards of 90,000 people visited the city over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

"We certainly are sure we had well over 20,000 each night and probably close to 30,000," she told BBC NI's Radio Foyle on Monday.

"We had a plan on how we could accommodate up to 30,000 safely. We know that we didn't go over that.

"People were happy that they could get round it safely. We had very careful planning and we adjusted a lot of things this year to allow for people to get round everything safely."

Not quite teenage mutant ninjas enjoy the festival