Press Release

Hallowe'en Carnival success

01st November 2005

From Willy Wonka Bars to hundreds of little pumpkins running around the streets, Derry celebrated Hallowe’en in style last night!!

Today organizers of this year’s Banks of the Foyle Hallowe’en Carnival are hailing last night’s event as one of the best ever which saw the streets come alive with a spectacular carnival parade through the City Centre, outstanding fireworks and fantastic line up of great music.

The Chairman of Derry City Council’s Development Committee Councillor Pat Ramsey praised the tens of thousands of revellers who participated in last night’s Hallowe’en festival.

“I was out in the City Centre from quite early on as part of the judging panel for the Crazy Costume Competition and it was great to see the event so well supported by families.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone who was involved in putting together this years event; a lot of hard work was realized over the last couple of days. In addition it was wonderful to see the spectacular effort which was made by festival-goers on the streets last night, their participation was key to the overall success of this event.”

The week leading up to the festival featured some top class events to get everyone in the Hallowe’en spirit. Highlights included the Ghostbustours, which crept around some of the City’s ghostly spots, the Harry Potter Parties at St Columb’s Park House, Walter’s Hallowe’en Haunted Castle of Fun, the Spooker Prize at the Playhouse and the Murder at the Museum in the Workhouse Museum. The Tower Museum also reopened with the new permanent exhibition ‘An Armada Shipwreck ~ La Trinidad Valencera’ and welcomed over 4000 through it’s doors over Hallowe’en week.

This year’s event saw the introduction of a wider alcohol free zone, which was put in place to assist in improving the experience and atmosphere in the City Centre for everyone. Commenting on its implementation Councillor Ramsey continued,

“In the build up to the event a concerted effort was made through the Carnival Care campaign to profile the risks surrounding the issue of underage and binge-drinking. The introduction of the extended family friendly area within the City Centre was seen as a measure to help to reduce the level of alcohol consumption over the Hallowe’en celebrations.

“It is encouraging that feedback from the emergency services has been positive in relation to this year’s event but we can’t be complacent when dealing with these issues and it’s now time to build on the success of this year event so that similar plans can be implemented for all future celebratory occasions in the City. Finally I would just like to pay tribute to the emergency services and other agencies who contributed to the event planning, without whose support an event of this level could not have been delivered.”

What did you think?

Accommodation providers also noted a bumper weekend with many of the City Centre hotels and B&B’s sold out over the weekend and on Hallowe’en night.

Pictures from this years event are currently being uploaded onto the official Hallowe’en website together with an opportunity to let the organizers know what you thought about this years celebrations through the online comment card. To view click on www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween for more information.

ENDS

For additional information contact:

Press Office

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