Ultimate Guide To DERRY HALLOWEEN: Everything To Know

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Looking for Europe’s best Halloween celebration?

Do you love Halloween? Then you have to go to Derry Halloween! It’s Europe’s BIGGEST Halloween Festival and it takes place in the historical walled city of Derry (also called Londonderry), Northern Ireland.

We’re Kim and Frank and we travel everywhere with our dog Robi. We recently went to Derry Halloween in 2023 to experience all the spooky magic we could and had such an incredible time. After all, Halloween has its roots in Ireland, originating from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. So you know Halloween in Ireland is EPIC.

Derry Halloween can be a bit overwhelming to a first-timer (we know we were overwhelmed when we opened the 30 page program pdf), so we’ve compiled this ultimate guide for everything you need to know about Derry Halloween, including insider tips from our first hand experience as well as our personal recommendations. Now first off, the basics:

Don’t have time to read the whole blog post?

Here are our top recommendations for what to do at Derry Halloween on October 31st:

First, go to the heart of Derry Halloween (free & paid)
- Map yourself to the iconic Clock Tower Guildhall, which sits in the main plaza of the city center. There’s live performances, food vendors and free Halloween exhibitions in the Clock Tower Guildhall itself.
Experience the Carnival Parade @7pm (free)
- Map to “Foyle Embankment” and you’ll see everyone lined up along the river to watch the parade. Get there at least 30 minutes early to get a good viewing spot.
Walk Derry’s walls once it goes dark (free)
- You can see the whole city at certain points and the clock tower glowing orange in the distance. The vibes are creepy and eerie (in a good and safe way).

What is Derry Halloween?

Derry Halloween is Europe’s BIGGEST Halloween Festival put on by the city of Derry. It is for all ages (and pets), free (except for select events) and there are so many cool spooky things to check out in the walled city!

When Is Derry Halloween?

This year’s Derry Halloween will be October 28 – 31, 2024. There are special events each of those days in the lead up to Halloween day on October 31, 2024. Some of the biggest events – like the carnival parade and fireworks finale – only happen on Halloween day.

Where is Derry Halloween?

It takes place in and around the city center of Derry in Northern Ireland.

Is Derry Halloween free?

Yes! Let’s cover the most important aspect of Derry Halloween: entrance is completely free. You don’t need to buy tickets to go – you can just show up with plenty to do and see. The majority of the events are free.

However, there are several events during the lead up and on Halloween that require you to purchase tickets if you do want to attend. Like the Candlelight Orchestra, the Haunted House and the Nightmare of Foyle Street pre-Halloween party.

What do I do at Derry Halloween?

We recommend downloading the Derry Halloween 2024 Programme, which is now available on the Derry Halloween site (and saving it to your phone, so you have it easily accessible on your phone while you’re there).

That way you can plan out which free events you want to go to and which events require tickets or pre-booking. Based on that, you can decide which days to go to Derry Halloween since it isn’t just on October 31st but rather takes place in the three days leading up to Halloween as well.

A note about the Derry Halloween program pdf:

If you go through the Derry Halloween 2024 Programme and are a bit confused, you’re not alone. Sometimes the locations listed won’t be clear and will just say “city centre” for example. For those of you who want exact locations that you can put into Google Maps, we gotchu.

We’ve screenshotted exact locations of the events on maps for you visual folks, as well as linked them so you can open them in Google Maps from this article (which is what we wish we had).

You can also download the Derry Halloween Trail, which has a map organizing by zone which events are where. It’s a very nice update to the festival by the organizers, since this wasn’t available last year!

And if all else fails, don’t be afraid to ask someone. The locals we encountered in Ireland and Northern Ireland were always very helpful and welcoming – they have that reputation for a reason!

Is Derry Halloween dog-friendly?

Yes! Since a lot of Derry Halloween takes place outside, it naturally is dog friendly. We saw several pups dressed up, some vendors had dog treats and Robi was even allowed inside the Derry Visitors Center as well as the Clock Tower Guildhall for their Halloween museum exhibition.

Not only that, but every year, Derry Halloween hosts the “Spooky Paws Walk The Walls” event, where you and your dog can dress up and walk Derry’s walls.

Event description: “Join in the Halloween celebrations by taking part in our fancy dress dog walk around the Walls. Free Halloween treats for every dog and human, and lots of prizes! Cost: £5 per dog. Registration from 7pm. Starts 7.30pm. Meet at Guildhall Square.”

*Note that this event is on Thursday, October 24, 2024, a few days before the rest of the official Derry Halloween events take place.

Where should I park?

If you’re coming with a car (like most folks since intercity public transportation isn’t always the most efficient), you might be able to find street parking (free and paid options). The earlier in the day you come, the better your chances.

But most likely, you’ll be driving around the heavily pedestrianized city looking for a tight spot you can squeeze in – and double-checking the street signs. Plus, it’ll take a very long and stressful time to weave through the crowds. Trust us. We’ve been there.

Instead, we highly suggest parking in the covered parking garage of the Foyleside Shopping Centre.

Parking in the Foyleside Shopping Centre

The Foyleside Shopping Centre car park is convenient, affordable and centrally located.

Because of its proximity to the Derry Halloween events, we actually walked back to our car about 3-4 times to drop things off, grab extra layers for warmth and put our dog Robi in the car when he needed a nap and before the fireworks (it’s very normal to put your dog in the car in Ireland & Northern Ireland – more on this later).

Their most up-to-date parking rates – or “tariffs” as they’re called – are listed here. They take card and contactless payment. Note: payments are in British pounds and not euros, since Northern Ireland is in the UK.

During Derry Halloween, the Foyleside Shopping Centre car park has extra parking attendants present to help guide you in and out of the lot, meaning there’s extra eyes and bodies around the cars making it less likely that something unfortunate will happen to your car.

Foyleside will at one point stop letting cars in when they reach capacity, so we recommend coming before 7 p.m. since many locals drive up just for the Carnival Parade (at 7pm) and the drone show and fireworks finale afterwards.

If you have no luck parking here, you can always consult these nearby Derry city car park options too.

Do I need a car or bus to get around Derry Halloween?

Nope! While you may need a car to arrive to Derry city itself, you won’t need a car to get around the city. Everything is really walkable – definitely within a 1 mile (1.6km) radius, but probably even less than that. Plan on parking and leaving your car where it is.

Can I leave my dog in the car?

Unlike in most of America, in Ireland, it’s considered acceptable to leave your dog in the car (for an appropriate amount of time, that is). Since the weather is consistently chilly or rainy and the inside of the car tends to be warmer, the car can be a safe haven for your dog, especially if they don’t like the cold or wet.

If you’re traveling with a senior dog, like us, your dog can get tired and want to nap. We always make sure to have a little dog blanket or extra jacket he can snuggle up in. Or, for instance, for the fireworks finale, we knew our dog would much prefer to stay in the car, with the sound insulated by the windows and the concrete of the parking garage rather than be near the loud fireworks with us.

This is obviously only if your dog isn’t stressed out in cars. If your dog doesn’t like to be left alone or will bark nonstop if you do so, you definitely should not leave your dog in the car.

Do I need to bring cash?

Not really. We actually did not take out any cash during our entire time in Northern Ireland, we just used contactless Apple pay on our phones, since it’s so widely used.

At Derry Halloween, there were a handful of food vendors that only accepted cash only (Great British pounds) but they were definitely the very small minority. You can definitely get away with not having any cash since there are so many options that take card and contactless.

I’m overwhelmed. What’s the first thing I should do?

First, go to the heart of Derry Halloween by mapping yourself to the iconic Clock Tower Guildhall. This is Guildhall Square, the main plaza of the city center.

There’s a stage with live performances from local artists. They’re all dressed up in costumes and you can dance along on the dance floor. The lineup is lively and festive.

All along the plaza are local food vendors serving up tasty bites. Try a sausage bap (or Belfast bap), a Northern Ireland staple.

As you munch, you can people-watch and check out all the interesting costumes of Derry Halloween. Everyone goes all out!

Check out the free Halloween exhibitions and photo opps in the Clock Tower Guildhall (we were allowed to bring our dog too).

Things to see at Derry Halloween

Walk around the city

As you walk around the city, you might catch mini parades, acrobatic performers and more street performances, such the drumming skeleton dance group Spark! They go all around the city, dressed in neon bright lights and drumming up a party.

Head to the Peace Flame, which is a flame that burns eternally in a glass case, a symbol for peace and hope in the city ever since the Troubles ended. The surrounding peace garden has been decorated for Halloween and you can walk amongst it or take a break on one of the many park benches.

Walk Derry’s walls

Once it goes dark, walk Derry’s walls. You can see the whole city from high up at certain points and the clock tower glowing orange in the distance. The vibes are creepy and eerie (in a good and safe way).

Because the Derry Walls span the city and only have certain points of access, it can be confusing to know where to enter. Sometimes, the entrances to the actual gates aren’t actually accurate on Google Maps.
One of the entrances near everything is actually right by the Foyleside Shopping Center which is where we suggested parking (above). Map to “Ladbrokes” and the entrance ramp to the wall is right next to it.

Stop by the Derry Visitors Information Center

The Visit Dairy Visitors Information Center isn’t your typical boring and sanitized information center. There’s plenty of cool informative exhibits about Derry and various photo opps like the Derry Girls magazine spread where you can be just like a Derry girl.

They’ve also decorated the center for Halloween and have a Derry Halloween display meant for photos.

There’s also a mini theater room where they project a movie about Derry – a great place to rest your legs, learn about Derry and get some peace and quiet amidst the Halloween madness. And they have free public bathrooms.

The visitors center also has friendly employees to help you with tourist information as well as great Derry city souvenirs and Derry Girls merch.

Watch the Carnival Parade

At 7pm is the epic Derry Halloween Carnival Parade where Derry’s local groups and organizations (from arts, community, sports, music, performance, etc.) showcase their spooky talent.

Map yourself to the Foyle Embankment at least 30 minutes early to get a good viewing spot. You’ll see everyone lined up along the river to watch the parade.

Watch the fireworks finale

Shortly after the carnival parade are the fireworks. The best place to watch them is anywhere along the Foyle Embankment, where you should already be if you watched the carnival parade.

Interested in more things to see at Derry Halloween?

For more things to do and see, check out the Derry Halloween 2024 Programme. There are concerts, musicals, film showings, cemetery tours, themed afternoon teas, a haunted house, a carnival (different from the carnival parade) and more!

Is there food at Derry Halloween?

Guildhall Square is littered with delicious food stalls and trucks. You can try classic Irish foods like a sausage bap, or international food from a local vendor. There’s great vegetarian options. Frank, who is vegetarian, didn’t have a problem finding tasty things to eat.

Some vendors will also have out bowls of free Halloween candy. It’s a fun way to try some classic UK chocolates that you might not have had before – we tried our first Mars Bar!

We had some Irish pastries, empanadas, a Cuban rice bowl and a pork sausage roll.

Are there adults-only events at Derry Halloween?

For the adults, there are plenty of lively Irish bars and pubs lining the streets, where you can get a pint and listen to live music.

There’s also the haunted house, a masquerade ball, comedy shows, a candlelit orchestra performance and more. For all events, times and tickets, check out the Derry Halloween 2024 Programme.

Are there kid-friendly activities at Derry Halloween?

Derry Halloween is super family friendly! There are events each day for the little ones. When we visited in 2023, there was a petting farm with real snakes and rats, face painting and even a spider web themed mini football arena.

Keep an eye out for the spooky storytelling sessions. In 2023, it took place in a large tent that’s decorated to be spooky and the kids sit on haystacks. It was super cute!

In the Derry Halloween 2024 Programme, you can find all the family friendly activities under the “Little Horrors” section.

Pro tips (learned from mistakes we made at Derry Halloween):

We would highly recommend booking tickets for the Haunted House. We tried to walk up on Halloween and they were completely sold out.
We didn’t realize that Derry Halloween was more than just a one day celebration. It’s celebrated the 3 days leading up to October 31st and not only that, there are a handful of events that take place before that such as the dog-friendly “Spooky Paws Walk The Walls” event on Oct. 24th. Had we known, we would have booked more time in Derry and gone earlier, rather than just go on Halloween day.
Dress warmly. As the night gets darker, it gets significantly colder. We luckily had extra layers in our car and were able to easily go back and grab them as the night got colder.
If you’re missing something for your costume, you might be able to find it at Derry Halloween. There’s a few booths there that will sell Halloween supplies (at a markup).

Should I check out the Foyleside Shopping Centre?

If you need a break from the Halloween madness, you can always go into the Foyleside Shopping Centre where they also have Halloween displays, public bathrooms and a respite from the cold and crowds if you need it.