DERRY’S 2018 Halloween celebrations are featuring four unique sculptures made exclusively from recycled materials on loan from Belfast for the duration of the festival.
The pieces of art, located in Waterloo Place and The Peace Garden, aim to help raise awareness about what materials can be reused and recycled and to encourage people to reduce the volume of what they dispose of.
Items used to design the sculptures include old toys, electrical appliances and plastic bottles and adults and children alike can have fun exploring their detail and spotting the fun and quirky use of those materials.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor John Boyle, said the sculptures add to the local Halloween offering but will also help promote the important recycling message during this year’s celebrations.
“I would like to thank Belfast City Council for gifting these pieces to our city for the duration of the 2018 Festival,” he said.
“There will be a significant footfall in the city centre during the week long festivities and I would encourage people to explore the sculptures but to also be extra conscious of their own waste and recycling habits during their celebrations.
“Parties and dressing up during Halloween generates increased household rubbish and I would urge people to ensure all of their food and reusable waste is disposed in the correct bin.
“I would like to remind people particularly that used Firework Flares are disposed in the black bin, if you are chopping up pumpkins to put those in the food waste bin and if you are on the trick or treat trail your sweet wrappers go in the black bin.”
Waterloo Place is hostin the sculpture ‘Strange Fruit’ by Alan Cargo which is made from car tyres and old shoes from recycling centres and aims to encourage people to consider ways to reduce their carbon footprint and the impact their own lifestyle has on the environment.
The Peace Garden on Foyle Street is hosting a further three sculptures; ‘Pod of Shame’, ‘Fish out of Water’ and ‘WEEE World Together’.
‘Pod of Shame’ by Colin McKnight is a walk-in pod made from a variety of household waste items including electrical equipment and aims to highlight the amount of waste we generate by asking ‘Who we think is responsible for the waste around us?’.
‘WEEE World Together’ stands for the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment from which it is made and highlights the electrical waste generated by unnecessary consumption, particularly given the drop in prices for these goods in recent years.
Fish out of Water, also by Alan Cargo, is made from plastic bottles collected from recycling centres and notes that every year the average UK household uses 480 plastic bottles but only recycles 270 of them with the rest going to landfill.
The sculptures will be in place until this Thursday, November 1.
Council’s waste collection and recycling services will be operating as normal during the Halloween celebrations.
Full details about Council’s Recycling Services, including advice on what items go in which bin are available at www.derrystrabane.com/recycling
The 2018 Halloween programme will run from 26th October – 3rd November 2018, with over 100 family friendly activities at more than 40 venues, stretching over nine jam-packed days.
Among the regular highlights which draw thousands to the city each year, is the Awakening of the Walls, which makes a welcome return for 2018, along with dynamic drumming sensations Spark.
There will be ghost tours, story-telling, animation, Halloween markets and so much more happening in the build up to the big night itself on October 31, when the traditional Carnival parade will bring hundreds of performers together to celebrate this year’s Return of the Ancients theme.
The night will finish in a spectacular Halloween fireworks finale.
The programme is organised and funded by Derry City and Strabane District Council with support from the Tourism N. Ireland International Fund.
The full programme for this year’s Halloween Festival is available online at www.derryhalloween.com
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