TENS of thousands of people are expected in Derry over the next few days to celebrate what organisers are billing as the the largest Halloween festival in Europe.
The festival, culminating in a parade through the city on Thursday, began in earnest on Monday with Awakening the Walled City Trail, which runs for three nights.
It is described as a “magical journey through the city of bones, as the spirits cross over to join the festivities, bringing magic and mischief to the streets”.
Many other events will take place at Guildhall Square and Waterloo Place, which will come alive with all types of ghosts and ghouls on display, along with music and food.
The climax of the festivities, the now legendary Derry Halloween Carnival Parade, will sweep through the streets on Halloween night.
“Experience an explosion of colour and creativity as hundreds of performers don elaborate costumes, from fire-breathing dragons to animated caricatures, all moving to the beat of vibrant samba drums,” the organisers said.
Translink has announced additional and enhanced services for bus and rail in Derry for the Halloween festival, ensuring thousands of locals and visitors are better-connected to the celebrations.
As Europe’s biggest Halloween festival prepares to descend upon the North West, public transport provides people with a safe, convenient, and sustainable way of travelling to, from and around the city.
On Halloween night (Thursday 31st October), Translink will be running a number of additional Foyle Metro, Ulsterbus and Goldliner services from Foyle Street Bus Station:
21:00 – additional 1a service to Culmore
21:10 – additional 3n service covering Kilfennan, Currynierin and Drumahoe
21:10 – additional 98 service to Strabane via Newbuildings
22:00 – additional 212 service to Castledawson
The public are also advised to note some service adjustments:
4c – 20:25 from Foyle Street and 20:45 from Currynierin not running due to road closures for the fireworks display. Passengers can instead avail of the 3n service from Foyle Street at 21:10.
6a – 20:20 to Newbuildings and 20:35 return not running due to road closures for the fireworks display. Passengers can avail of the
98 service to Newbuildings at 21:10.
8b – 20:50 from Foyle Street to Creggan moved to 21:00, with return moving from 21:05 to 21:15.
10a – 20:40 Ballymagroarty service moved to 21:00, with return moved from 21:00 to 21:20
11a – 20:40 to Woodbrook moved to 21:00
At the North West Transport Hub, additional capacity has been added to the 21:38 train departure to Belfast Grand Central Station, followed by an additional rail service at 22:38 to Coleraine Station.
A special coach service will also operate from Belfast Grand Central Station on Halloween at 3pm, making its return journey from Foyle Street Bus Centre at 9pm. Tickets for this service are available to book online by visiting: translink.co.uk/events.
Mayor of Derry City & Strabane District Council, Cllr Lilian Seenoi Barr, said: “I am delighted that Translink is once again supporting our world-famous Halloween celebrations by providing additional services that will allow families and individuals to use public transport to access and enjoy our events.
“Halloween continues to be our biggest event of the year and it’s fantastic that we have additional services to encourage the public to attend our events and help ease traffic congestion and parking in our city centre.
“A huge thanks to Translink and our partners for their continued support in helping us promote sustainability and accessibility at our festival.”
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