Giant Moon and Saurus returning for Derry Hallowe’en

The Museum of the Moon and the giant interactive Saurus will be among the popular attractions returning to this year’s Hallowe’en celebrations in Derry.
Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.
Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.

Members of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Business and Culture Committee gave their approval for officers to proceed with securing large-scale attractions for the city’s largest festival.

The recommendation was made following the presentation of a Tourism Northern Ireland commissioned evaluation report on the very positive benefits of the award-winning 2018 Hallowe’en festival.

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The report stated that the attendees at the Derry Hallowe’en event was 99,573 with 197,723 spectators making multiple visits. The study showed that half of the spectators were local people, 27 per cent from other parts of Northern Ireland and 23 per cent from outside Northern Ireland.

Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.
Hallowe'en celebrations in Derry are always topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the River Foyle.

Aeidin McCarter, Head of Culture with the Council, said visitor numbers have doubled over the past three years.

One of the findings of the Hallowe’en impact report was that Derry Hallowe’en 2018 generated £812,646 to the economy, representing a positive return of £8.55 for every £1 of the £95,000 invested by Tourism NI.

Aeidin McCarter said that when taking account of the £1,192,385 spent by NI residents from outside the host Council area, the tourism impact of Derry Hallowe’en was £2,005,031.

The report also showed the number of bed-nights booked by Derry Hallowe’en festival attendees was 11,219, which in turn generated a total of £419,090 to the accommodation sector.