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Councillors dismiss charging for Halloween event

DCSDC Halloween parade with large puppets in colourful costumes with people in the background looking on. DCSDC
The festival is billed by organisers as the largest Halloween event in Europe

A plan to charge for admission to part of Londonderry's annual Halloween festival has been rejected by councillors in the city.

Billed by organisers as the largest Halloween event in Europe, more than 120,000 people attended the festival's four-day run in 2024.

A report discussed at a council committee on Tuesday recommended introducing an admission fee for the festival's Awakening the Walls event in 2025.

But the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected, although councillors did agree that they should consider introducing a ticketing system to manage crowd numbers.

The report had recommended that in order to maintain the event's "world- class standard", ticket prices of £3 per person or £10 for a family ticket for two adults and two children are being proposed.

Awakening the Walls has been a central aspect of the festival for years.

It is a trail around the city's historic walls that explores the story of Halloween and includes music, pyrotechnics and illumination on the city's 17th century walls, the largest state-owned monument in Northern Ireland.

The event has never previously been ticketed or had an admission fee.

'Affordability different for everybody'

During Tuesday's committee meeting Sinn Féin councillor Grace Uí Niallais said her party would not support the reports recommendation to introduce charges over potential equality implications.

She said "Affordability for everyone is different and so it is very hard to say there is no equality impact."

UUP councillor Darren Guy said that he did not think that a charge was unreasonable but that he was "sitting on the fence" over the issue.

He said that parts of the walls where it was being proposed introducing charges for could be seen from nearby streets and that "charging for that section of the walls if you are not going to cover it completely defeats the purpose".

Meanwhile, SDLP councillor Rory Farrell said his party was against the proposal as it might create a two-tier system for those who could afford to pay and those who couldn't.

DUP Councillor Julie Middleton said that due to her "personal convictions" she did not celebrate Halloween.

However, she said some constituents who enjoyed the festivities were asking what was going to be different if they had to pay this year from previous years when it had been free.

Shaun Harkin stands in Derry's peace garden. The city's Guildhall can be seen in the background as can the tower museum. He is wearing a black jacket over a back jumper.
Shaun Harkin says the proposal would 'set a bad precendent'

People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin said the proposal had angered many people and argued that it would set a "bad precedent".

Speaking before the meeting, he said he believed if council backed the proposal "there would be a tremendous amount of anger" locally.

Councillors agreed to accept the report's other recommendations, including the possibility of a ticketing system being introduced but rejected charging a fee to access events on the walls.

A smiling Declan Moore stands in his cafe in Derry. Two customers are seated at a table to his right. He is wearing a black and white striped t-shirt. Ivy hangs above a row of seats in the background of the picture.
Declan Moore described the plan as 'clumsy'

City centre business owner Declan Moore said the council plan was likely to prove unpopular.

"I don't think it is a very good idea. If I am honest it is a fairly clumsy approach to raising revenue," he said.

"I agree these big festivals now incur a lot of cost but I think there's probably a better way of doing it."

In a statement ahead of the meeting, Derry City and Strabane District Council said councillors were being asked to "explore the development of a ticketed trail experience as part of this year's Derry Halloween programme".

It said the report set out details of how it would "greatly enhance the visitor experience and support the safe delivery of the Halloween experience on the city walls".

The council added: "The paper will also provide details of the huge success of last year's event and a breakdown of the increasing costs to deliver Halloween, setting out the need for additional resources to allow the event to grow to an international standard, attract a new and wider audience and enhance the overall visitor experience for everyone."

DCSDC A person in a sparkly costume, wearing a wig and striking a pose DCSDC
A ticketing system would allow the event to maintain its world-class standard, the council report says

The council report said extending and expanding Awakening the Walls was the primary focus of planning for this year's Halloween festival.

The ticketing system and charge would in turn "enable an enhanced experience avoiding long queues," the report notes.

The £75,000 needed to implement a ticketing system "would be offset against income" the report adds.

It also details the financial challenge the council faces in putting on the Halloween festival.

In addition to the event's £470,000 budget, the council report says an "additional £70,000 in programming budget is needed as well as £30,000 in marketing and related safety costs".

That would allow the council to "deliver this event to a high standard".

Derry's Halloween festival has been running since the mid 1980s and attracts visitors from all over the world, including First Dates host Fred Sirieix last year.

In 2015, the city was named "best Halloween destination in the world" by a USA Today readers' poll, while in 2017 the New York Times named Derry as one of the world's six Spooky Travel Destinations for the Halloween Season.