Thousands of people are expected in Londonderry and Strabane for the finale of the annual Halloween festival.
Billed by organisers as the largest Halloween event in Europe, the four-day festival will culminate in a parade and fireworks display on Thursday.
The festivities in Derry have grown to global renown since the first official Halloween celebrations in 1986 and it is now regarded as among the world’s premier destinations for Halloween.
Translink have added additional bus and rail services and a number of roads have been closed on Thursday as large crowds are expected later in the evening.
What time does the parade start?
The main Halloween parade route leaves Queens Quay Car Park at 19:00 GMT on Thursday along Queens Quay to Strand Road, Harbour Square Roundabout, Foyle Embankment. Water Street, Harbour Square Roundabout, Queens Quay and back to the car park.
Queens Quay and Upper Strand Road will also be closed from 18:00 to accommodate the parade.
The Peace Bridge will be closed from 19:00 in advance of the fireworks and will reopen shortly before 21:00.
A full list of road closures can be found here.
Additional bus and trains for Halloween
Translink are putting on a number of additional bus and rail services on Halloween night.
They will be running a number of extra Foyle Metro, Ulsterbus and Goldliner services from Foyle Street Bus Station.
At the North West Transport Hub train station, 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 15:00, making its return journey from Foyle Street Bus Centre at 21:00.
A full list of rail services for people to get to and from the parade can be found here.
Will the weather trick or treat us?
Thankfully, it looks like revellers in the north west will be able to enjoy the parade and fireworks without an umbrella later.
The forecast is cloudy, but mainly dry as ghouls and ghosts take over the city.
It will be suitably eerie with a bit of mist and it will be relatively mild throughout the day and evening.
The celebrations so far have featured the return of the Awakening the Walled City trail within Derry city centre from Monday until Wednesday, and will climax with a ‘Carnival of the Dead’ themed Halloween parade and fireworks display on Thursday.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme earlier this week, festival organiser Aisling McCallion said there is something on offer for everyone.
“We have programming right across the four days for people of all ages,” she said.
“We have storytelling, arts and crafts, shows and loads of live performances.
“Personally, I am very excited we can welcome people back on the walls this year to see a variety of performances.
“There will be a queuing and one-way system in operation for people to see the attractions on the walls in a safe and managed way.”
Ms McCallion said there are many events on offer and people will be able to go around three designated zones in Derry and also be able to see a variety of attractions in Strabane this year.
She said that some of the highlights of the programme this year include a witchy wonderland on the City Walls, projections on the Austins and Bishop Street Court House buildings, and Rodafonio – a travelling street theatre act created by renowned American designer and musician Cesar Alvarez.
A full list of events on offer this year can be found here.
Business owners hoping for busy festival
Emily McCorkell will be hoping to hear the sounds of a chiming cash register at her Lo & Slo food truck over the screams and fireworks this year.
Emily and her team are feeding hungry festival-goers with American BBQ style delicacies at the Haunted Harvest Halloween Market at Guildhall Square.
She said she loves Halloween and added the festival is a “terrifyingly busy” time for traders involved in the Legenderry Food Network.
“I think this is our third time with the food truck at the Halloween festival and from when the shutters go up to when they go down, we are very busy,” she told BBC News NI.
“Big events like this one, like also the Maritime Festival, are a great opportunity to showcase all the great things about the city and we want to showcase great food using local ingredients and want people to taste the landscape and leave with a big smile on their face.”
Ms McCorkell said they will have a team of about three or four people working over the four days in a very busy and quite small kitchen.
“It will be busy but squishy, you have to work in a very close proximity to each other when you’re feeding people in a food truck, but we have a great team and we cannot wait to get going.”
Longer opening hours
Gary Moran from Yumi restaurant in the city centre has said they have been “flat-out with bookings” throughout the Halloween festival this week.
“We’ve got loads of bookings, there’s a lot of customers, but we do have some room for some walk-ins but it’s definitely very busy,” he said.
“We have got people coming here for the very first time to try it, which is great to see and then from word of mouth we can then hopefully then get additional bookings from that.”
Mohamed Ali from Maiden Heaven Coffee and Ice Cream Parlour has said they have been really happy with the amount of footfall in the city centre throughout the week.
“It’s been steadily busy throughout the day and then it’s been unbelievably busy in the evening,” he said.
“We’ve had to increase our hours actually, we definitely had to increase them and we are working a bit longer over Halloween.
“We usually open until six o’clock but we are now staying open until about ten in the evening now.”
