From the Macnas Samhain parades, to classic horror radio, Victorian fun parks and horrible stuff in between
Traveling to Dublin this Halloween or just looking for something different to do in Ireland's capital city? This is it!
Dublin gets set to summon the supernatural this October Bank Holiday weekend as Bram Stoker Festival returns with four days of living stories and four nights of deadly adventures from October 27 to 30.
Bram Stoker Festival’s full program with highlights including Al Porter’s Camp Dracula comedy show; the Macnas parade Memory Song through the northside of the city; and Gravediggers & Resurrectionists at one Ireland's most historic and storied cemeteries.
Speaking about the launch of this year’s festival, Lord Mayor Dublin Mícheál Mac Donncha said “Bram Stoker and his novel Dracula are part of Dublin city’s unique literary heritage. I would encourage everyone to delve into the wonderful cultural offerings the Bram Stoker Festival program of events provides and enjoy doing something a little different.”
Speaking about the festival program, Tom Lawlor Festival Co-Director, said “Bram Stoker Festival gives Dubliners and visitors the chance to experience the capital city in a whole new way, to enjoy a little of Dublin’s darker side. Whether you’re a fan of gothic literature, camp comedy or spooktacular spectacle, Bram Stoker Festival will fill your October Bank Holiday weekend with a host of darker events you won’t experience at any other time of year.”
Camp Dracula
Al Porter star of Camp Dracula at Dublin's Bram Stoker Festival.
Spirits are sure to be raised as Ireland’s king of camp and risqué comedian, Al Porter, takes to the Bram Stoker Festival stage with Camp Dracula, his new comedy show based on Bram Stoker’s legendary gothic son.
Macnas Halloween parade - Memory Song
A snap shot of Macnas' 2016 Halloween parade.
Master-storytellers and creators of unforgettable interactive experiences, Macnas, return to the streets of Dublin with Memory Song, a hauntingly beautiful, wild and tempestuous parade. From Moore Street to the old fruit market near Smithfield, the capital’s streets are sure to be transfixed as the transcendental, the macabre, the profane and the magical is unleashed.
Glasnevin Cemetery - Gravediggers & Resurrectionists
Thrill seekers are invited to Glasnevin Cemetery for Gravediggers & Resurrectionists to get under the skin of the inspiration behind some of Bram Stoker’s more ghoulish stories. Take part in a spellbinding walking tour of Glasnevin Cemetery, taking in the famous graves and the stories of the living, the dead and the undead, followed by fireside stories in one of Ireland’s best-preserved traditional pubs, the Gravediggers, where you can enjoy optional extras of pints and traditional coddle.
Dead Air – golden age of radio horror
Other ghoulish adventures taking place over the weekend include Dead Air, a live, theatrical, horrifying homage to the golden age of classic radio horror.
In the grand Irish tradition of Bram Stoker, Sheridan le Fanu and Podge and Rodge, enjoy six ten-minute tales of terror, plucked from the minds of six of Dublin's most fiendishly twisted writers, and shocked into life by six of our delightfully demented directors, in a night of ghoulish live entertainment.
Bram Audio Ghost Experience
Bram Audio Ghost Experience is a haunted, haunting, audio horror experience inspired by the classically creepy works of the legendary author. Beginning in Dublin’s dark city center streets and ending god knows where, this weird walking tour is not for the faint hearted.
We Are The Monsters
We Are The Monsters is an immersive experience about the monster within us all: as ally, other and dreaded creeping darkness. Created by Pygmankenstein Theatre Company and The Gremlin, in collaboration with Algorithm, We Are The Monsters features a despotic horror host, fake blood, an interview with Dr. Caroline Picart, a story about a child finding a finger in the back garden, and moths.
Stokerland for the little ones
Families and younger fans of the gruesome have the chance to come along to Stokerland, a pop-up Victorian fun park for families and the eternally young. With one of the city's stunning cathedrals as a gothic backdrop, this ghoulish gathering will present comedy shows from Punch Lion Kids Comedy Club, street theatre from Victorian undertakers Morbid & Sons and a Kids v Adults themed Sing Along Social, alongside rides and attractions to ensure a fangtastic time for all.
The Ark in Temple Bar
The Ark in Temple Bar also hosts some spooktacular events for kids over the weekend. Make Your Own Deadly Dance Track or join the Supernatural Choir with families and friends invited to come along, as Bram Stoker Festival creates the biggest, other-worldly sounding choir of deadly singers in just a few hours. Learn to sing a number of well-known fun popular songs and turn them into new spooky versions with haunting vocal sounds and gothic harmonies, before invading Meeting House Square for a supernatural sing along.
For tickets to Bram Stoker Festival events, sink your teeth into www.bramstokerfestival.com. Dubliners and visitors to the city are invited to follow the fun using #bitemedublin #fiaclafola at www.facebook.com/BramStokerDublin and @bramstokerdub on Twitter and Instagram.
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