The home of Halloween: Ireland hosts the mystical Púca Festival

Those who like to indulge their spooky sides this time of year can take inspiration from the Emerald Isle.

As the birthplace of Halloween, Ireland knows how to celebrate the scary season, and this year it’s all about the utterly otherworldly Púca Festival.

This year’s Púca promises a contemporary feel but remains strongly rooted in tradition, taking place in festival hubs Trim and Athboy in County Meath.

Working in partnership with Irish artists, seanchaí storytellers, and the local community, Púca will showcase the best in contemporary Irish music, spectacle and performance over three days and four nights in Ireland’s Ancient East.

In Irish and Celtic traditions, Samhain is the end of the harvest season, when all the crops have been picked and stored for the ‘New Year’.

This was historically a time of celebration, involving lighting fires, feasting on the crops of the harvest, music, gathering, and storytelling.

A familiar character in Ireland’s narrative of Halloween, Púca (pronounced poo-kuh) is a shape-shifting character from Celtic folklore that comes alive at ancient new year to roam the night and change the fortunes of those that cross it.

Four supernatural nights of music, comedy and Halloween spectacle will take place in the heritage town of Trim and its stunning castle grounds, including the ‘Arrival of the Spirits’ on Saturday 29 October to officially kick off the festival.

The Hill of Ward near Athboy is an important prehistoric site and hub of Halloween tradition. On Monday, 31 October, the ‘Coming of Samhain’ celebrations will take place in this major ceremonial enclosure, which was one of the earliest sites to host Samhain. It will be a spiritual and historical retelling of the original Halloween story, where the five ancient provinces of Ireland will be represented and symbolically reunited in flame.

Other highlights of the festival include high-profile contemporary acts in music, comedy, and performance. They will conspire over four stages in Trim and Athboy, named after the goddess of the Boyne, Boann, the goddess of war, Morrigan, the faerie of mischief, Fear Dearg and of course the main Púca stage, to entertain followers of folklore and legend.

As Samhain historically marked the end of the harvest season, Púca festival embraces the enormous wealth and quality of the local produce on its doorstep in the Boyne Valley. There will be opportunities to indulge in traditional barm brack, colcannon, baked apples and other local seasonal treats.

And immersive games and storytelling, including Banshee Bingo Hall, comedy witch trials, interactive games of werewolf, self-guided treasure hunts, and traditional handfasting ceremonies will help visitors get into the spirit of the festival.

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folklore halloween ireland Púca Festival