“Where Halloween’s story begins”, Púca Festival takes place in some historic surroundings from October 31 to November 2.

Fáilte Ireland in partnership with Meath and Louth County Councils have created the brand new Púca Festival, celebrating Ireland’s authentic claim to be the original birthplace of Halloween. Opening on October 31 the newly-established festival will “capture the ancient spirit of Samhain” across three nights of music, food, light and spectacle in Athboy, Drogheda and Trim.

County Meath’s historic Trim Castle and its surrounds become the stage for three supernatural nights of music, light and Halloween fun kicking off on October 31. As dusk falls join the Samhain Procession as it weaves its way through the streets of Trim making its way to the Castle. It will also feature a line up of contemporary Irish music in a specially erected tent on Porchfield.

Here’s the line-up for the Trim Castle Concerts.

JERRY FISH’S PÚCA SIDESHOW

Thursday October 31, 8pm

For the opening night of the Púca Festival Jerry resurrects his popular Electric Sideshow for Trim Castle with a “wicked and unholy night” of Halloween entertainment. Tickets €20.

JUST MUSTARD + PILLOW QUEENS + Æ MAK

Friday November 1, 8pm

Homegrown bands, all making waves on the local music scene descend on Trim for a night showcasing the very best of Ireland’s next generation of music-makers. Tickets €15.

KORMAC + IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Saturday November 2

The acclaimed beatmaker and performer brings his stunning multimedia Equivalent Exchange to the closing night of the Púca Festival, joining forces with his Big Band and the Irish Chamber Orchestra for this genre-smashing show. Tickets €30.

Tickets are on sale now, click here for more.

Trim Castle will also come to life each night for the Púca Light Spectacular, with a host of interventions, from aerialists and castle projections to laser shows welcoming passers-by with stunning visuals on the Castle walls and beyond.

Winner of the International Laser Display Association Innovation and Art Award 2018, Seb Lee-Delisle creates Lightning Strikes, a large-scale laser-projection that sees electric arcs crackle and spark and Jacob’s Ladders rise up St. Mary’s Abbey and of course lightning!

The creative production studio based in Dublin, Algorithm will deliver Awaken the Spirits, a series of huge projection maps onto the castle walls, encapsulating the characteristics of each Samhain creature in this year’s festival – a spectacular experience as people arrive in Trim.

The spectacular Irish aerialists Fidget Feet take audiences on a theatrical journey through the mystical world of Púcas they swing inside and outside the Castle walls as they join forces with the spirits of Samhain – Fionn, Boann, the Morrigan, Fir Dearg and Púca.

Inside the walls of Trim Castle Impossible Arts will create The Tale of Dullahan. As dusk falls, three large translucent heads will appear, each about 2.5m tall, with faces moving, blinking and seeming almost alive. The heads will show the faces of audience members who opt to sit before the face-recognition camera and be added into the mix. The heads speak and sing lip-syncing to Irish poets reciting the Tale of Dullahan, famous for its headless horseman.

Admission to Púca Light Spectacular at Trim Castle is free, it kicks off at 6pm every night.

“The embers of the flames from The Hill of Ward blow east towards one of Ireland’s oldest towns, Drogheda”, igniting a haunting three-day programme of music, film and light installations in the centre of town.

Some of Ireland’s most popular singer songwriters, storytellers and composers will create atmospheric evenings of music, dark and light including the seldom shown silent horror movie Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan (The Witches) with a new score by Dublin-based musician Matthew Nolan. At Crescent Concert Hall, David Keenan, Sive and Lisa O’Neill will captivate with their distinctive and arresting performances. At Odd Mollies Candlelit Tales’s unique re-telling of the Shadows of the Tain to the Festival using magical shadow puppetry with live musical accompaniment. And over three nights Drogheda will play Halloween host to a series of de:LUX light and music installations inspired by tales of Irish folklore.

And Athboy, with its proximity to the Hill of Ward plays an important part in the start of the new Puca Festival on Halloween itself. In the shadow of the Hill of Ward join a historical and spiritual start to the Halloween celebrations.

Tickets are on sale now – visit www.pucafestival.com to book.