Over 10,000 attended Púca Festival’s opening parade

This year's Puca Festival saw over 10,000 domestic and international visitors to Púca Festival’s Opening Ceremony ‘Samhain - Night Between the Years’ last Saturday in Co. Meath to celebrate the origin story of Halloween in the place where it all began. Thousands more attended the dozens of live events and activities throughout Trim and Athboy.

Headline acts including Damien Dempsey, The Waterboys, Macy Gray, The Charlatans, Hothouse Flowers and many, many more delighted audiences across the Bank Holiday weekend with the closing procession taking place on the Fair Green in Athboy on Tuesday evening.

“We’ve welcomed thousands of visitors to Ireland’s Ancient East over the bank holiday weekend and I sincerely hope that everyone who visited Trim and Athboy over the last few days had a wonderful festival experience and enjoyed the diverse programme of events on offer, said Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals and Events, Fáilte Ireland.

“Festivals are crucial to the tourism sector, motivating over 200,000 overseas visitors to come to Ireland and contributing €108m to the economy every year. Working in partnership with Meath County Council, our ambition is to develop a high-quality, large-scale international festival to leverage Ireland’s rich heritage as the original home of Halloween.

“As a major destination event in the tourism calendar over the coming years, we aim to motivate overseas visitors to travel to Ireland at off-peak times and disperse visitors to areas outside of traditional tourism hotspots, making a positive economic contribution to Trim, Athboy and surrounding areas of Co. Meath.

The support of the community was very important to the success of the Púca festival and many local community groups made their unique contributions to Púca and in particular to the opening parade.

Scurlogstown Olympiad was one of the groups to put on an exciting and artistic cultural display which delighted the crowds on opening night.

Their contribution told the story of Setanta, as he became Cúchulain and also featured the torch of Teltown and a scene from the Tailteann games.

Samhain's local origins were very much on display as Surlogstown members were Cailleachs (witches), Taibhses (ghosts) and Síogs (fairies) in the underworld. Their contribution aso included druids, King Billy, Dean Swift, Strawboys, Molly Malone and farmers who reminded us that through the winter they have to continue foddering their animals.

There was traditional Halloween fun like dunking for apples. There were musicians and a four wheel coach was rolled out to celebrate the golfden wedding of Jack and Mary Quinn.

“We produced all the costumes ourselves,” said Pat Farrelly of the Scurlogstown Olympiad. “We were delighted to be part of the festival. We admire the effort the organisers are making to promote the region, so we decided to put out thoughts together and get involved.”

The Athboy High Nellies brought a Poitin Still to the parade to add even more fun and colour to the festivities.

“We made it out of bicycle wheels,” explains Sean Tiernan. “We made it years ago, but it hadn't seen the light of day for a long time, so were delighted to be bringing it back out again.

The Athboy High Nellies teamed up with the Dunderry and Scurlogstown High Nellies to add to the cycling fun.

“We were delighted to be part of it and we hope to continue to be part of it in the years ahead,” he said.

The Athboy ICA ladies put their excellent crafting skills to good use, by making the lanterns for the parade. They also dressed up for the occasion, but crucially in the weeks and days running up to the festival, they were on call to help out with various tasks.

“The festival is a great addition to the town and we look forward to continue being part of it in the years ahead,” said Athboy ICA chairperson, Geraldine McNally.

The Trim Drama Group lent their creative expertise to the festival, making a colourful contribution to the opening parade with its actors playing whatever roles needed. The group also played an enormous role promoting the festival, providing actors as characters for all pre publicity events, sharing and publicising the festival on their social media.

“This is the third year of our involvement,” said Barbara Mellerick. “We were involved in 2019, last year and now this year. We are delighted to be part of Púca. It is wonderful to have out new theatre in the town for the festival and to have played a part in its coming to bear,” she said.

Athboy Men’s Shed also took part in the festival, dressing up for the parade and pushing a cart. “We were delighted to be part of it and were willing to do anything we were asked. We want to be part of it in years to come,” said Martin Mangan.

“When we set out to deliver Púca Festival 2023, our ambition was to create a truly unique and diverse programme of events that would bring to life our Celtic Samhain traditions, entertain and thrill audiences, and ultimately motivate visitors to come to Trim and Athboy for the experience”, said Martin Nolan, Púca Festival Director .

“The all new opening procession, ‘Samhain - Night Between the Years’ delivered an unforgettable blend of outdoor theatre, street performance, and traditional music with a theme of wild nature, mischief, and celebration.

“Over the last few days, we have delivered the largest and most ambitious programme Púca Festival has seen since its inception, with something for everyone. From spectacles and processions to storytelling and tours alongside notable names in music and comedy, we are delighted with the positive reaction from visitors.

“I would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank Fáilte Ireland, Meath Co Council and the many local stakeholders and community groups who have worked collaboratively with our project team for their huge support. It would not have been possible to deliver the festival without them and, speaking on behalf of the festival team, I am hugely grateful, as I am to the team at MPI Artists.

“I believe this festival has enormous potential over the coming years and we are excited to commence planning for Púca Festival 2024 over the coming months.”