‘Púca Festival puts Trim and Athboy on the global map’

The 2024 Púca Festival held in Trim and Athboy at the weekend proves the Boyne Valley has “limitless potential for tourism.”

That’s according to Trim councillor, and chair of Boyne Valley Tourism, Aisling Dempsey.

She said that the festival, which attracted almost 50,000 thousand visitors to both Trim and Athboy, shows a real example of how Boyne Valley can rival the wild Atlantic way in attracting tourists coming to Ireland.

“The festival, thanks to the hard work of so many people locally, particularly hundreds of dedicated volunteers and dozens of community groups, brings thousands of people to Trim and Athboy at what is normally a quiet time of year, and seeing so many local businesses get involved is especially welcome.

“I want to congratulate and thank everybody involved for their hard work.

Artists at this year’s festival included, Bell X1, Leftfield, Gavin James, Qween, Neil Delamere, Panti Bliss, Deirdre O’Kane and the High Kings, while alongside the ticketed events were many more free activities and markets providing something for everyone.

“It is so important to our local economy, our local businesses but also to the Boyne Valley region and Ireland. The festival really shows the potential of this region and works to put us on the map on a global scale, we must continue to grow our reputation as the Birthplace of Halloween and I am delighted to be a champion of everything our region has to offer.”

Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals and Events, Fáilte Ireland said Co Meath welcomed over 49,000 international and domestic visitors to the “biggest ever” Púca Festival 2024 in Ireland’s Ancient East, celebrating the origin story of Halloween in the place where it all began.

“I sincerely hope that everyone who visited the festival hubs in Trim and Athboy over the last few days had a wonderful festival experience and enjoyed the diverse programme of events on offer.

Festivals and events like Púca present an excellent opportunity to showcase the rich heritage and unique culture that Ireland has to offer to both international and domestic visitors.

“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.

Martin Nolan, Púca Festival Director said this was MPI Artists’ third year rolling out Púca Festival and the ambition was bigger than ever before; “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.”

“Highlights for me include the Lighting of the Samhain Fire at the Fair Green in Athboy to our most authentic Púca Procession yet in Trim, alongside over 40 storytellers, workshops, music and comedy acts, as well as the biggest ever Harvest Market at the Porchfields.”

Mr Nolan thanked Fáilte Ireland, Meath County Council and the many local stakeholders and community groups who worked collaboratively with the Púca project team for their support, “as well as the thousands of international and domestic visitors who fully embraced the true spirit of Samhain. 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.”