Heather Wilson, 42, a healthcare administrator, travelled from nearby Donegal in the Irish Republic “for the fun”.
“It’s my favourite holiday — you get to act like a big child and be an absolute fool,” she said, sporting a fake meat cleaver through her skull as she watched a local arts centre’s tribute to the movie Back to the Future — complete with an iconic Northern Irish-built DeLorean gull-winged car.
That event took place in The Fountain, a unionist enclave in the largely nationalist city where the kerbs are painted in the UK’s red, white and blue.
Emily McCorkell, an American who co-chairs the LegenDerry Food Network that champions local food and drink, said the festival “is giving another identity to Derry. People are seeing it as more than just political turmoil, painted kerbstones and marching. People come together”.
Locals say the spark for the festival came in the 1980s at the height of the Troubles, which involved republican IRA paramilitaries fighting to reunite the island, loyalists battling to stay in the UK and British security forces.
A bomb scare forced partygoers at a fancy dress event to leave a city pub, but they continued celebrating outside in what became an annual event.
Indian, Chinese and South Korean residents and US visitors were among those out enjoying the spooky celebrations around walls steeped in history.
“We want to integrate and enjoy the culture,” said Roy Joseph, an Indian hospital technician, who has lived in Derry for 20 years and whose children were born there.
Manchán Magan, a cultural writer and broadcaster, praised the city for honouring its ghosts and Irish tradition, in a relatable, contemporary spirit, “not in some po-faced Celtic-y way”.
Ultimately, the festival “puts a positive light on Derry — and we need as much light as we can”, said McCann.
“There’s been a lot of negative news in Derry over the years — I don’t think that’s the place it is nowadays.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 17:00:00
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