By Barry Coughlan
Creepy crypt and spooky scarecrows feature at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park’s pagan Halloween festival to mark the traditional Irish Samhain.
Focusing on the old Irish traditions and a few modern twists associated with this time of year, visitors are invited to come and experience Samhain from Sunday next to November 2.
Explaining the festivities, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park Events Manager Marie Brennan said: “Halloween is always an exciting time for us here at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, with lots of activities for all the family to enjoy, from the Creepy Crypt, and ‘Head Will Roll and Thriller’ mini disco to the Halloween Spook Train ride, and our Fearsome Fairy Village where unpleasant creatures live.
“We are also asking out visitors to get creative and dress in costume, to join the village characters who will be dressed in traditional Halloween attire.”
Visitors to the park, will hear from the Bean an Tí’s’, who will explain the types of food that typically would have been eaten in Samhain of old, including homemade Apple Pies, Brambrack, a slice of which must be left outside before you go to bed so that any passing Fairies or Spirits may feast as well as bestow good luck upon your household!
Tickets are on sale at www.bunrattycastle.ie/halloween.
Beyond the Trees Avondale won the prestigious Tourism and Hospitality Project of the Year at the 2022 Irish Building and Design Awards, presented at an event in the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin.
The event was attended by professionals from Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Design who gathered to recognize and acknowledge the best in Ireland’s Building & Design projects in 2022.
Beyond the Trees Avondale is a spectacular new visitor experience in Avondale Forest Park Co. Wicklow, combining a stunning 700 meter Treetop Walk with a 12-storey high Viewing Tower.
Visitors to Beyond the Trees Avondale experience the beauty of Avondale’s tree canopy on the Treetop Walk and enjoy incredible views of the beautiful Wicklow countryside from the spectacular Viewing Tower created for the project by EAK Ireland.
Ireland’s newest visitor experience is a collaboration between Coillte, Fáilte Ireland and EAK Ireland.
This €19m project at Avondale is part of Coillte’s strategy to create more world class visitor destinations and increase recreation spaces nationally, and will encourage international and domestic visitors to stay longer and spend more in Wicklow and the wider Ireland’s Ancient East region, driving economic and employment opportunities for local communities.
Since it was officially opened by President Michael D. Higgins in July, over 200,000 people have visited Avondale Forest Park.
North of the border: If you are looking for something different and exciting to do this Autumn that won’t break the bank, a trip to Belfast may well be the answer.
Not only does the strong exchange rate make a Staycation in the North cheaper than before, but Belfast is also playing host to some of world’s best artistic talents this month as the 60th International Arts Festival (BIAF).
From now until November 6, over 300 inspiring and imaginative events will take place across the city, spanning music, film, visual arts, literature, drama, dance and discussion.
As the festival’s official accommodation partner, Hastings is offering a special rate (subject to availability), from £65pps B&B at The Grand Central and from £50pps B&B at The Europa Hotel using the code BIAF.
For more details on the festival and to book an event, go to www.BelfastInternationalArtsFestival.com.
And in other news from the group, two properties in the Hastings Hotels collection have been recognized in the annual Condé Nast Traveller’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.
The Stormont Hotel and Ballygally Castle are the only hotels in Northern Ireland to be included in the prestigious list. The Readers’ Choice Awards are the longest-running recognition for excellence in the travel industry.
The team at Waterford Treasures are in celebratory mode. The Irish Museum of Time has been selected as the only Irish finalist for the esteemed British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Awards 2022.
The tourism people in Waterford were delighted originally for the venue to be even included in the list of nominees but it’s now in line to scoop a major award next week on the eve of the World Travel Market opening in London.
The British Guild of Travel Writers is the UK’s leading organization of travel media professionals, established in 1960 and is a rubber stamp of quality, standing for reliability and respectability in the world of travel journalism.
The Irish Museum of Time is listed as a finalist alongside the Holocaust Galleries, Imperial War Museum London, First Light Festival and East Point Pavillion, Lowestoft, Hermaness Hill Path and Welcome Area, Shetland Islands, Private Women-Led: Ethiopian Flavors in Shepard’s Bush with Coffee Ceremony, London and The Famous Blacksmiths Shop in Gretna Green.
The Irish Museum of Time opened to visitors in 2021 and it is the fifth museum as part of the Waterford Treasures suite in Waterford.
Visitors can enjoy a ‘Freedom of Waterford’ ticket enabling them to access all of the museums and a guided walking tour under one ticket price 7 days per week.
For further details see waterfordtreasures.com.