halloween
Across three days, the Folk Museum comes alive with mask‑making, mumming, a murder mystery, crafts, uncanny characters, seasonal food and spooky storytelling. It’s Halloween as it was once celebrated in Ireland, rooted in the origins of Samhain and All Hollow's Eve.
This October, experience Halloween for real at the Ulster Folk Museum.
The origins of Halloween are deeply rooted in Irish folk history, from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain to the Christian celebration of All Hallows’ Eve. Long before fireworks and trick‑or‑treating, Samhain marked the turning of the seasons in Ireland. Many of the customs practised then - from masks and bonfires to divination and mumming - inspired the Halloween traditions we know today.
In times past, it was believed that on All Hallows’ Eve the veil between worlds grew thin and the doorways to the Otherworld opened, allowing spirits, fairies and other supernatural beings to slip into our realm. Communities lit bonfires, wore masks to ward off malevolent forces, and set an extra place at the table for the souls of the dead.
From mask-making, mummers and murder mysteries to crafts, cabbages and uncanny characters!
This Halloween, meet suspicious characters at the Ulster Folk Museum, help us solve a murder mystery, and look out for the Armagh Rhymers in their traditional masks and costumes. You might even discover what the future holds in a cabbage reading - the folk way of fortune telling.
Carve your own clay Cailleach and Púca figures and make Halloween masks using natural materials. Get hands-on at the kids’ crafts station and watch demonstrations of turnip-carving. Taste seasonal favourites like barmbrack and apple pie, hear spooky stories told in English and Irish, and listen to Samhain tales from our archive in the authentic Picture House.
Halloween at the Ulster Folk Museum runs from:
- Thursday 29th October - 10:00 to 16:00
- Friday 30th October -10:00 to 16:00
- Saturday 31st October - 10:00 to 16:00
