Ireland’s only fully participatory Halloween festival.
Parade 1 Trick or Treat Parade 4pm Fri 31st October.
Parade 2 The Lantern Parade 6.30pm Sat 1st November.
Fri 31 Oct - 1pm-3pm Costume registration at free Mirror Selfie Photobooth? 3pm Parade Gathering, Town Park ? 4pm Trick or Treat Parade ? 5pm Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance? 5.20pm Best Dressed Awards
Sat 1 Nov - 6pm Gathering outside Kinsale Library with the beasts and shadows? 6.30pm Lantern Parade ? 7.30pm First South Credit Union Samhain Céilí with live band and wild creatures ? 9pm Finale “Songs at the Threshold”
Unless otherwise stated the main venue is The Big Tent, Kinsale Youth Theatre,Yellow Building, Pier Rd. P17KC80
Community Workshops Workshops organised by Éidín Griffin, are at the heart of An Tulca’s participatory spirit. All are free, all materials are supplied, and everyone is welcome.
Fri 17 Oct, 4–8pm - White Lady Creature Workshop (all ages but children accompanied by an adult) - Kinsale Youth Theatre project, Yellow
Building, Pier Rd. P17N621
Fri 24 Oct, 1–5pm - Lantern & Upcycled Umbrella Workshop (all ages) - Kinsale Library
Tues 28 Oct, 3.15–5pm - Mask & Shadow Workshop (ages 6–10) - Kinsale Library
Community Performance Workshops
Sunday 26th 1pm-2pm Singing Community Workshop all ages Kinsale Youth theatre, P17KC80
Tuesday 28th 5.30pm-6.30pm Storytelling Community Workshop all ages Kinsale Youth theatre, P17KC80
Saturday 1st Nov 4pm to 5pm Set Dancing Community Workshop all ages Kinsale Youth theatre, P17KC80
The First South Credit Union Samhain Céilí - Dancing with Spirits & Stories
On Saturday 1 November, the festival introduces the First South Samhain Céilí in The Big Tent beside the Youth Theatre, Yellow Building, Pier Rd. P17KC80 at 7.30pm. After the Lantern parade everyone is invited to an evening of music, dance, and myth where traditional céilí steps meet playful, otherworldly inventions. Guided by Martin O’Donoghue, this is no ordinary céilí. Participants are invited to join live musicians and wild costumed creatures in circle dances, line sets, and inventive new games that blur the line between performer and audience. The céilí will be accessible and welcoming, with simple steps taught on the spot so everyone, from seasoned dancers to curious first-timers, can take part. In the spirit of Samhain, the céilí celebrates togetherness, joy, and the turning of the year. It offers a chance to stamp, whirl, and laugh alongside neighbors and visitors alike, with vibrant communal energy. The céilí is both a cultural anchor, rooted in Irish tradition, and an artistic experiment, weaving play, performance, and community spirit into one unforgettable night.
Songs at the Threshold – A Lantern-Lit Finale of Myth, Music & Community
This year’s An Tulca Festival, culminates in a powerful grand finale performance: “Songs at the Threshold.” An immersive, lantern-lit experience, by writer/director Yvonne Coughlan, invites the community to step into Irish myth and memory, where beasts, spirits, and stories come alive through chant, song, and movement. The An Tulca Finale is more than a performance, it is a living story created with the community.
Participants of all ages will chant together, and take part in a ritual that honours Samhain, the turning of the year, and the spirits who walk beside us. Through storytelling, song, music and dance, the people of Kinsale become co-creators in a celebration that is at once ancient and contemporary, mythic and communal.
