Council Partners Culture News

Púca Festival Returns for Halloween 2022

Festivalgoers and fans of folklore are in for a treat Halloween 2022 as Púca Festival returns to Co. Meath. Celebrating Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween, Púca is an authentic, immersive, and otherworldly festival. Vibrant, fun, and contemporary in feel but strongly rooted in tradition, Púca will take place in festival hubs Trim and Athboy in County Meath, from Friday 28th to Monday 31st October 2022.

Working in partnership with Irish artists, seanchaí storytellers, and the local community Púca will showcase the best in contemporary Irish music, spectacle, and performance over three days and four nights in Ireland’s Ancient East.

Púca Festival has been developed by Fáilte Ireland (the National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland), in partnership with Meath County Council, to celebrate Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween and to tell the origin story of Samhain or ‘Summer’s End’. 

In Irish and Celtic traditions Samhain is the end of the harvest season, when all the crops have been picked and stored for the ‘New Year’. This was historically a time of celebration, involving lighting fires, feasting on the crops of the harvest, music, gathering, and storytelling. A familiar character in Ireland’s narrative of Halloween, Púca (pronounced poo-kuh) is a shape-shifting character from Celtic folklore that comes alive at ancient new year to roam the night and change the fortunes of those that cross it. 

Devised to encourage more international visitors to visit Ireland during October and November, and to encourage domestic visitors to explore different regions of Ireland, Púca Festival is now in its fourth year.

Orla Carroll, Director of Product Development at Fáilte Ireland said, “Fáilte Ireland is pleased to announce the return of our live Púca Festival this October to celebrate Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween. Meath and the wider Ireland’s Ancient East region have so much to offer, and Púca celebrates this region’s significant heritage and culture while offering a fantastic visitor experience. Working in close partnership with Meath County Council and local tourism and hospitality businesses in our festival hubs of Trim and Athboy we have developed a unique and spectacular programme of events that will be of huge interest to domestic and international visitors alike.” 

Jackie Maguire, Chief Executive, Meath County Council added, “Meath County Council is delighted to support the Púca Festival again this year and we look forward to welcoming visitors to celebrate the origins of Samhain in Meath with a very exciting programme of events.  Working with Fáilte Ireland, the Púca team and local businesses to create an international festival from the story of Samhain will place the Boyne Valley centre stage, support the tourism economy of County Meath and share this unique folklore with the world.”

Source: Meath County Council

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