Week Long Halloween Celebration in Longford Town
The Dead of Night Festival takes place in Longford Town from the 25th - 31 October with over 30 events.. Longford Town will transform into a vibrant stage of light, shadow and seasonal magic, featuring local artists, performers and community groups.
Across the County, from Ballymahon to Ballinamuck, Cloughan Farm Abbeyshrule to Granard and Longford Town, the festival offers something for everyone. Explore lantern-making, mask workshops, harvest suppers, spooky drives, walking tours, and Dungeons & Dragons nights that bring Celtic myth to life.
One of the festival’s unmissable highlights is the Haunted House at Connolly Barracks (27–29 Oct). Now in its fourth year, this immersive experience has become a smash hit with young and old alike, daring the brave to enter its shadowy halls and confront spine-tingling surprises. Meanwhile, Halloween HQ in Pig Market Lane (27–29 Oct) transforms into a bustling hub of workshops, roaming performers, and eerie encounters, perfect for families. The highlight of this is a story telling extravaganza from Irelands renowed storytelling outfit Candlelit Tales, a free event for all ages on Bank Holiday Monday.
The festival also embraces the night-time economy with special events, including Andrias de Staic with the Latchicos (30 Oct), delivering an electrifying evening of storytelling, music, and mischief.
It all builds to the spectacular finale on 31 October : the Fire & Shadows Procession: Morrígan’s Revenge. From 7.30pm, Longford Town becomes a living stage as flare bearers, fire dancers, drummers, banshees, and giant puppets ignite the night. The parade winds through Main Street before climaxing in Market Square with a breathtaking finale of fire, frantic rhythm, and mythical spirits, followed by on-street entertainment until 9.30pm.
The Dead of Night Festival is part of the wider Ireland: Home of Halloween celebration, rooted here in the Hidden Heartlands of Longford and Westmeath. Together with Halloween in Westmeath and Féile na Samhna at Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, it invites visitors to stay, explore, and uncover the hidden in the heart of Ireland — and to celebrate Halloween where it all began.
The Dead of Night Halloween Festival in the Heartlands is part of Ireland’s Home of Halloween calendar in Longford - Westmeath, and Ireland's Hidden Heartlands.