Plans unveiled for 2021 Derry and Strabane Halloween festival bbc.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bbc.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Crocheted forget-me-nots and daisies now festoon one of the main thoroughfares in Londonderry city centre in tribute to those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 over the past year.
The colourful display entitled Imagine That also aims to inspire hope for the year ahead and pays tribute to front line workers.
Jim Collins, project manager of the North West Carnival Initiative, which is also organiser of Derry s St Patrick s Day and Halloween Festivals, said the idea was to brighten up the now too familiar sight of the grey shutters belonging to furloughed businesses.
He explained: During the lockdown we were challenged to create an alternative programme that would engage local communities in activities with an overarching theme of spring that obviously included St Patrick s Day.
2021 Festivals in Derry: Council unveils plans for COVID-safe outdoor celebrations
Outdoor weekend celebrations, street cafés, large scale exhibits, street installations and wandering musicians will form part of upcoming festivals in Derry after the local Council unveiled plans to move away from online, virtual events towards COVID-safe celebrations to keep spirits up.
Wednesday, 10th February 2021, 7:56 am
A wide ranging report on St Patrick’s Day, the Jazz Festival, Hallowe’en and other festivals was tabled by Head of Culture Aeidin McCarter yesterday at the Council’s Business & Culture Committee meeting.
Councillors approved a raft of newly redrafted plans which take account of the Covid pandemic but which also shifts the focus more firmly away from bringing in visitors to entertaining local people and supporting local businesses.
Derry s St Patrick s Day Carnival looks set to be cancelled It is not expected that restrictions will be lifted significantly to allow the full St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival programme
The people of Derry normally line the streets for the annual carnival celebrations
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The popular St. Patrick’s Day Carnival in Derry is due to be cancelled for the second year in a row because of the risks posed by Covid-19.
Last year pubs in the city made the tough decision, in the interests of public health, to shut the weekend before the annual feast day which is one of the most profitable days on the calendar.