The Spectacular Samhain Parade in Leitrim Returns This November 1st
If your family’s Halloween plans currently extend to a bag of Haribo and whatever costume you can cobble together the night before, allow us to introduce something genuinely spectacular happening this November 1st in Co. Leitrim.
The Manorhamilton Samhain Parade returns on 1 November 2026, kicking off at 5.30pm from Bee Park Community Centre. After 25 years, it’s one of the most distinctive community arts events in the country — a parade made entirely by the people who live there, rooted in Irish mythology, and involving everyone from schoolchildren to adults well into their eighties.
This year’s theme is The Legend of Macha — one of the great figures of Irish mythology — and if you haven’t revisited her story since school, it’s worth a refresh. Macha appears in different guises across ancient Irish texts: warrior queen, goddess, woman of extraordinary speed and strength. In one of her most striking stories, she is forced to race the King of Ulster’s finest horses while heavily pregnant. She wins. She then gives birth to twins and, in her pain, curses the men of Ulster to suffer the pangs of labour whenever their kingdom needs them most.
Themes of female strength, endurance and injustice — not bad for a parade that’ll also have glowing giant puppets and spectacular costumes lighting up the streets of Manorhamilton on a November evening.
A quarter of a century in the making
The parade started in 2001 as a Glens Centre initiative and has been growing ever since. In recent years it’s been led by Cluainin Carnival Arts, a team of local artists who pour months of creative work into every edition. This year, as in previous years, the Armagh Rhymers have been delivering workshops to schools and community groups in the area ahead of the event.
At the helm is Dee Armstrong, who has directed the parade since that very first year. Dee is a self-taught musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist who spent 33 years as fiddle player and composer with the band Kila. She designs sets, builds costumes and creates giant puppets for carnival and theatre. In other words, she’s the kind of person who makes the rest of us feel profoundly under-ambitious.
“At the heart of the Samhain Parade is its community participation,” Dee says. “Rather than being a spectacle created elsewhere and brought to the town, the parade is built locally, with generations of people contributing to its creation. All ages are included, from young children to adults in their 80s. The process of creativity in community is just as important as the end result, and we strive every year to produce a spectacular event.”
Dazzling LED wing costumes light up the Samhain Parade in Leitrim.
The mythology behind the magic
The choice of Macha as this year’s inspiration connects to a broader mythological thread the parade has been weaving for a few years. Two years ago the theme was the Táin, with Queen Maeve as its central figure. Macha’s story is the other half of that same cycle — it’s her curse on the Ulstermen that leaves them incapacitated when Maeve invades to steal the Brown Bull of Cooley, with only the young Cú Chulainn left to defend Ulster. It’s proper epic storytelling, and the creative team will be exploring how communities across schools and local groups respond to and interpret Macha’s story through costume, colour, design and performance.
The parade draws participants from Leitrim, Sligo, Fermanagh and Donegal — a genuine cross-border community celebration that feels particularly meaningful given its roots in shared Irish mythology.
Spooky fun at the Samhain Parade
What to expect on the night
The parade will wind through Manorhamilton from 5.30pm, featuring giant illuminated puppets, spectacular costumes, live music and the kind of visual storytelling that takes your breath away a little — even if you’ve seen it before. It’s free to attend and genuinely family-friendly, the sort of event where kids remember exactly where they were long after the night is over.
If you’re anywhere within striking distance of north Leitrim on 1 November, this is well worth the drive. Keep an eye on the parade’s Instagram for updates closer to the date: @manorhamilton_samhain_parade.
Spooky giant puppet steals the show at the Samhain Parade.
Samhain Parade, Manorhamilton
Sunday 1 November 2026, starting at 5.30pm
Bee Park Community Centre, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
Free to attend