Living Stories & Deadly Adventures – Bram Stoker Festival
Written by Get ready to have your socks scared off ya! The Living Stories & Deadly Adventures is back this October Bank Holiday Weekend as the Bram Stoker Festival returns for another year.
Taking place over the Halloween weekend when ghouls and the paranormal take to the human realm – well kind of – organisers of the festival have revealed some of the events taking place. This includes the world premier of Colin Dunne’s New Show, A new score for Cult Classic Vampyr , Camp Dracula with Al Porter, a Hallowe’en Parade by Macnas, Gravediggers & Resurrectionists at Glasnevin Cemetery, Turning Vampire at Vicar St with Lisa Hannigan, Niamh Farrell, Saint Sister & more …
In association with Dublin City Council and Failte Ireland, the Bram Stoker Festival celebrates the gothic, the mysterious, the after-dark and the thrill of late October as Ireland approaches Halloween and Samhain. Inspired by the legacy of Dublin-born Gothic writer Bram Stoker and his illustrious novel Dracula, Dublin city will get gloriously gothic this October 27th – 30th.
As always, there is so much happening over the weekend that you’ll be scared to only pick one thing! Here’s a breakdown of just some of the events happening:
Pic by Allen Kiely
Whitby
For a chilling theatrical experience check out Whitby in the hauntingly evocative Smock Alley’s Boys School from October 27th to 30th This is the world premiere and much anticipated new show from internationally renowned dance artist Colin Dunne and theatre-maker Joan Sheehy. This multi-layered performance piece reimagines the power of Stoker’s gothic masterpiece by focusing on a relatively unknown section of the novel where the ship, the Demeter, brings Dracula from Romania to the port of Whitby.
Pic by Allen Kiely
Vampyr
Catch a rare screening of 1932 French-German horror movie, Vampyr, in the spectacularly gothic surrounds of St Patrick’s Cathedral on October 27th. Directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, it is based on elements of fellow Dublin gothic author J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly. Internationally renowned composer Matthew Nolan has created a deathly new score for this cult favourite which he will perform live on the night alongside leading musicians David Kitt, Margie Lewis, Sean Mac Elaine, and Erik Friedlander.
Turning Vampire
Thrill-seekers looking for some devilish fun should come along to Turning Vampire in Vicar Street on October 29th for a serious night of music, giggles and ghouls. This hi-octane night of songs and collaborations, celebrating all your favourite music from the best known horror movies, brings together some of Ireland’s most talented musicians. Playing alongside The Flux Capacitators, the Turning Pirate house band, will be Lisa Hannigan, Adam Matthews and Niamh Farrell of Hamsandwich fame, with many more to be added to the line-up.
Macnas Parade
Master-storytellers and creators of unforgettable interactive experiences, Macnas, return to the streets of Dublin (Monday 30th, starting from Moore Street, 6pm, Free) with Memory Song, a hauntingly beautiful, wild and tempestuous parade. From Moore Street to the old fruit market near Smithfield, the capital’s streets are sure to be transfixed as the transcendental, the macabre, the profane and the magical is unleashed.
Speaking about the festival programme, Tom Lawlor Festival Co-Director, said:
Bram Stoker Festival gives Dubliners and visitors the chance to experience the capital city in a whole new way, to enjoy a little of Dublin’s darker side. Whether you’re a fan of gothic literature, camp comedy or spooktacular spectacle, Bram Stoker Festival will fill your October Bank Holiday weekend with a host of darker events you won’t experience at any other time of year.
By day, the Bram Stoker Festival programme presents gothic intrigue at family-friendly events, talks and interactive experiences. At night, the city will embrace the darkness as a host of venues deliver deadly adventures for festival goers in search of macabre thrills and late-night parties. The festival programme will include theatre, spectacle, visual arts and music in haunting locations across the city celebrating Dublin’s gothic and supernatural traditions, the city itself and gothic architecture, and links to Samhain festival. The full festival programme will be unveiled in September.
More festival information and tickets to Bram Stoker Festival events, sink your teeth into www.bramstokerfestival.com
Dubliners and visitors to the city are invited to follow the fun using #bitemedublin #fiaclafola at www.facebook.com/BramStokerDublin and @bramstokerdub on Twitter and Instagram.
