PÚCA FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SPECTACULAR 2025 RETURN, INVITING VISITORS TO CONNECT WITH HALLOWEEN’S ANCIENT ROOTS IN CO. MEATH
- Mon, 23 Jun 2025
Iconic Festival Celebrating Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween Returns to Co. Meath from 30 OCTOBER – 2 NOVEMBER 2025
Experience Spectacle and Storytelling, Music and Mischief, Comedy, Feasting & Much More
Monday, 23rd June 2025 – This Halloween, folklore enthusiasts and festivalgoers can look forward to the highly anticipated return of the Púca Festival to Co. Meath. Developed by Fáilte Ireland in partnership with Meath County Council, Púca celebrates Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween with 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 Thursday 30th October to Sunday 2nd November 2025.
This year’s theme, Connecting with Our Roots, draws on the physical and emotional ties to the land and our ancestral past that brings together generations, from the future to the past, during Samhain as the curtain falls on Summer and the harvest season draws to a close. As the veil thins between the living and the dead, the shape-shifting Púca comes alive in Ireland’s Ancient East, and we return to our roots: ancestral, cultural, and spiritual.
Unveiled at the Púca Festival national launch in Dubh Linn Gardens, this year’s theme is embodied in a striking new character, a living tribute to disguise in nature. Designed by Irish artist Stephanie Z Johnson, the handcrafted costume is made from locally sourced, sustainable materials including Irish wool, recycled yarn and natural dyes. ‘Roots’ honours our bond with the land while reflecting Púca Festival’s commitment to creativity and sustainability.
Working in partnership with Irish artists, seanchaí storytellers, and the local community the Púca Festival will showcase the best in contemporary Irish music, spectacle, and performance over four days and nights in Ireland’s Ancient East, breathing life into old traditions and forging new connections to our roots through performance, craft and culture.
The Púca Festival tells 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.
The Púca Festival was devised to encourage more international visitors to visit Ireland during October and November, and to encourage domestic visitors to explore different regions of Ireland, outside of the traditional tourism hotspots.
