Bram Stoker Festival promises to ‘thrill’ Dubliners with four days and nights of ‘deadly adventures’
According to Tom, the festival’s creative director, the 2024 theme is a “playful celebration of Bram Stoker’s legacy,” with events highlighting the influence of key women like Charlotte and Florence Stoker, as well as powerful female characters from Dracula, such as Mina and Lucy.
“It feels like this year there’s a really strong focus on the women around Bram Stoker and the women around his biggest character, Dracula,” he said.
“We’ve got SCANRA, which is happening in the Workman’s Cellar. That’s an evening of storytelling and song, largely by female, LGBTQ+, and non-binary performers.”
“What we would really love is for people to just come into town and have fun. Dublin City Council’s Bram Stoker Festival really is a way to bring people into the city to have fun and safe experiences around Halloween,” he added.
Another female-focused event includes a live appearance by historian Donal Fallon, host of the Three Castles Burning podcast, a social history podcast dedicated to the story of Dublin.
This event, The Women of Bram Stoker’s Life: Three Castles Burning Live, explores the lives of Charlotte Stoker, Bram’s mother, who raised him on folklore and stories of her youth; Speranza (Lady Jane Wilde, Oscar Wilde’s mother), a key influence on expanding his knowledge of Ireland’s folklore and mythology; and Florence Balcombe, the woman he would marry, whom Oscar Wilde had earlier pursued.
This will take place on October 27 at 4pm in the Graduates Memorial Building at Trinity College Dublin.
Speaking at the official launch in St Audoen’s Church, Lord Mayor of Dublin James Geoghegan said:
“The festival is filled with free events, family fun, and arts experiences rooted in the supernatural and the mysterious, giving people plenty of reasons to come into Dublin city for the October Bank Holiday weekend.
“From Friday, 25 October, there will be four days and four nights of ‘deadly’ adventures awaiting, and there really is something for everyone to enjoy.
“In keeping with Dublin’s ambition to become the first neurodiverse-friendly city in the world, Stokerland in St Patrick’s Park will feature a relaxed session from 11am – 1.30pm on Monday, 28 October, designed for neurodivergent people.
“The festival also includes Dracula’s Disco in the Round Room of the Mansion House on the Bank Holiday Monday for ages five and up,” he added.
Another exciting event for youngsters includes a free spectacle at Dublin Castle with fire experiments and monster mayhem. Frank and McStein’s Monster Laboratory will come alive, with families invited to witness the wild experiments of the professors as they attempt to bring the most terrifying of all creatures to life in their MONSTER (Ministry Of Nonsensical Science and Terrifying Experimental Research) lab.
Dracula’s Disco is also going to be a fun night for the little monsters, with a free ticketed event at The Round Room at The Mansion House, Dracula’s favourite DJ, Donal Dineen, who wil be spinning the decks with spooky hits and Halloween classics.
For full information on the dozens of events taking place and to book tickets for this year’s Bram Stoker Festival, visit the official festival website.
