WHILE lots of eyes are on the city this bank holiday weekend, with the Jazz Festival and a big county final weekend taking place, there's still plenty for us to get involved in across the next few days here in West Cork.
As Samhain approaches, this weekend has lots of spooky events for anyone looking to get in the spirit of the season!
There are festivals, street parties, free events and more – and as it's still October, there's also a special Oktoberfest day taking place.
Here are five things to do in West Cork this weekend.
Banshee festival in Bandon
The magic of the Samhain season will be captured by Bandon’s Banshee Festival, which takes place from Friday October 25th to Sunday October 27th.
RTÉ folklorist Shane Lehane will launch the festival with a talk on the ‘Cailleach’ and the origins of the customs of Halloween, Ireland most famous cultural phenomenon, on Friday October 25th at 3pm.
On Saturday at 2pm, Southern Star editor Siobhán Cronin will host a special ‘Woman & Water’ panel discussion at Bandon Town Hall, as her guests will debate the strong connection between women and the sea, and especially for swimming. Siobhán’s guests include yogi Dominique Tuohy, extreme swimmer Nuala Moore and environmentalist Katie McShane of Wise Water Academy. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A and attendees are also invited to take part in a wild swim the following morning.
For more information, click here.
Get in spooky spirit with the Leap Scarecrow festival
Now in its ninth year, Leap’s Scarecrow Festival promises plenty of scarily good entertainment, continuing in the village until Sunday November 3rd.
Huge crowds are expected to visit the village during the festival, embracing the thrilling and ghoulish line-up of family fun events.
For the first time in its history the festival has a theme, which is the Blessing of the Crows, with a festival parade taking place on Sunday October 27th. Watch out also for The Southern Star’s iconic scarecrow in the village –complete with a brand new ‘boo-spaper’ stuffed with ghoulish gossip.
See www.leapscarecrowfestival.com for more details.
Halloween across West Cork
In addition to the marvellous annual Leap Scarecrow Festival, families looking to scare themselves silly can enjoy three consecutive nights of entertainment on the Mizen Head Peninsula.
Caroline O’Donnell of Levis Corner House in Ballydehob explained that community and volunteer groups have joined forces to host events in Schull on Saturday October 26th, Ballydehob on Sunday October 27th and Goleen on Monday October 28th.
Maeve Quinlan told The Southern Star that Schull Creates are putting on a parade that will start at 7pm.
She said they would love it if people came to enjoy the fun for the rest of the night and maybe even dress in keeping with their underwater world theme.
Oktoberfest in Clonakilty
Clonakilty will be abuzz with energy this Saturday, as the town centre will host a special Oktoberfest event from 3pm till late.
Some of the acts involved include: the Clonakilty Brass Band, Dr Feelgood & the Electric Mayhem, The Bones Below and The Monks.
The event takes place at the Alley Garden Bistro Bar in O'Donovan's Hotel and will have German sausages, Erdinger beer on tap and plenty more fun for everyone.
Halloween street party in Skibbereen
Few towns hold a street party like Skibbereen holds a street party! And this weekend there is a special Halloween-themed party taking place to keep you entertained during the Bank Holiday.
'Skibb O'Ween' is taking place on Monday, October 28th and will feature 'spooky fun for all'. Make sure to be there, on Main Street from 1pm-5pm this Monday.
Last year's event was extremely popular and gave people in the town the opportunity to dress up and enjoy themselves!
