Dragon parade axed over plans for monster event

A fire-breathing Halloween dragon parade which has spooked Corkonians since 2006 has been put on ice for a year in a bid to develop a monster three-day festival.

Organisers of the hugely successful Dragon of Shandon event last night apologised for temporarily pulling the plug on what is widely regarded as one of the country’s top Halloween events.

They said it is necessary as they set about turning the annual parade into a sustainable three-day community festival.

“We are conscious that there will be a lot of disappointed people out there this year,” spokeswoman Aoife Potter-Cogan said.

“But it was a collective decision to put it on hold this year, and develop a three-day festival for next year.

“We could have staged the parade this year, but we need to change the structures of the event to ensure it’s sustainable in the long term.

“If it is to be sustainable, then developing a community festival format is the way to go,” she said.

“This is a community project with participants and volunteers at its core.

“We want to give greater ownership of the event to the local community and would love to hear what the people of Cork would like to see in the festival and work together to make it happen.”

The event, facilitated by the arts group Cork Community Art Link, began in 2006.

A 36ft-long fire-breathing dragon, which wound its way down Shandon St on Oct 31, followed by a host of ghosts and ghouls, was the event’s spectacular centrepiece.

Art Link gets a €28,000 Arts Council grant and a €12,000 grant from Cork City Council which sources say is nowhere near enough to fund one of the city’s top festivals.

Full details of next year’s festival will be launched this Halloween weekend.

* You can contact the festival team by email: [e-mail] or call 021 4212914.