Funding row forces organisers to cancel Samhain parade in Limerick

Lumen’s Samhain parade in Limerick city last year. Every year, the parade sees crowds of over 20,000 line city centre streets. File picture: Brian Arthur

A beloved Halloween parade will not take place in Limerick following a row over funding between organisers and the local council.

Lumen Street Theatre, who have been staging the Samhain parade in the city for years, have announced they will not be going ahead with the parade this October.

Every year, the Samhain parade sees crowds of over 20,000 line city centre streets. Instead, Limerick City and County Council have advertised a new ‘Mischief’ Parade will take place.

On Monday evening, Lumen Theatre shared a statement on social media, calling out how matters have been handled by the local council.

In April, the organisers were told the local council would not fund the Samhain parade through Halloween funding, but that they were invited to apply to an open call process for a new flagship parade.

While Lumen Theatre won the bid to hold the Samhain parade, the initial budget of €50,000 advertised by the council was reduced by €10,000.

It is understood €50,000 was available under the scheme, but that it was recommended €10,000, which was due to be awarded to Lumen Theatre group, be used for another group staging other activities for Halloween.

The tender was advertised and adjudicated by an independent panel, one member of which was a member of Limerick City and County Council. According to the company, when they questioned the reduction of funding, they were told by the council funds had been “redirected elsewhere”.

“The immediate consequence, however, is deeply disappointing: the beloved Samhain Festival Parade scheduled for 25 October will not take place on Limerick’s streets this autumn.

“Lumen remains committed to ambitious, artist-led and community-rooted cultural work in Limerick, and to the belief that cultural events of this scale require sustainable investment, transparent processes and respect for the creative organisations and communities that build them,” they said.

For the second year, Limerick City and County Council is taking part in Fáilte Ireland's Home of Halloween Pilot Destination Development Scheme, through which Limerick has secured funding of up to €100,000 annually over three years.

In 2025, it is understood the local council submitted a further funding application to Fáilte Ireland, using the content of the Samhain parade. 

According to the director of Lumen Theatre, Martin Shannon, the award was based substantially on the reputation and content that Lumen had built through Samhain since 2018. “Yet Lumen received no financial support or appropriate recognition as the original authors and creators,” he told the Irish Examiner.

This comes as the local council is due to unveil its full Halloween programme this Friday, featuring events across the county from October 11 to November 1. Meanwhile, Lumen Theatre will host their own Halloween festival, Samhain, from October 22 to October 26.

In response from a query from the Irish Examiner, Limerick City and County Council said it is looking forward to bringing Halloween in Limerick 2026 to life this October with a fresh programme.

"The Council made considerable efforts to deliver a Halloween Parade/Procession and explored every opportunity to support its successful delivery as part of the Halloween in Limerick programme.

"Our focus now is on delivering a vibrant and varied Halloween programme across the city and county, working with the many community groups, cultural organisations, event organisers, venues and local businesses who contribute so much to Halloween in Limerick," they said.