Barrtalk: Derry is brilliant at Halloween [and the rest of the year too]

I was off on holiday for a week last week to coincide with the Halloween midterm break from school.

Like many families from Inishowen, we headed for the annual end-of-October celebrations in nearby Derry, and I have to say I was mightily impressed yet again with the city’s amazing programme of events for all.

Such is the quality of the festival that it’s not an exaggeration to say that Derry has now become globally recognised as the home of the world’s biggest and best Halloween festival.

There’s something about the walled city by night – with the blood red clock on the imposing Guildhall tower – which is perfect for Halloween spookiness, with no sign of any of the drunkenness of the past to spoil the relaxed atmosphere.

And judging by the plethora of ‘accents’ from the passing minions, ghouls, giant bananas and scary fairies, the festival clearly attracted visitors from all over the world in 2025 once again, including from Europe, the UK and the US.

The spectacular fireworks finale on the River Foyle, which this year had thousands of rockets firing from TWO separate ‘gunships’, had to be seen and heard to be believed. I have never seen so many fireworks in the one sky at the same time. It was spellbinding; mesmerising.

Suffice to say, I was dazzled and deafened for half of the next morning. But it was well worth the trip.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, we are immensely lucky here in Inishowen to have Derry on our doorstep. There’s no better city, nor people, anywhere.

National No Dirty Dishes Day [and other days]

A long-running Barrtalk bugbear is the number of days of the year that are pointlessly allocated to the celebration of crazy things.

I’m talking here about International Talk Like a Pirate Day; Hug Your Cat Day; and National Earmuff Day, et al.

Then there’s National Bobblehead Day; and World Compliment Day, which is celebrated on March 1st, and definitely wouldn’t suit Barrtalk. Imagine having to pay compliments all day; no thanks.

It seems that the more mundane everyday tasks are now being celebrated too.

For example, last Tuesday, October 14, came and went without much fanfare. You may not have noticed it [I wouldn’t have, save for a press release in my email inbox], but it was actually Global Handwashing Day.

Are we that spoiled and entitled now that we need a day to remind us to wash our hands?

The 2025 Global Handwashing Day theme was ‘Be a Handwashing Hero’; I kid you not.

It was about [the blurb said] celebrating the simple steps everyone can take to stop the spread of germs and protect public health.

Scarily enough, in fairness, the press release continued to inform me that average contamination levels on hands rise by 98 per cent in a matter of hours after washing, leaving us at risk of all manner of nastiness. And be sure to dry your hands afterwards, as damp hands apparently spread 1,000 times more bacteria than dry hands.

Yikes, maybe we should all celebrate Handwashing Day. What’s next though? National Wash the Dishes Day?

Incidentally, I just googled it, and, whilst there’s no actual Wash the Dishes Day, there IS a National No Dirty Dishes Day on May 18 every year! Can you believe it?

And finally, to further illustrate just how crowded these national days of celebration are becoming, this Tuesday, November 11, comprises the following: National Sundae Day; National Singles Day; National Metal Music Day; World Origami Day; National Education Day; and Data Governance Day. As well as Remembrance Day; Veterans Day; and Armistice Day in France.

And that’s only in the morning!

Deaths of delightful on-screen Dianes

And finally this week, it has been a bad few weeks for great actresses named Diane.

First, we lost the brilliant Diane Keaton (pictured above), who died on October 11, aged 79.

I’ll always remember and love Keaton for her superbly scatty performances in the best and most neurotic Woody Allen movies of the late 1970s and 80s.

Diane Keaton starred in eight Allen films in all, and was pure perfection as the lead in 1977’s ‘Annie Hall’, for which she deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Then, just three weeks later, on November 3, we lost Diane Ladd at the age of 89.

Ladd received three Oscar nominations for Best Actress, including for her most famous role in ‘Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore’, a 1974 romantic comedy directed by Martin Scorsese.

Scorsese said she “had it all” during a stellar acting career, which also included Chinatown (1974), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Primary Colors (1998), 28 Days (2000) and Joy (2015).

“I have so many good memories of making ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’, and my experiences with Diane are among the best,” Scorsese recalled.

“I felt that it was so important for the picture to let the actors run with their characters, and what an experience it was to watch Diane take the character of Flo and make something so vivid and funny and alive.”

“Diane was a great improvisational actor – a matter of technique and discipline, but most of all instinct and artistry – and she had it all.”

Two great acting Dianes have gone. If I were Diane Lane or Diane Kruger I’d be worried. They do say these things always come in threes.

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