Road & Traffic Information

As part of this year’s Halloween celebrations, for three consecutive nights before Halloween 28^th, 29^th & 30^th of October, the city centre will host Awakening the Walled City Trail which is an animated trail around the City Centre, enabling large numbers of people to enjoy a variety of themed locations and experiences safely and at their leisure.

On Thursday 31st of October, the Carnival Parade and Halloween Fireworks Finale will kick off from Queens Quay at 7.00 pm.

Traffic restrictions

Motorists are advised to expect some delays and diversions in the City Centre during the four nights of the Halloween Programme. In the interest of safety, a number of roads and carparks will be closed to traffic or have traffic restrictions in place for the event:

Monday 28^th, Tuesday 29^th, Wednesday 30^th October City Centre Road Closure Upper Magazine Street & Palace Street will close from 2.00pm, with all other roads closing at 4.00pm. Roads will reopen at 10.00pm

• Full List Road Closure - Shipquay Street, Bank Place, Union Hall Street, Magazine Street, Magazine Street Upper, Butcher Street, The Diamond, Shipquay Street, Ferryquay Street, Bishop Street within, Palace Street, Society Street, London Street, Pump Street, Artillery Street, Fountain Street and Hawkin Street; Traffic Management will be implemented on Kennedy Street during performances.
• No City Centre on-Street parking with exception of Shipquay Street before 11.00am
• These closures are similar to previous years but this year there is an additional consideration with NI Water undertaking a major water and wastewater network upgrade on Foyle Street closing a number of roads in the vicinity.

Thursday 31st of October the Carnival Parade will kick off at 7.00pm, followed by the Fireworks Finale at 8.15pm  

Parade Route: 

• Leaves Queens Quay Car Park
• Boating Club Lane
• Strand Road
• Harbour Square Roundabout
• Foyle Embankment to Junction of Water Street 
• Returning along Foyle Embankment
• Queens Quay
• Finishing Queens Quay Car Park

Traffic Restrictions:

Traffic Restrictions for the Parade and Fireworks on 31st October

• Lane closures will be introduced along Strand Road and Foyle Embankment in advance of the parade.  The Strand Road lane closure, on the city bound approach Queen's Quay Roundabout and the Foyle Embankment closure on the city bound approach to Water Street will be operational from 6.00pm until approximately 9.00pm
• The fireworks will fire from two barges on the River Foyle - in the interests of Safety, the Peace Bridge will be closed from 7.00pm in advance. It will reopen again at 9.00pm when the fireworks display is over and it is deemed safe. Signage will be in place within the locale in advance.
• Strand Road, HarbourSquare, Queens Quay, Whittaker Street and the Foyle Embankment, between Water Street and the City Hotel, will be closed to traffic for varying lengths of time during the evening events, between 6.00pm and 9.00pm.  Alternative diversion routes will be available during these times.
• Please note that all times are approximate and that road closures and diversions will be kept to the minimum length necessary to ensure safety.

Carparks

• Bishop Street Car Park will be closed from the 28th October – 1^st November to facilitate Motorhome Parking.  A limited number of carparking spaces will remain in Bishop Street for public use but on the 28^th, 29^th, 30^th of October no vehicles will be permitted to enter or leave the carpark between 4.00pm -10.00pm. 
• Society Street Carpark will be closed from the 28^th – 31^st October;
• Victoria Market Carpark, 28^th – 30^th October - Full Carpark Closure
• Queens Quay Carpark will be closed on the 31^st of October;
• Strand Road Carpark 31^st October – Accessible Carpark Only.

Accessible drop off points include Custom House Street and Bishops Street Without. The public are encouraged to use Foyleside and Quayside Car Parks. Accessible carparking will be available at Victoria Market Car Park 28th - 31st October and Strand Road Car Park on 31st October - Fort George will also be available for parking on 31st October. 

Parking restrictions:

Drivers are reminded that as normal they should avoid parking anywhere they may be blocking entrances to residences or businesses or where they may be obstructing emergency access.

We are advising businesses and residents who use private city centre carparks eg Upper Magazine Street to ensure their vehicles have exited before 4.00pm from the 28th – 30th. From 4pm the city centre (within the Walls) will be closed off to accommodate the large volume of visitors arriving and any moving vehicles can cause risk to life.

We thank you for your continued support and co-operation and apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the events team on 028 71253253.