We may not be able to gather and celebrate at Fáilte Ireland’s Púca Festival, but across the country this evening at 8pm, households in Ireland and beyond lit up Jack O’ Lanterns, and enjoyed a moment of peace and unity in strange times.

In the absence of the three-day music festival this year, Púca Festival has recreated the ancient tradition of lighting the first fires of the Celtic new year on the Hill of Ward in Co. Meath, with a pre-recorded torch-lit procession that is being streamed on Facebook Live.

At the Hill of Ward, the five ancient provinces of Ireland will be represented and symbolically reunited in flame. Viewers will see a contemporary reimagining of the Samhain Fires, designed by the Street Theatre Company ‘Luxe’, with new musical accompaniment by Matthew Nolan, Stephen Shannon and Sive. Additionally, Stephen James Smith has crafted a stunning new poem called 'Our Darkest Night'.

“This is a celebration that has taken place for hundreds of years," said Fáilte Ireland's Ciara Sugrue, and which will bring a little bit of the excitement and fun back into our lives this Halloween. This year is a perfect year for all of us to rediscover the wonderful old games and traditions that we all grow up with, from bobbing for apples to Bairín Breac.”

Halloween originates in the Irish and Celtic tradition of Samhain, which is the old Irish for ‘summer’s end'. Samhain is the end of the harvest season, when all the crops have been picked and stored for the “New Year”.

This was identified as the year end in ancient Celtic times, and was a time of celebration. Our ancient ancestors believed in celebrating points in the calendar year according to the turning of the seasons. We know that this celebration of the new year involved lighting fires, feasting on the crops of the harvest, music, gathering together, and storytelling. The Púca Festival aims to shine a light on this as part of our culture and history, and the three-day festival last year reopened the pathways of reflection and celebration, originally carved by travellers over 2000 years ago. This year, we celebrate this ancient rite of passage by staying apart and lighting a symbolic light for each home across the island.

Watch the Púca lantern-lighting and hear Stephen James Smith's poem below.