It might be still a day away but thousands of people are already flocking to the city centre for the annual Halloween celebrations.

The picture above shows the queue outside St Columb’s Hall today at 2pm, where parents and children queued to get into a range of events being hosted at the building by Derry City Council, including Hansel and Gretel, which is being held in the main ballroom.

Meanwhile, Bruce Airhead and ‘The Witches’ in the same building were also proving popular with the children.

Local businesses were already seeing the benefit of the numbers flocking into the city centre, with many cafés witnessing a brisk trade.

The main Halloween parade will depart from Derry City car park tomorrow evening at 7pm, where it will make its way up Strand Road towards Harbour Roundabout and travels down Queen’s Quay to the council offices.

That will be followed by a spectacular fire work display over the River Foyle which will run from 8pm-8.15pm.

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