Every autumn, the nights grow longer, the air turns colder, and the line between worlds begins to blur. Halloween has always been more than costumes and sweets, it’s a time to honour our ancestors, to gather in ceremony, to transform fear into celebration.

This year, Katumba Halloween Carnival reclaims those deeper roots. Our theme “Ancestral Spirits, Ritual Fire” weaves together the diasporic origins of carnival with the ancient pagan traditions of Samhain.

Born from rituals of remembrance, resistance, and renewal, carnival has always been a living space where communities gather to drum, dance, and light the darkness with rhythm and spirit.

By fusing Afro-diasporic beats with the fire and folklore of Halloween, our procession becomes both a homage and a reinvention. A living ritual that connects past to present, ancestry to community, darkness to light.

This year’s Halloween Carnival also marks the grand finale of our Black History Month celebrations, as participants from our Routes & Roots beginner sessions join the parade.

Starting at Bold St and culminating in an unmissable finale at Liverpool ONE, the carnival will also mark 10 years of Katumba – join us in celebrating an incredible decade of drumming, movement, and community.

Even more ways to get involved:
Every costume, every rhythm, every flicker of flame in the Katumba Halloween Carnival is created and carried by people from the local area. This year, we’re inviting YOU to take part in a host of Katumba workshops with a Halloween twist.

Learn to:
🎃 Craft everything you need for a real carnival, inspired by ancestral spirits
🥁 Beat out rhythms that shake the streets alive
🕺 Move, dance, and embody the energy of carnival

Then step into the procession itself!

Want to join a workshop? Follow Katumba on social media and your eyes peeled for more details coming very soon!

KATUMBA HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL 2025

Date & time: Friday 31st October, starting at 7pm
Theme: Ancestral Spirits, Ritual Fire
Celebration: 10 years of Katumba

Join us. Feel the drums. Honour the ancestors. Celebrate the spirits.

With huge thanks to our funders and partners:

Liverpool BID | National Lottery Community Fund | Arts Council England | Liverpool Black History Month