Hundreds of people gathered in Dublin city centre on Thursday night for a fake Halloween parade which never existed.
News of the parade had been advertised online with AI-generated imagery, with scores of revellers making their way to the city’s O’Connell Street to celebrate the parade.
The My Spirit Halloween website claimed the Macnas Halloween Parade would take place from 7pm to 9pm, but it did not actually take place.
One witness, Peter Farrelly, who shot video from his window of the crowds told the Independent: “It was funny. We are still smiling now. It took about an hour from the start time for people
“The Gardaí were trying to clear the street. It was also the festival of Divali last night so a lot of people were out on the street as well.”
The SCAM Halloween Parade in Dublin City Centre (everyone was ghosted 📷) Definitely thousands, potentially into 10's of thousands, showed up.
— Bertie Brosnan (@BrosnanBertie) October 31, 2024
This happened on the 31st of October from 7pm at the top of O'Connell Street in Dublin City.#halloweenparade #hoaxparade pic.twitter.com/ldt2Skr2CI
Irish police, the Gardaí, issued a public statement urging crowds to disperse.
A spokesperson said: “Please be advised that contrary to information being circulated online, no Halloween parade is scheduled to take place in Dublin city centre this evening or tonight.
“All those gathered on O’Connell Street in expectation of such a parade are asked to disperse safely.”
A participant wrote online: “The real lesson to be learned here is that a lot of people would clearly attend a Halloween parade and Dublin City Council should organise one next year.”
Another added: “People waiting for a Halloween parade. No Gardaí around, no official announcement, people waiting on the wrong side of the road...Someone did pull a big hoax."
Sinn Fein councillor Janice Boylan said: "It seems to be an online scam. It's really sad to see that people are being scammed.
"Everyone is trying to have a fun and safe Halloween. Having a parade to go to sounded really good. I know an awful lot of people turned up. It's a terrible pity there are people out there who are trying to scam people."
Macnas, a Galway arts company, held a parade around Halloween last year in both Galway and Dublin, but announced no plans to hold a Dublin performance this year.
The size of the crowds caused a brief disruption to the city’s tram network, with some services partially out of operation for about half an hour.
