Southport Halloween Festival praised by UCLan tourism expert

A local event has won praise from a tourism expert at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Louisa Jones, the University’s International Lead for Tourism, Hospitality and Events programmes, has been impressed by ‘Spookport', Southport’s Halloween Festival, which runs from 24 October – 1 November.

The family-friendly festival, which boasts “a cauldron of events that will bring Southport alive with mayhem and madness”, kicked-off with a Halloween Parade and culminates in a 12 hour ‘Screamfest’ house music event at Southport Pleasureland.

Commenting on the event, Louisa said: “I think this event is a great example of local tourism development organisations and businesses working hand-in-hand to promote the town over half-term as a day trip and tourism destination for all ages.”

‘Spookport’ gives a new definition to the concept of dark tourism, an area in which UCLan has strong research interests. The Institute of Dark Tourism, led by Dr Philip Stone, is a world-leading academic centre for research into dark tourism.

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