HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE lined the footpaths on O’Connell Street in Dublin last night in anticipation of a Halloween parade that had been promoted online, but the parade never materialised.  

The fake event, posted to a Halloween themed website and circulated to thousands online, was supposed to start on the north side of the city and make its way down to Temple Bar. However, no such parade was planned.

Eventually, gardaí requested that people leave the area safely.

The initial impression of the fake event was that it was an elaborate prank. However, it actually appears to have been promoted by people based in Pakistan. 

The website said that the parade would follow a “well-planned route” and begin at Parnell Square at 7pm, before moving south down O’Connell Street. 

It encouraged people to arrive early to secure a good viewing spot. 

Looks like a random AI slop site based in Illinois, aided by social media, has coaxed hundreds of people on to the main street of Dublin for a Halloween parade that was never happening. https://t.co/zbu1s6iQJG

— Stephen McDermott (@Ste_McDermott) October 31, 2024

The event was promoted on a website called My Spirit Halloween, which has a long list of other events, a number of which are supposedly in Ireland.

While the site claims to be based in Illinois in the United States, its Facebook says its administrators are in Pakistan. 

The events page on the website

The promotion for the event was initially posted on the website on 30 October, the day before Halloween.

The Facebook page associated with the website shows the admins are in Pakistan Screenshot Screenshot

Dublin has held Halloween parades in the past but there was none scheduled for this year.

Some people promoted the fake event on TikTok and used footage of parades from previous years to do so. This may have been done without the TikTok users knowing the event was not real. 

Screenshots of two TikTok videos promiting the fake event

One TikTok video was viewed tens of thousands of times.