UK Ghost Story Festival returns to QUAD in 2026

The UK Ghost Story Festival returns to Derby for the sixth time this year and will be moving back to its original home at QUAD for three days of exciting events!

Taking place from the 27^th February to the 1^st March, the Festival will be presenting a wide range of panels, writing workshops, performances and talks across all things supernatural and Gothic.

Highlights on Friday 27^th see our headline author interview with Catriona Wards (Nowhere Burning, The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial) and a ghost story performance from Spitting Image’s Steve Nallon, featuring a number of ‘guest appearances’ from a superbly talented voice artists. We’ll also be joined by Victoria Langford for a look at the Derbyshire Gothic, as well as University of Derby lecturer Malcolm Schofield exploring parapsychology.

Saturday 28^th Feb sees an exciting performance of Charles Dickens’s The Signalman from Derbyshire-based performer and occult illusionist David Alnwick, acclaimed writer Jon Dear exploring the legacy of the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas and our launch for the exciting ghost story anthology Unquiet Guests edited by Dan Coxon. We’ll also be featuring a range of local writers including Richard Farren Barber, Sophie Draper, James Everington and more.

Sunday 1^st March sees the concluding day of the event, with headline talks from leading UK folklorists Mark Norman and Tracey Norman, as well as QUAD’s resident film expert Darrell Buxton exploring the ghosts of Westerns.

The weekend will also see the first running of the Dracula’s Bazaar alternative market, with stalls throughout QUAD over the three days that you can visit free of charge.

Event co-ordinator Alex Davis said: ‘I’m delighted to be bringing the UK Ghost Story Festival back to QUAD, its original home, and very excited with a line-up that features so much great national and local talent in the field! We’re going to have a very exciting three days of events, and with Dracula’s Bazaar bringing so much extra to the event it’s a perfect weekend for anyone interested in the darker side of things…’

Passes are available for the full weekend or the Saturday of the Festival, with tickets also available for individual events across the three days.