Following the success of our inaugural Festival of Darkness: Dracula in 2022, we are delighted to bring Festival of Darkness: Witches to the magnificent surroundings of Haddo House. Through film, conversation and shared experiences, we’ll explore fear, folklore, persecution and resilience, reflecting on the lives of those accused of witchcraft while celebrating stories that continue to captivate and challenge us today.

Discover what has been forgotten – join us at Haddo House on 24 and 25 October for Festival of Darkness: Witches.

Tickets Now on Sale!

This autumn, Festival of Darkness: Witches conjures an unforgettable celebration of the eerie, the uncanny and the misunderstood. Explore centuries of folklore, superstition and witchcraft through a unique programme of film, music and discussion.

Whether you’re a horror fan, a folklore enthusiast, a lover of classic cinema, or simply curious about the enduring power of the witch, Festival of Darkness: Witches promises a spellbinding line up of events.

Tickets are on sale now. Book early to avoid disappointment. (Click here for tickets).

Join us as we step into the shadows and uncover the stories that still cast their spell today.

Festival of Darkness: Witches is presented by North East Arts Touring, Haddo Arts, Belmont Cinema and the National Trust for Scotland.

Witches

Post-screening Discussion Panel

Saturday 24 October 2026

Time: 4:15pm

Venue: The Library, Haddo House

Seating: Unreserved

Tickets are available here.

Post-screening Discussion Panel

This panel discussion, brought to you in partnership with The Belmont Community Cinema, explores the concepts of Witchcraft and Paganism in historical and contemporary contexts and asks us to look more deeply at the lasting effects of the control and persecution that plagued people on the margins of society throughout the Witch Trials.

Meet the Panellists:

Kayleigh Mair, MLitt

Kayleigh Mair is an ethnologist and singer‑songwriter from East Ayrshire whose work explores contemporary tales, traditions, and the ways community, culture, heritage, and home shape identity. She graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2023 with an MLitt in Ethnology and Folklore, where her dissertation on modern witchcraft and paganism is now held in the Elphinstone Institute Buchan Library. She has presented at several academic conferences, and beyond academia enjoys tabletop roleplaying games and the intersections of storytelling, folklore, and world‑building.

Seonaidh Baker

Seonaidh is dedicated to sharing the stories of those persecuted for alleged witchcraft in Aberdeen City and Shire, highlighting the human cost of fear, social control, and injustice. Her work bridges heritage, social history, and contemporary relevance, helping audiences understand how these past events continue to resonate today. Through research, public engagement, and community‑focused storytelling, she brings attention to individuals whose experiences were shaped by power, belief, and societal pressure. Seonaidh’s perspective encourages reflection on how we remember and honour these histories.

Michelle Soto, MS, MLitt — Panel Chair

Michelle is the Community Development Manager at The Belmont Cinema, a Board Director at Culture North East, and a Volunteer with Four Pillars’ LGBT+ Youth Group. A folklorist and community place‑maker, she focuses on the representation of women and marginalised communities in history, arts, and culture. She holds an MLitt in Folklore and Ethnography from Aberdeen University and an MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University. Her academic work explores identity, belief, and how representation shapes our engagement with traditional narratives.

The Courtyard Café

Meal Deal

Saturday 24 October 2026

Time: 5:00pm – 6:30pm

Venue: The Courtyard, Haddo House

Seating: Unreserved

Tickets are available here.

Haddo’s Courtyard Café is opening late, especially for the Festival of Darkness.

Whichever event you are attending, don’t go hungry… come enjoy Haddo’s surroundings after the matinee screening of Witches or before the evening screening of Haxan.

Enjoy a tasty concoction from the Haddo cauldron between films, carefully prepared by Haddo’s own culinary wizards!

Tickets: Supper tickets must be pre-booked
Choose your Festival meal, or enjoy 2 courses: Choice of autumnal soup, served with rustic roll or oatcakes £8
Hot & fluffy Jacket Potato with choice of filling, served with side salad & Autumn coleslaw £12.50
Tea, Coffee & a fine selection of cakes will be available to purchase for Festival Supper diners – there is no need to pre-order these.

Important info for customers:
This supper is served either seated indoors or take-away.
(Indoor seating for 34 is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations cannot be taken)

Häxan: The Esoteric Cut

Pre-screening Talk with Jez Conolly

Saturday 24 October 

Time: 6:45-7:15pm

Venue: The Peatyards, Haddo House

Seating: Unreserved

Tickets are available here. 

There are limited spaces for the pre-screening talk and we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment. If you attend the talk, a seat will be reserved for you in the Hall for the film screening.

Before the screening, join us for a special introduction to one of the strangest, most influential, and most visually astonishing films ever made. Released in 1922, Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan is one of the defining works of early horror cinema.

Exploring the film’s production and Christensen’s fascinating career. We’ll also look at Häxan’s place within the golden age of silent cinema, a period when filmmakers had developed an extraordinarily sophisticated visual language, much of which was curtailed by the technical limitations that came with the arrival of sound

Discover why Häxan remains one of the most daring films ever made, and why, more than a hundred years after its premiere, it continues to fascinate, disturb and inspire audiences and filmmakers alike.

Jez Conolly holds an MA in Film Studies and International Cinema.

He is the author of The Thing and co-author of Dead of Night in the Liverpool University Press ‘Devil’s Advocates’ book series, and also co-author of Seconds in LUP’s ‘Constellations’ series.

He has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror, Horrifying Children: Hauntology and the Legacy of Children’s Television published by Bloomsbury, and Midnight Movie Monographs: Bride of Frankenstein from PS Publishing.

His latest book, ‘Capture Spiral’, published in March 2026, is an autoethnography exploring memories of his 1970s childhood, including the many visits to the cinema that his father managed, and staying up late to watch the Saturday night horror double bills shown on BBC2 in that decade.

Around the time of the book’s release, he was chosen to be one of the Locals in the Limelight at the annual Granite Noir literature festival in Aberdeen, at which he read his poem ‘The Witch’s Hat’.

The pre-screening talk will be followed by the screening of Häxan: The Esoteric Cut, which will be screened in the Hall at Haddo House.

The Secret of Kells

Post-Screening Family Activity

Sunday 25 October

Time: 3:00pm

Venue: Haddo House Country Park

No need to book.

Following the screening, families are invited to stay for a special post-screening activity inspired by the film. Haddo Country Park and their dedicated Volunteer Team have created a trail to take you on an adventure through the park to discover all the ingredients you need to make a very special potion of your own.

She Will

Pre-screening talk presentation with Dee Lawlor

Sunday 25 October 2026

Time: 7:00pm

Venue: The Library, Haddo House

Seating: Unreserved

Tickets are available here.

There are limited spaces for the pre-screening talk and film screening in the library and we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.

An introduction by Dee Lawlor on how contemporary researchers believe mental health influenced the witch trials.

Dee Lawlor has worked as a freelance writer in the science communication field since 2017 and has authored a bestselling book on microscopes. She has a passion for history and published her book on the Aberdeen witch trials, Contagious Enemies in February 2026. In her spare time she has researched the Scottish witch trials. She is a member of RAWS (Remembering the Accused Witches Scotland) and gives regular talks for them. She is also a volunteer tour guide at Haddo House.

Dee’s next book, Scotsferatu – the Vampire in Scottish Culture and Folklore, is due out on September 24th.

Wicked Quines

Workshop, Talk & Community Story Sharing

Wednesday 28 October 2026

Time: 7:30pm

Venue: The Barn, Burn O’Bennie, Banchory, AB31 5QA

Tickets are available here.

Join us for an evening of theatre, history and storytelling exploring Wicked Quines, a new play inspired by the Aberdeenshire Witch Panic of 1596-97.

The evening begins with an interactive workshop taking you behind the scenes of Wicked Quines. Discover the development of the play through script extracts, discussion and optional practical theatre exercises, exploring how historical research can be transformed into dramatic storytelling. No previous theatre experience is required, and there will be no pressure to perform.

Following the workshop, the event will open to the wider public for a talk and community story-sharing session. We’ll explore the history of the Aberdeenshire Witch Panic, its relevance today, and the importance of remembering the stories of North East Scotland. We’ll then invite audiences to share the local legends, folklore, family stories, forgotten figures and historical events they believe deserve to be remembered, and perhaps brought to the stage!

Come for the workshop, the talk, or both, and join us in exploring the stories of the North East, past and present.

More details are emerging from the shadows soon…

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Festival of Darkness: Witches has been made possible through generous financial support from our funders. Their commitment and investment play a vital role in bringing this unique festival to life.

This festival is the result of a shared effort between our partners, who have come together to create a unique programme of film, discussion and discovery at Haddo House: