Mary King

Mark King's Ghost Fest

Mary King's Ghost Fest
(Friday 9 to Sunday 18 May 2008)

2008 sees the return of the hugely successful and award winning ‘Mary King’s Ghost Fest’ which will run from Friday 9 to Sunday 18 May. 

Event Calendar

The festival takes its name from one of Edinburgh’s most famous residents, Mary King, who lived, at the top of one of the Closes off the Royal Mile until her death in 1644. The Close, later named after her, was preserved when the City Chambers was built over the site in 1853, and what remains today is a strange underground time-capsule of small houses and spaces, steeped in mystery and shrouded in dark stories. Mary King’s Close is thought to be one of the cities most haunted locations, as well as an award winning visitor attraction, so it is therefore fitting that a number of key events are to take place at this venue throughout the festival.

Now in its fourth year, Mary King’s Ghost Fest has become a popular favourite within the Edinburgh festival circuit. This year the event will be bigger and better than ever before with a whole host of paranormal investigations in a variety of unusual location across Edinburgh. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore and uncover the dark secrets that lie within one of Britain’s most haunted cities!

Mary King’s Ghost Fest 2008 has a new and exciting events programme for everyone to enjoy. Unusual and truly unique events will keep visitors enthralled and intrigued as they learn historical information and investigate notoriously haunted locations within Edinburgh. Highlights for Ghost Fest 2008 will include a scientific experiment from Edinburgh University’s Department of Psychology, junior ghost busting trails, an exclusive screening of 'The Last Witch' - a film about the last person to be imprisoned for witchcraft in the UK and an exclusive event hosted by Most Haunted star Richard Felix, who will be holding guided tours of the close to uncover its deep and forbidding history. Richard came to prominence as the historian on Living TV's successful paranormal programme Most Haunted, where he performed the role of folklorist and historian. In recent years Richard has become a celebrity in the UK due to his paranormal research projects. He is now one of the most respected paranormal investigators in Europe.

Mercat Tours, Camera Obscura, Mary King’s Close and Edinburgh Playhouse are just a selection of the fantastic venues involved in Ghost Fest 2008, where visitors can attend investigations to uncover the strange paranormal activity for which Edinburgh is internationally renowned.