It’s a perfectly soothing October evening, and as you sip your warm, spicy beverage, an entire island prepares for a festival that time forgot.
Hop tu Naa: The Isle of Man’s ancient rival to Halloween
Beyond pumpkins and costumes, another Halloween lives on, which is older, wilder, and deeply Celtic.
On the Isle of Man, this ancient celebration is known as Hop tu Naa, a living echo of the Celtic festival of Samhain, marking the end of harvest and the coming of winter.
Image © Culture Vannin
For Hop tu Naa, instead of pumpkins, turnips are hand-carved to make turnip lanterns called moot. Each flicker from a hand-carved turnip is a defiant message, warning unwanted spirits to stay away.
Image © Culture Vannin
Of turnips, tunes, and a local witch
Image © Visit Isle of Man
In villages like Cregneash, which is the oldest open-air folk museum in the British Isles, families plan for weeks.
Image © Wikimedia Commons
Children select turnips, hollow them, and carve jagged faces into them. At dusk, they walk in small groups, singing the Hop-tu-Naa song from door to door. Names and verses sometimes shift, blending English and Manx.
One character appears in nearly every tale: Jinny the Witch or Jinny Lowney.
Legend says she lived near Braddan in the 18th century, accused of sorcery after a strange theft. Modern locals recall her tale and pass it down like a folk song alongside lights and laughter rather than fear.
At participating houses, singers might receive small tokens such as coins, sweets, or even slices of bonnag, the island’s fruit-spiced bread.
Sights, sounds, and flavors of Hop tu Naa
Expect to smell toffee syrup simmering, the woody sting of peat fires, and butter melting into a soup that blends potatoes, parsnips, and sometimes fish, making it hearty, warming, and entirely local.
Image © Visit Isle of Man
At the National Folk Museum, you can join a lantern workshop or hear Manx tales by lamplight. The cottages, stone walls, sea winds, and narrow lanes all feel part of one narrative and an invitation to join the locals during the last week of October 2025.
Image © Mans National Museum
At the Grove Museum, join the locals and your fellow travelers on 28 October 2025 for an afternoon of spooky tales, creepy customs, strange superstitions, and unusual ways people dealt with the supernatural.
Best places to experience Hop tu Naa
Image © Manx National Heritage
Cregneash: the hub for Hop-tu-Naa events with turnip carving, music, and storytelling.
Peel Castle: Take a step beyond simply admiring the castle, shrouded in October mist, and dare to walk inside the home of Moddey Dhoo, the legendary phantom of the black dog believed to haunt the castle.
Image © AirBnB
Witches Mill, Castletown: Once home to an old folklore museum, the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft, is now an Airbnb you can rent for a night to immerse yourself in the island’s magic.
Image © Visit Isle of Man
Fairy Bridge: Take the word of the locals and trace the Marine Drive to meet the fairies just as the Victorians once did, greeting sea breezes, dolphins, and the ghosts of summer past, before gazing out from the Great Camera Obscura over Douglas Head.
Image © Visit Isle of Man
Each place layers into the island’s supernatural texture, rooted in local identity, not for show but lived.
More than a festival: A living tradition
When celebrating Hop-tu-Naa, you are presented with the original Halloween that did not travel in. Every song in Manx, every flicker of a turnip flame, is a statement of presence. The festival isn’t just seen, it’s felt.
In late October, the Isle of Man transforms as sea mist drifts inland. Lantern-lit churches and lively cafés filled with fiddle tunes create a magical atmosphere. After the candles wane and children head home, an echo remains in remembrance of the stories many have forgotten.
Ready to swap your pumpkin for a turnip and Halloween movies for Victorian era ghosts? The Isle of Man is waiting.
