As the seasons pass from autumn to winter and the veils between the spirit world grows thin, there will be a chance to gather around the fires, celebrate Hop Tu Naa and welcome the winter.

The Oie Houney Manx Winter Fire Festival has been brought forward to tonight (Friday).

Originally it had been planned for Hop tu Naa itself. But the weather forecast meant that organisers had to rethink their plans.

Derived from the popular Oie Voaldyn festival, Oie Houney will see a weird and wonderful collection of characters from the dark corners of Manx folklore gather on the beach to watch the Queens of Summer and Winter meet on Peel beach, between two great bonfires.

As in the Oie Voaldyn festival, the ceremonial fight, inspired by the old Celtic pagan customs, will see the champions of Winter and Summer fight each other to see which season will rule over the land, with the skull-masked champion of the dark and cold poised to win.

Around them, there will be watching a collection of characters such as the Phynoderee and the Moddey Dhoo, brought to life by spectacular costume, and parades of torch-wielding supporters on either side.

The event begins from 5pm, with two competitions, a turnip competition, where kids can show off their own carved moots, being held in honour of Pauline Kneen, a local woman who died earlier in the year. Both she and her brother, Alan, were big supporters of the event.

There will also be an adults fancy dress competition, where the grown-ups can show off their finest winter-themed costumes, with the a prize of a bottle of Fynoderee gin up for grabs.

The Mollag Band will perform the Manx Gaelic Hop tu Naa song and get as many people as possible to join in with the traditional dance along the promenade and all through the event there will be torches for sale for people who want to join in with either procession, which will approach from either the castle side or the Creg Malin end of the promenade. The action on the beach will be finished off by a huge firework display.

The Oie Houney Fire Festival came about when the organisers of the Oie Voaldyn festival, which takes place over the May bank holiday to celebrate the change of winter into summer, were forced to cancel this year’s event, due to the covid restrictions.

Main organiser John Shakespeare decided that they could create an event around Hop tu Naa, which is also known in Manx Gaelic as Oie Houney.

’I wanted to see if I could bring all the elements of the season together, including not only Hop tu Naa, but also the idea of bonfire night too, which really doesn’t have much to do with the Isle of Man and Manx customs.

’The burning of bonfires is closely connected to this time of year, especially in the Celtic calendar, so I thought I could bring them into one big event.

’But more importantly this is an inclusive event for everyone in the community to come along to and enjoy, and I would love it if as many people joined in the event.’

John said he plans to make the Oie Houney event an annual one in the future, to run alongside Oie Voaldyn.