Sal Chaffey “Dracbassador” explains the background to this novelty local event
Derby locals may or may not know that there’s a Dracula Festival in the city next spring!
Bram Stoker published Dracula in 1897 after the character came to him in a dream seven years prior. The stage play was premiered in 1924 at the Grand Theatre on Babington Lane in Derby – now House of Holes adult crazy golf. Stoker died in 1912 but his widow attended the premier. The title role was played by Edmund Blake, who transformed the Dracula of the novel into the “polished and distinguished” cape-wearing Dracula we know today.
Derby University Humanities Professor Matthew Cheeseman and staff at Derby Museums have teamed up to mark the Dracula Centenary with events throughout the city, culminating in a conference in May. I have been part of the Dracula Reading Group for 4 months now, and the group is morphing into a creative writing group in 2025. We meet at Thrivemind Village (the former Foulds music shop) on Irongate monthly, and attendance is free of charge, as are reading materials.
I applied for some grant funding for a Dracula themed urban orienteering event – optional fancy dress – using historic locations in Derby such as the Grand Theatre as control sites. The event will take place on April 12th, from Thrivemind Village. I have my costume from Halloween!
Another theatre that featured in the Dracula story is the now-derelict Hippodrome on Green Lane. Hollywood’s Bela Lugosi visited in 1951 to for the premier of the Dracula movie. In fact, many stars appeared at the Hippodrome back in the day – Vera Lynn, Ken Dodd, Marie Lloyd – and there’s an exhibition celebrating them at Derby Art Gallery.
Right: the Hippodrome Theatre on Green Lane, where Bela Lugosi attended the 1951 revival of the Dracula movie
You can follow the Dracula Returns to Derby project blog and subscribe to a newsletter to find out about future events. I’ve been attending the fascinating Dracula Lunchtime Bites Zoom lectures, which are now on YouTube.
If you’d like to help with the event or would like more information about the project, please email me. I was excited to find that Bram Stoker’s great grandnephew Dacre Stoker is a Canadian former Olympic Pentathlete and visited Derby in May 2024. I’m really hoping the urban in April will attract some new families (and a few goths) to orienteering – it promises to be a spectacle!
