Ghost 'festival' opens

6:19pm Friday 30th November 2007

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Oxford's first ghost festival opened tonight as paranormal investigators tried to tap into the city's spine-tingling past.

Ghost hunters used psychic equipment during an overnight investigation to establish whether Oxford Castle, in New Road, is one of Britain's most haunted buildings.

The 10-day long festival also includes ghost walks, ghost hunts, a spooky Christmas fair, mediumship demonstrations, psychic workshops - and even a chance for those who believe in reincarnation to find out what they may have got up to in previous lives.

Fright Nights, the firm behind the event, believes the castle is the perfect location.

Director Martin Jeffrey said: "We started doing events at Oxford earlier in the year and since we have been here, it has been one of our most popular locations.

"People are experiencing paranormal activities. The are going down into the crypt and having weird experiences with a guy called Joseph, a monk who once lived there."

The festival also hopes to put a Victorian twist on Christmas with tarot readings and festival stalls.

Mr Jeffrey added: "Oxford is famous for its university, but people have not recognised how historic Oxford is from a haunting perspective. We have been amazed."

A week-long experiment investigating paranormal phenomena at the castle will be led by Dr Rebecca Knibb Sulu Lang during the festival.

Her team will use equipment including cameras, dictation machines, camcorders and laptops to record any unusual activity.

Visitors will also be taken into the Castle Mound to see the oubliette - French for 'forgotten' and a place where people were left to die.

For more information, see www.frightnights.co.uk