First Paranormal Festival to be held in UK

by SIMON FORSYTH

     PEOPLE INTERESTED in the paranormal are due to converge on the Scottish capital to discuss the topic.

The event, said to be Britain's first paranormal festival, will take place in Edinburgh over 10 days in May.

The Mary King's Ghost Fest will include visits to "haunted" sites, night vigils, and demonstrations.

One parapsychology experiment will centre on Mary King's Close, where paranormal activity has been reported in the past. The experiment will be carried out by well known sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire.

Various groups will be taken through underground rooms and asked to register how they feel. Air temperature, humidity, infrasound and geomagnetic activity will also be monitored.

Prof Wiseman believes ghosts are nothing but products of an over imaginative mind. The psychologist has carried out research suggesting people react to environmental cues, such as subtle drafts, and in particular visual factors, like low lighting.

"Hauntings exist, in the sense that places exist where people reliably have unusual experiences," Prof Wiseman said. "People do have consistent experiences in consistent places, but I think that this is driven by visual factors mainly, and perhaps some other environmental cues."

Mary King's Close, off the Royal Mile, was bricked up in the 17th Century and was only reopened in 2003. Local legend says hundreds of plague victims were locked in and sentenced to certain death. Researchers worked to uncover evidence about life for the residents of the site, at the same time as debunking local myths.

The festival will also include The Ghost Hunter Trail, which will take people through the infamous Blair Street Vaults.

Organisers of the gathering include the National Library of Scotland, National Trust of Scotland, Scottish Paranormal, University of Edinburgh, and the University of Hertfordshire.