Obama country fest launched in moneygall

The Obama Plaza was a hive of excitement last week with the launch of a new open-air music festival for Moneygall.

'Obama Country Fest' will take place on Saturday July 4th and is expected to attract some 2,000 people to see big name stars of the scene Mike Denver, Declan Nerney, Robert Mizzell, Michael English, Trudi Lalor, Lee Mathews and Adrian Ryan.
A family-oriented, daytime event, the festival aims to build on the success of Moneygall's annual celebration of US Independence Day.
The local community has been throwing July 4th parties since the visit of Barack Obama in 2011. But this year's celebrations are going to be on a far greater scale with a comprehensive stage set in the GAA grounds courtesy of local gig specialists Spain Audio Visual.
“It's going to be a great day, a family day, with lots of crowds,” enthused Mike Denver at the launch last week. The Portumna man was in the thick of it at the launch, meeting and chatting with fans only too delighted to hear he'll be performing in Moneygall in July.
David Spain of Toomevara said the event, which is to take place between 12.30 and 7.30pm, would be very much geared towards families. Children under the age of 12 will be admitted for free (general admission is €20). There will be colour-coded wristbands for all in attendance, and parents will be able to write a phone number on their child's wristband in case their child gets lost.
Alcohol will be served but will also be controlled by wristbands. A security firm has been engaged to supervise and safeguard against trouble.
The Spains will have a large outdoor dance floor in place, and there will be added attractions such as bouncy castles, all of which will be included in the ticket price. There will also be onsite catering.
“We've looked after the Independence Day festival in Moneygall for the last three years and we thought: Why not try and do something big like this?',” said David.
“There's a fantastic community spirit here in Moneygall and they've got a great committee going. A lot of effort is going into this.”
The event is being held in association with Midlands Radio 103, which will broadcast live from the festival. Nenagh's Abbey Court Hotel is also supporting the event along with the Racket Hall in Roscrea and Birr's County Arms.
Obama Country Fest is part of a weekend of celebrations in Moneygall with further events lined up for the Friday and Sunday (see the Moneygall Village Facebook page for further details).
Trudi Lalor was also feeling the buzz surrounding the weekend at the launch. “I'm really looking forward to it,” the Laois native said. “Big country music festivals like this are great fun and I'm sure it's going to be a great day out for a lot of people.”
For further updates, including the possibility of new additions to the lineup, keep an eye on the Obama Country Fest Facebook page.