St Patrick’s Day Festival success in Nenagh
Over 4,000 attend town’s novel event
The organisers of the St Patrick's Day Festival in Nenagh have expressed delight with how the new event went last week.
Run by Tipperary Co Council in partnership with Spain AV, the Nenagh Live event featured a concert stage and festival market in the grounds of the courthouse, where there was live music, dancing and vendors selling local produce.
“We had an amazing day on Thursday,” enthused David Spain of Nenagh Live. “The weather was all we could have hoped for and the response from the local people, vendors, artists and local business was absolutely huge.
“The onsite vendors and the local businesses that chose to open around the town - for example Steeples, Supermacs, JKC's, etc - all had a fantastic day's trading.”
Mr Spain said many of the vendors sold out everything they had, including the hot dog stall, while the Rambling Rosie coffee caravan went through 33 three-litre containers of milk!
The St Patrick's Day concert and festival market was attended by almost 4,200 people over the course of the day, with the gates opening a full hour early due to the sheer size of the crowd waiting to get in. Hosted by Tom Bán of Nenagh Live, the concert and festival market had over 20 vendors and stalls, including a working Blacksmith who travelled all the way from Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick.
The event featured fire engines, rescue vehicles, custom motorcycles and artists of all shapes and sizes with a total of 21 different musical artists, a mixture of bands, DJs, solo singers, dance schools, the Nenagh Ormond Brass Band and Ormond Comhaltas, all performing live on the main stage. Tipperary Fire & Rescue Service gave a fantastic interactive display with an array of high-tech vehicles and equipment, including a demonstration of real-life firefighting techniques and fire safety. The festival atmosphere was evident throughout the town as Nenagh Live had arranged for several musical artists to perform live in the Heritage Centre and the newly opened Tourist Office.
Before their appearance on the main festival stage, both Bubba Shakespeare and the No More Mossies performed live in the Tourist Office, with Emma Fitzgerald and Juliette Kerin rocking the Heritage Centre.
“The atmosphere throughout the day was electric!” said Mr Spain. “Michael O'Meara (Cathaoirleach, Nenagh Municipal District) gave a short address from the main stage, receiving a rapturous response from the audience when he said: ‘This takes me back to the days of the Féile in the '90s. Queuing outside the Sounds of Music to take the bus to the Trip to Tipp, only this time it’s in Nenagh’!”
Loads more great photos from the Nenagh festival - and other St Patrick's Day events around the local district - in this week's Guardian.