Tuesday night at the Roses!

I went to Tralee on Tuesday night to have a look at what was going on. Well, they definitely brought the crowds back on to the streets of the town centre. Jessie Buckley drew a crowd. The kids loved her and they waved their National Lottery flags in appreciation. Even though, I think at times they got more excited seeing themselves on the big screen behind her. Despite that she did keep the crowd entertained with show tunes.

We wandered down to see Abba Delicious. What can I say? There are many people who will give out about Abba and their annoying songs but it cannot be denied that when the intro to Waterloo or Mama Mia begins everyone starts singing! They performed all the ususal Abba numbers. I couldn't stay to the end I was the designated driver and listening to more than 7 Abba songs stone cold sober was too much. But they were a good laugh and the atmosphere created by the music on the street, the markets and children's entertainment definitely made my festival experience a lot more entertaining.

The Rose of Tralee - 22nd to 26th August

The Rose of Tralee festival begins this week. I picked up their event guide the other day and it appears they are bringing back the street entertainment giving people especially families a reason to go into the town. With 5 stages located around the town, live bands, street performers, busking competitions, food markets and children’s entertainment this festival should prove to be a good one.

Festival Weekend in Kerry

The bank holiday weekend was indeed a weekend for festivals, the Lyreacrompane Dan Paddy Andy festival, the Sean McCarthy festival and the Cahersiveen Celtic Festival of Music and the Arts to name a few. Unfortunately for the find team we couldn’t make any festivals in Kerry this weekend. But chatting to a few locals this morning the Dan Paddy Andy festival was a great success and for the majority of the weekend the weather held. The children had a great time on Saturday and everyone enjoyed the many hours of music and dancing. If anybody did attend any festival this weekend let us know how it went. Any comments good or bad would be much appreciated!

Sneem Family Festival

We were on the road again this weekend, this time we headed to Sneem to watch the first National Wife Carrying competition. A good crowd had gathered to see this event which was very entertaining. The gentlemen had to carry their ladies/wives on their back. The lady had to be minimum weight of 49 kilos and any lady that wasn’t had to carry sand. Each couple had to navigate an obstacle course which included the dreaded water pool (quite a few of them ended up face down in said pool). The more cautious competitors tip toed their way through the water much to the disappointment of the crowd. It’s amazing how much a nice dunk in the water was enjoyed by all spectators! Anyway all the couples prevailed and made it to the finish line. The winning couple John O'Shea and Aoife Desmond from Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry won an all expenses paid trip to Finland to represent Ireland in the World Championship in 2009.

The other big attraction of the day was the crate climbing competition. The objective was to stack as many crates as possible before it keeled over. One of the competitors managed 19 crates but just before we went to get something to eat another guy stacked a whopping 26 crates he was nearly as high as the crane. The crowd encouraged him on when he placed each crate into position and oohed and the aahed as the crates wobbled and then laughed and cheered as they tumbled to the ground. A very good idea for an activity at a festival and most definitely a crowd pleaser. In the adult competition the winner was Eoin Kelly with 25 crates and in the childrens and overall winner was Marc O'Sullivan with 26 crates!

The Munster Fleadh Cheoil

Took a trip over to the Munster Fleadh yesterday. For the first time in a long time the weather was dry and the sun came out - now and again. It was my first proper relaxing summer’s day. I went to see my niece dancing in the under 12 set dancing competition. Unfortunately, her set didn’t win but I wish the Ballydonoghue set all the best in the All Ireland. Once I did my bit of supporting I headed into the town. There was a good crowd and nice buzz about. The entertainment had started on the main stage in the square and a crowd had gathered. We just sat, had a few beers and listened to the great music. I have to say I was very impressed with the organisation of the Fleadh and in particular the traffic management in the town. There was plenty of parking attendants and when we eventually left Kenmare the traffic was moving quite freely despite the crowd. Thumbs up to the organisers! Let’s hope the Fleadh will return to Kenmare next year!

Killarney Summerfest

The Summerfest is currently on in Killarney so a group of us headed over to have a look at what was going on. We came across a very good street entertainment group called Toot Sweet. The acrobatics were amazing. They are extremely talented and highly entertaining. They encouraged the crowd to get involve and even pulled one man into the act to help out. My niece (aged 9) loved it. Lets hope we see them in Tralee for the Rose of Tralee Festival.

We went back to Killarney last night to see the Outdoor Traditional Art show (8-10pm). We got there about 9.10pm and caught the end of the Spraoí Chiarraí performance which was very good. The music was excellent. When they finished we thought another group would perform as part of the show but no. Maybe due to the weather they decided to cut it short but I have to say it wasn’t raining that badly. So, a bit disappointed. However, if you like traditional Irish music and storytelling I would definitely recommend Spraoí Chiarraí. They are apparently doing a number of concerts around Killarney this summer.