Celebrations in full swing for Festival Francais de Portarlington 2015
The town’s atmosphere is already soaring, with great local support at the fundraising events held in the lead up to the festivities. The festivities were kicked off with music night ‘FundAFest’ in The Barrow Lodge, the annual Golf Classic at Portarlington Golf Club and Rock’n’Roll bingo. June 19th, saw the official launch of the festival held in The Anvil Inn and the crowning of the 2015 Festival Queen, Niamh Murphy. The crowds rallied once again to support musicians in O’Dea’s Bar and Bistro, for a chance to win a slot on the festival main stage for festival Friday. The winners on the night were Relentless Pilgrims, Edenderry and joint 2nd were local competitors Paul Dinan and Anthony Murphy.
Speaking about the festival, Mary Foy, festival coordinator said “Without these fundraising events there would be no festival and we really appreciate the community coming out and showing their support. We enjoy holding the lead up events just as much as we look forward to the weekend. They are great fun!”
As it is for most festivals, the music line up is the announcement that everyone anticipates and the Festival Francais never seems to disappoint. This year’s festival headlining acts can be enjoyed by all ages – Reminisce back to the 1980’s with pop music tribute band ‘Now That’s What I Call Live’ taking to the main stage on Friday night; LIVE FOREVER, Oasis/Blur tribute band, Saturdaynight and closing out the festival weekend is the always fantastic ‘BIG GENERATOR’.
Mary Foy, continued “We always try and deliver when it comes to the music side of the festival, as we know that this is one of the main attractions. The committee has pulled together some new ideas for the weekend but we will also still be keeping the events we know everyone enjoys like the snail eating, pet show, bonny baby competition and the street markets.”
The festival’s jam packed weekend will host its annual Snail eating competition on Sunday, 11th July, which always proves to be a very entertaining affair! Other activities that can be enjoyed over the weekend include water themed events such as zorbing, boating, duckrace; 10k Escargot Race and lots of street entertainment and some surprises along the way!
For more information about Festival Francais de Portarlington 2015, please visit their facebook page.