Irish Summer Festivals

Anyone reading the National Newspapers last week would have been surprised to see over twelve hundred people dressed as Smurfs in Castleblaney’s main street. The reason was not an attempt to twin the town with Smurf village but a world record bid that was designed to highlight the town’s three day Muckno Mania festival.

There are hundreds of festivals taking place right across Ireland at the moment and they are as much a part of the Irish summer as barbeques, 99s and light drizzle. Just to be clear I’m not talking about the big corporate rock and music events that have shot up in recent years but the smallish locally organised parish, village and town festivals that celebrate something particularly unique about their locality.

These festivals are usually organised on a voluntary basis by members of the local community. Many long hours of planning go into them with the plans for the next year’s event starting almost as soon as the current one is over. As well as providing some good days out for visitors many festivals and local events can provide a source of income to local charities or community projects.

In most cases the festivals have a long established theme celebrating something connected with the culture of an area. In Louth and Meath we have lots of festivals dedicated to a part of country life that has now all but disappeared. These events allow you to see traditional activities such as steam thrashing, hay-cutting with scythes, ploughing with horses and butter making for example. Other country pursuits such as tug of war, sheaf-tossing and set dancing are usually also in evidence. These events give you a flavour of what life was like in the not to distant past and a chance to see steam engines, vintage tractors and other now redundant farm machinery. There is also usually a wide array of farm animals in attendance taking part in dog, cattle, horse and sheep competitions.

In recent years organisers have come up with more creative themes in order to attract interest. This approach can have mixed results. Ardee Baroque Music festival and Drogheda’s Samba festival have both established themselves on the festival circuit. However Dundalk’s “Christmas in July” from a few years ago never made it past year one. The town has had more success with its Táin eclectic music and Samrhradh (Summer) art festivals though.

If you plan to visit the area around Smarmore Castle this summer then it is worth checking with the local tourist office or with us to find out if there is a festival happening. But be warned. You may be expected to paint your face and don a Smurf outfit depending on what one you go to.