Colm & Martin start their festival journey
RIGHT!
That's it!
It was a tough winter and the Summer is here so we've decided.
We've decided to try hit as many festivals as possible this season AND we've decided we want as many people as possible to join us! Big festivals, small festivals, celebrating anything from a Rock God to a Rasher, we're gonna be there in our, definition of the colour RED, red. Come find us, share a laugh, get involved, we all deserve it! BEST SUMMER EVER!
First up, we headed to the Éigse Arts Festival in Carlow. This wee festival has been running for a solid 31 years apparently! We had never heard of it, so it was the perfect place to ease ourselves into Summer and crack open the craic! We hadn't a rashers what we were in for...
Day One and we hit the crowds in Carlow Town Square where the demographic of women, children and over 65's wasn't proving too promising for the Céilí Mór we had been hoping for. Jaws picked up off the floor and set back in place, we tapped the least terrified looking people on the shoulder and got stuck into the dance. The Siege of Ennis. Michael Flatley called five minutes later and asked us to tour with him for the rest of the summer. "Sorry Michael", we said, "We're doing the Festival circuit this summer, some other time though!"
After we managed to complete the 9 minute long dance, we had just enough time to make it to The Taste of Carlow! It's sister event in Dublin is held in the Iveagh Gardens with stalls from all over the world, so we were salivating at the thoughts of what was next! Turns out, someone just borrowed the name, 'Taste of', stuck it in front of Carlow, and decided to hold an event where the venue was a man's backgarden, and the food was burgers, cocktail sausages, black pudding and cheese. GAS. We did sit down and have the craic with a few locals, and some people even played the fiddle or got up and sang a song they had written about their guitar. This was a pure rural Irish festival we were stuck into, and we went with it!
On our way home, our trusty little red fun bus began to smell like burning. One minute you're up and the next minute you're broke down at the side of the M9 near Kilgowan! Towed and repairs in progress, we ploughed on into Day Two.
Tumbleweed. Éigse had not a lot down in her timetable for the second day of this 10 day festival, but a few exhibitions and a performance that evening of Carlow IADT's '5 Tails'. We checked out the exhibitions of sculpture, photography and art - all quite impressive, but our craic-o-meter was waning a little and suddenly we were tempted to grab the nearest local and dance The Siege of Ennis again.
The performance that evening was impressive - a collection of animal costumes constructed to look and move like the real animals themselves - Irish Elk, Tortoises, Owls, Butterflies. We interviewed one of the directors who explained the painstaking work involved in constructing them - observing the animals movements in their natural habitat, as well as visiting the Natural History Museum to analyze their skeletal structures!
Overall, Éigse was a nice festival. Geared more towards families with children than anything else, so we'd give it 5 rashers out of 10.
We'll have the campervan back in a couple of days. Come find us or spot us at whatever festival you're at - we'll be there! Beep, Shout, Laugh, Cry - we want to have the craic with ye so come on!
Colm & Martin
Posted: 29/06/2010 18:30:17 by
Colm & Martin
Filed under: Colm+Martin, Eigse, Festivals, Carlow