Westport Festival a real family event

Arts Week with Ciaran Tierney

Last year’s inaugural Westport Festival of Music and Performing Arts was so much fun that the only question on revellers’ lips as they left the picturesque grounds was whether or not the organisers would decide to run it again for another year.

The two-day festival had been marred by poor weather on the Saturday and sluggish early ticket sales until the sun broke through on the Sunday but, thankfully, word soon filtered back after it ended that plans were being put in place for another knees-up at the end of this month.

They have kept with the family-friendly vibe which proved such a runaway success in 2012 – children under 12 get in for free when accompanied by an adult – and have an increased emphasis on food for an event which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30.

Once again, the emphasis is on quality live Irish music, with a few international stars thrown in, and while there might be minor gripes that the likes of The Waterboys, Imelda May, and Damien Dempsey were on the bill 12 months ago, there can be few complaints about the standard of the acts on offer.

Indeed, West of Ireland music fans should be thrilled that a true Irish legend, Christy Moore, will headline the main stage on the Saturday night. The former Planxty and Moving Hearts man, joined as ever by the trusted Declan Sinnott, was perhaps one of the few glaring omissions from last year’s stunning bill.

And, given their strong Galway connections, there can be few complaints from these quarters about the return of Mike Scott and The Waterboys. They will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legendary Fisherman’s Blues album (recorded in An Spideál) at the end of the year, but if they can repeat the energy and enthusiasm of their 2012 Westport set they should ensure quite a buzz around the superb 400-acre site.

The grounds of Westport House looked as though they were perfectly designed for a music festival 12 months ago and it’s a delightful prospect for Galway music fans to have such an eclectic mixture of artists performing just a few kilometres up the road again.

It’s not just about Irish acts, either, as they have added the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and 1980s superstars ABC to the main stage bill for the Saturday night. The prospect of seeing veteran Cuban musicians belting out the tunes, next to a historic old castle, really whets the appetite following the fine Afrocubism gig at the Galway Arts Festival’s Big Top a couple of summers ago.

Few will begrudge a return to the main stage for Imelda May, either, after her storming rockabilly set 12 months ago. It was the Dublin singer’s last gig before she gave birth to her first child and all the more memorable for the sense of joy her band brought to the set.

The Sunday night bill will be headlined by Elvis Costello and The Imposters, who rarely visit the West of Ireland, while there should also be plenty of 1980s nostalgia in the air when veterans Squeeze take to the same stage earlier in the evening.

There is a strong Galway presence at the Mayo festival, too, with performances by both The Stunning and gifted Athenry singer Julie Feeney on the Marquee Stage on the Saturday; while the new Galway band, The Cabin Collective, play the main outdoor arena on the Sunday afternoon.

The Cabin Collective must have mighty connections, because they got their music career off to a flying start with an appearance on RTÉ’s Late Late Show before producing a full live set at An Taibhdhearc in Galway for two nights during Cúírt.

This eight-piece have become known as a West of Ireland ‘super group’. The musicians who make up the band need no introduction as they include Leo Moran of The Saw Doctors, Tuam native Noelie McDonnell, former Waterboy Anthony Thistlewaite (who now lives in Gort) and Keith Mullins.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.