The inaugural Boyne Midsummer Festival Drogheda took place over the weekend of 21st to 23rd June and the town was ablaze with activities from funfairs, music, facepainting, balloon modelling, petting zoos, live music and dance, Busk at Dusk, The Stowaway Sessions with SJ McArdle and Jerry Fish, Night Moves Trad Trail, the return of Music at the Gate and so much more. Consisting of a day-to-night programme of events that offered something for all audiences, the Boyne Midsummer Festival Drogheda showcased the very best that Drogheda has to offer and how well the town can play host to a variety of festivals.
The festival team made up of Drogheda Festival, Droichead Arts Centre, Scotch Hall, Love Drogheda BID and the Drogheda Tourism Cluster were supported in their delivery by Failte Ireland and Louth County Council. Sabhbh Ni Mhaolagáin-Tourism Officer for Louth County Council stated “Louth County Council was delighted to support the Boyne Midsummer Festival. The festival was a great success with footfall through the town up significantly over the weekends, providing an overall economic boost to Drogheda. It was a great showcase of what Drogheda has to offer from music, food and community engagements. An excellent addition to the calendar of events in Drogheda.”
The Boyne Midsummer Festival saw the streets of Drogheda ring with music as Friday’s activities included Busk at Dusk, where several buskers took up prominent places on Drogheda’s streets to play to the crowds, despite the unhelpful weather. Saturday saw an increase of sunshine and volume as popular music event Music at Gate returned to the iconic Laurence’s Gate. A mixture of trad music, choir performances, local theatre groups and more took to the stage in front of delighted audiences, soaking up the atmosphere and the sunshine. “Collaboration is the name of the game going forward for Drogheda” commented Sarah Taaffe-Drogheda Festivals Chairperson, “the festival steering committee were a great group of people to work with. Its wonderful to have Music at the Gate back and we will only expand on this and look forward to next year.”
The music did not stop all weekend as Friday evening saw an incredible performance by local musicians SJ McArdle supporting Jerry Fish at the Stowaway Sessions in Drogheda Port, again under one of Drogheda’s iconic landmarks, the Boyne Viaduct. “This has been a fantastic collaborative festival with a small steering group driving it with the support of the Drogheda Tourism Cluster. Underneath the beauty of the viaduct, magic was created on Friday night with SJ McArdle and Jerry Fish” commented Collette Farrell of the Droichead Arts Centre. Coming off the success from their Spring project, the Droichead Arts Centre brought back the Night Moves Trad Trail on each of the evenings over the weekend, with trad sessions in bars and venues across the entire town including Odd Mollies, The Punt, The Mariner, Barney Macs, Nelly’s, Sarsfields and The Weavers.
Family activities, a petting zoo, children’s workshops, live DJs, magicians, facepainting, balloon modelling, funfair rides, music performances and more took place between both Scotch Hall and West Street with huge crowds of families enjoying the activities. “Scotch Hall was overjoyed to see the children of Drogheda and their families out enjoying the Boyne Midsummer Festival over the weekend. The waterfront became a hive of activity with funfair, live music and DJs, character meet and greets and with the sun shining, you couldn’t have found a better place to be than in Drogheda. The energy was infectious, and we are delighted and thrilled to have been part of such a joyous celebration” stated Nichola Kelly, Scotch Hall General Manager.
Trevor Connolly, Love Drogheda BID CEO, the ratepayers organization noted how the collaboration efforts of all festival partners is resulting in bigger and better events for Drogheda, which will all lead to positive outcomes for the town: “The Boyne Midsummer Festival has resulted in an estimated 44k plus in festival attendees across the town, with an average footfall increase of 80% between the town centre and Scotch Hall versus the same weekend the previous year. The impact that such community-orientated festivals have on the local economy cannot be understated ,but just as important is the impact they have on the local community and the sense of pride in the town. The festival schedule included a diverse programme of events, attracting audiences of all ages and showing what Drogheda can deliver on. Love Drogheda BID were delighted to be a part of it and a massive congratulations to the entire delivery team.”
Thank you to everyone who made the Boyne Midsummer Festival possible, including Louth County Council, Failte Ireland, Ireland’s Ancient East, Drogheda Port, Jamie & Oisin at , Brena McComeskey, the staff at Droichead Arts Centre, Order of Malta, An Garda Siochana, Boyne Fisherman, SJ McArdle and Jerry Fish, all the bars and artists that hosted and performed at the Night Moves Trad Trails, Mayne Stage Events and all the buskers, 501stGarrison, Drogheda United Football Team, Scotch Hall shopping centre, K Allen Events and all their staff, Tidy Towns, the TUS team and all volunteers who helped clean up the town, Drogheda Festivals committee, Darragh O’Héiligh and everyone who performed at Music at the Gate, Anthony Murphy and Grainne Rafferty for leading the walking tours, all the music groups, DJs and performers who played at Scotch Hall, Drogheda Brass Band, the Absurdist Pipe Band, Broken Theatre and the performers on West Street, Cathal Thornton and the volunteer stewards for West Street, Love Drogheda BID, the Drogheda Tourism Cluster for their support and lastly you, the wonderful audiences who came out to have fun and take part in the festival. We could not have done it without you.
The Boyne Midsummer Festival is brought to you by Scotch Hall, Drogheda Festivals, Droichead Arts Centre, Love Drogheda BID and Louth County Council, with support from Drogheda Tourism Cluster, Failte Ireland and sponsorship from Drogheda Port.
Photo Credits: Jenny Callanan Photography with thanks.
