This article is from page 31 of the 2007-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
WHILE the tourist trade in the rest of the country is starting to get qui- et, Lisdoonvarna is shaping up for a September invasion with the start of this year’s Matchmaking Festival.
The festival, which attracts thou- sands to north Clare each September, opens this weekend with the annual race meeting in Doolin.
“We have three days of racing – Fri- day afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. It brings in a whole different section of people to the festival. The local farmers let the jockeys board their horses on their farms, so everyone is really supportive ,’ said Mark Flana-
gan, Festival Organiser.
‘The focus for the second weekend is on country and western music. We have some great country and western music groups in the town and all the different hotels and pubs will host some great music.
The music carries on all the time, all the way through the festival. There will be a lot of music and danc- ing going on during the day with the first dance of the day taking place at 12 noon at the Spa Wells throughout September.”
During the third, fourth and fifth weekends of the festival the work of local matchmaker Willie Daly really gets going. He sets up shop in the
Matchmaker Bar and helps to match singles together.
“This year we have found that we have never had as many booking and enquiries. The phones have been hop- ping in all the hotels, there is a huge interest in this year’s event,” said Festival Organiser, Marcus White.
“The vast majority of the people who come are Irish. A lot of them come on the weekends but what we have done over the last few years is to put on a lot of midweek dancing too. A lot of couples would to that – it’s not just a singles event, a lot of couple come for the music and the dancing.”
The reputation of the Matchmak-
ing Festival has grown so much that Marcus has been invited to Singa- pore to give a talk on matchmaking later this year.
The grand final of the Matchmak- ing Festival as always is the crowning of Mr. Lisdoonvarna and the Queen of the Burren, which sees the most eligible gentleman and lady awarded the coveted titles.