This article is from page 78 of the 2008-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 78 JPG
IT IS festival peak season in west Clare this weekend, as three local festivals and a prestigious agricul- tural show will entertain visitors and locals enjoying the bank holiday.
Cooraclare, Kildysart and Kilmihil are making last minute preparations for their annual week and weekends of festive fun.
The Kildysart Cultural Festival will be the first to begin the merrymak- ing, as it starts tomorrow evening with a car treasure hunt.
Flower power will be the order of the day until the end of the festival on Monday, August 4, as the theme of the festival this year is “The Sixties”. The festival has been a major fund-
raiser during the last five years for the provision of a public playground, which is now complete.
A total of €190,000 has been spent on the project to date, but the fund- raising 1S on-going as it is hoped that phase two of the project will begin shortly.
The second part of this ambitious project will include an all weather pitch, dressing rooms, and toilet fa- cilities.
This year the famous Kildysart Agricultural Show will take place on the Saturday of the festival on the Cahercon Road, with the exhibition hall in the village.
In its 66th year the show will in- clude as always the All-Ireland two- year filly championship.
Labasheeda native John O’Sullivan from the Quickpark company this year announced his commitment to sponsoring the Champion Young Horse for another five years.
The Kilmihil Festival of Fun begins on this Friday, August |, with the un- der 12 football followed by “Crazy Ball Game” and barrel racing.
This festival, best known for its “Bonham Racing” began in its present format in 2000.
It has developed from a one-day event to the present day four-day fes- tival, finishing up on Bank Holiday Monday.
Each year new events are added to improve and expand the range of ac- tivities of this family and community eee COLORED
Preparations are also underway for one of west Clare’s longest running festivals. In its 29th year the ever- popular Rose of Clare Festival will begin on Saturday, August 2, with a song contest in Danganelly Tavern, Cooraclare.
The week long festival will run un- til Friday, bringing craic, ceoil and lots of lovely ladies to the villages of Cree and Cooraclare.
This year, as always, a dozen new roses will be introduced to the crowd after the Sunday afternoon Fancy Dress parade in Cree, by Clare man of the year and local man Martin Done
The people of west Clare will be spoilt for choice of holidaying at home this long weekend.