This article is from page 24 of the 2008-07-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
THE ever increasing fame of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival could be its eventual downfall with copycat festivals beginning to sur- face right across the world.
Over the last eight month two new festivals modelling themselves on the Lisdoon festival have been an- nounced in America and in Asia.
Just last week the Chicago Irish Fest announced that it would be hosting its own matchmaking event entitled the Hooley Happy Festival.
Event organisers have claimed that the Lisdoonvarna Festival was the inspiration for the Hooley Happy Festival and have employed 86- year-old Irish matchmaker Maureen O’Looney, to oversee the romance.
Last year Lisdoonvarna matchmak- er Willie Daly, and festival organiser Marcus White travelled to Singapore and Thailand to consult with the na- tional tourist board wishing to set up matchmaking festivals in those countries. Daly believes that these new festivals will help and not hurt the Lisdoonvarna Festival.
“I think that Lisdoonvarna is prob- ably the best festival in the world. The music is so great and there is just so many places for people to meet,” he said.
“The atmosphere that we have in Lisdoonvarna is something hard to capture. I’d have no worries about festivals in other parts of the world taking people away from Lisdoon- varna. It’s all a help and there is plen- ty of room for all of us.
“We went to Singapore and Thai- land last week and there is great pos- sibilities out there for matchmaking.
The women out there are so very beautiful and they are shown from a very early age how to do all they can to help and support their man.
“That is something that most wom- en in the west have yet to properly realise.
“T think that a new festival in Thai- land would have huge possibilities and we could even see a Situation that people from Lisdoonvarna were going out there for their festival and people from there coming here for ours.”
Willie, who is Ireland’s foremost
matchmaker, also believes that peo- ple matched by matchmakers are much better couples than those who meet through the Internet.
“There are lots of people walking around now who would not be here if it wasn’t for matchmaking,” contin- ued Willie.
‘‘T have seen people matched up by a computer that I would never have put together – not in a million years.”
The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival runs each year during the month of September. For more check out www.matchmakerireland.com.