This article is from page 64 of the 2009-11-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 64 JPG
THE curtain came down last night on the 15th annual Ennis Trad Fes- tival. A performance by the Alan Kelly Quartet rounded off the festi- val, which organisers are hailing as AME CLentoe
Committee member Kevin Finu- cane said the four-day festival drew big crowds.
“There seems to have been a good crowd around alright; particularly on the Saturday for the Lunasa gig but there seems to have been good crowds around all weekend. We haven’t got an official figure on the numbers yet but in terms of musicians, there was a big turnout. Talking to the pubs where there were sessions on, there seems to have been a lot of people around. It’s a sign that music brings people to the pubs,” he said.
This year’s festival had been in doubt but its future was secured through increased support from En- nis Town Council, local businesses, the Vintner’s Federation and the ar-
rival of Guinness as main festival Sponsor.
““T think the fact that there was doubt about it, more people came along to support it. Between concerts and ses- sions, CD launches and workshops, there was an awful lot going on. The hotels were full. You couldn’t get ac- commodation anywhere so I think that’s a fair indication of the amount of people that were around,’ added Kevin.
The festival kicked off on Thursday night with a performance by Clare band Moher at the Temple Gate Ho- tel. Saturday night saw some of the best traditional bands face off against each other in the West County Hotel for the Ard Ghaisce na mBuionta, or Great Band Challenge.
Trad band Lunasa drew big crowds to the Auburn Lodge for their per- formance, also on Saturday night.
Sunday saw two legends of tradi- tional Irish music, Frankie Gavin and ‘Tony McMahon, take to the stage for a rare joint concert at the Old Ground Hotel.