This article is from page 4 of the 2011-08-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE teenagers of Newmarket-onFergus have found their own way to promote the village summer festival – by making a film!
Members of the local Buzz Stop café decided to launch the Village Carnival – a three-day festival commencing on Friday, August 26 – in style by visiting Mooghaun Woods and filming.
The filming took place throughout last Thursday, culminating in a three-minute production. It will appear on the festival’s website and on youtube later this week.
The idea came from the teenagers themselves, as they were keen to use a novel approach to get involved in the festival.
The film is an artistic take on history and features stories of Newmarket in the past.
“We did the theme of the bronze age meeting the 19th century when the new gold was found again,” said co-ordinator Siobhán O’Driscoll of Obair in Newmarket.
“It is thought that the King buried his gold and never returned. The gold was found in Ballycar near Mooghaun when they were building the railway track,” she added.
More than 20 youths were involved in the production, which was supported by the Clare Youth Service.
“The teenagers have a great interest in it,” she said.
Preparations are well underway for the festival later this month. It is the inaugural festival but the plan is to turn it into an annual event. Several years ago, a festival took place in the village every year. Then, it was a nine-day event and was the highlight of the summer locally.
Presidential hopeful Michael D Higgins will officially open the festival on Friday evening, when a parade will take centre stage and this will be followed by a busy schedule of events over the weekend. “The main thing on Friday and Sunday is to get the community involved,” said Ms O’Driscoll.
Mooghaun is very much on the agenda in the locality these days. A feasibility study is currently being carried out by Obair to determine what steps should be taken to boost tourism numbers in the locality. Members of the public have been invited to take part in this process, which could see a heritage centre, tourist office and budget accommodation being constructed in the area.
The aim is to publicise some of the lesser known tourist and heritage sites in the locality, such as the great Newmarket gold find, the bronze age hillfort at Mooghaun and a local tourist heritage trail.
A feasibility study for an interpretative centre is currently being carried out, which will be completed later this year.
Most events are free of charge. For full details, check out www.villagecarnival.com.