This article is from page 3 of the 2012-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE local community in North Clare will come together next month to undertake the biggest independent tourism launch in the history of the county. Six community-run festivals, which has a combined benefit to the local economy of more then € 10 million, will be launched at the Aillwee Caves on April 13.
The “Super Launch” which is being co-ordinated by the Ballyvaughan Community Development Group, will include six existing and new local festivals, which will bring thousands of tourist to the area this year.
Included in the launch will be the month-long Burren in Bloom Festival, which takes place in May; the Clare Burren Marathon; the Tour de Burren cycling event; the newly revived Ballyvaughan Races; The Burren Law School and the Féile Na Samhradh weekend, which will take place in June.
“This shows you what can happen when small dedicated groups in a villages come together, instead of people going off and doing their own thing. When people work together it works out much better for the village and nobody is clashing,” said Patrick O’Donoghue of the Ballyvaughan Community Development Group.
“When you put all of these together it really is an impressive collection of events. This is about coming together for one big launch, and then each group is free to get down to the real business of organising their own event. This is a way for us to showcase the area in one big event. We want to create something different, something unique. There is a lot going on in Ballyvaughan and we want to show that to people.”
The Ballyvaughan Community Development Group would like to invite other local groups to become involved in the event.
“We want to make this launch into a really big event. This is our chance to showcase the village and what is has and to show that the village is working together. It is not about splinter groups. We want to show that we can work together and put on several events properly,” continued Patrick.