Body and Soul Solstice Gathering this weekend

The first ever Body and Soul festival is gearing up to take off this weekend, with superb weather forecasted for the next few days.

The Body and Soul Solstice Gathering 2010 has essentially relocated the beating heart of the Stradbally based Electric Picnic extravaganza to Ballinlough Castle in Co. Meath for the weekend, with Four Tet, !!! (CHK CHK CHK), Jape, R.S.A.G and Tuung, among many, many others, set to provide a superb soundtrack to the festival.

The full line-up for the main stage is listed below, but, like its older Picnic-brother, the Body and Soul solstice festival features a veritable cornucopia of events, music and otherwise, including - I am led to believe - "acoustic jams, impromptu parties, wood-fired hot tubs, winding paths through delicious food stalls, holistic arts, a secluded soul kids garden, a masquerade ball with a moonlit orchestra, and bonfires under the stars".

The closing ceremony on Sunday will also feature a night-time extravaganza celebrating the theme of this year’s Summer Solstice: Phoenix Rising, and those present can expect Pyrotechnic/Pyro-Performance pieces around Sun Discs, fireworks and some other fire-fantastical elements.

A full line-up of events is available here.

Ballinlough Castle is nestled between the towns of Athboy and Clonmellon, Co. Meath. On the N52 (Kells to Mullingar Road) 3 miles south of Clonmellon and 4 miles west of Athboy.

Saturday's line-up/times:

12:15 - 2am - Gaudi
10:45-12:00am - Four Tet
9:15 - 10:15pm - Jape
8:00 - 8:45pm - Crystal Fighters
6:15 - 7:15pm - Voice of the Seven Thunders
4:30 - 5:30pm - Broken Records
3:00 - 3:45pm - Wiggle
2:00 - 2:30pm - Chequerboard
1:00 - 1:30pm - Patrick Kelleher & Cold Dead Hands
12 - 12:30pm - Jennifer Evans
11:00 - 11:30am - Imogen Gunner & the Imo band

Sunday:

1:00 -2am - RSAG
11:15-12:30am - !!! (Chk Chk Chk)
9:30 - 10:30pm - Blue King Brown
7:45 - 8:45pm - Tunng
5:40 - 7:15pm - Donal Dineen, Niwel Tsumbu & guests
4:25 - 5:10pm - Kormac's Big Band
3:15 - 3:55pm - The Egg
2:00 - 2:40pm - Katie Kim
1:00 - 1:30pm - Eoin Duignan
12 - 12:30pm - Colette
10:30-11:30am - Dr Alex Paterson

A limited number of tickets are still available and are available here. Gates open at 9am on Saturday. For more see here. Enjoy!