Cois Fharraige to go ahead - Doves to headline

This hot off the press, with barely a month to go before it is due to take place, Cois Fharraige is to go ahead and Doves are to headline the three day festival, taking place September 11,12,13.

Also included in the line-up are The Zutons (returning again), Newton Faulkner, Noah & The Whale, The Hold Steady, Stereo MC’s, Lightning Seeds and Jerry Fish - with more acts to be announced in the coming days.

As exclusively revealed on these pages and in the Limerick Leader, the festival has been in the pipeline for the last weeks and months, but sponsorship and licencing issues and recession problems have meant it was touch and go to go ahead.

With the support of local businesses and all relevant parties on board, MCD have today announced that the hugely popular festival - which has drawn in excess of 15,000 people into the seaside village in the last two years - will go ahead, with a rather impressive line-up.

More from the blurb:

Early bird weekend tickets are priced 89 euro inclusive of booking fee up until September 1 and 99 euro incl. booking fee after. Tickets go on sale this Tuesday August 11 at 9 am.

Please note: There is no on site camping available. For further information please contact Western Tourism on www.discoverireland.ie/west

Keep it here for more updates, interviews, giveaways to come.

Update on Cois Fharraige - from today's Limerick Chronicle

Alan Owens
LIMERICK music fans who have flocked to Kilkee in recent years for the Cois Fharraige festival might still be in luck this year, despite fears the MCD run festival would not go ahead.
Cois Fharraige drew 10-15,000 revellers to the small town last year, a significant portion of which were from Limerick. However, the sponsors of the previous festivals have not renewed their interest this year, leaving the three day festival in limbo.
A meeting was held in the seaside resort on Monday evening between local business people and an MCD official with the intention of ensuring the festival goes ahead again this year.
“An MCD official met with Kilkee business people this Monday - for a last chance meeting,” said a source who attended the meeting.
“The festival will be relying heavily on local business people and Clare Co. Council to come up with some form of sponsorship.
We have grouped together and there is a lot of local support for this to still go ahead - there is huge potential with this festival to draw large crowds to Kilkee.”
An official announcement is expected in the next couple of days.

MCD apply for Kilkee Cois Fharraige licence

On the Beat has learned that MCD have applied for a licence to hold Cois Fharraige in Kilkee again this year, with September 11-13 the dates being sought.

This news would bring a massive boost to the seaside town - and the Mid West region - as upwards of 15,000 people have flocked to the idyllic resort over the last two years for the three day festival.

More news when we get it, but see below for a report on last year's festival.

DESPITE predictions it might be a complete washout, somehow the return of Cois Fharraige - held in association with Sony Ericsson - to Kilkee, proved another remarkable success for the small coastal village.

A deluge of rain reaching epic proportions threatened to turn many - this reporter included - off making the short trip from Limerick last Friday.

Like many Limerick natives, Kilkee is something of a second home for me, and this festival was a keenly awaited one.

There must have been shudders in Kilkee when the rains set in on Friday, but despite this thousands of eager music fans flocked to the town, and facilities were much improved this year, with a number of camp sites available to those souls set to brave the elements.

The major feature of last year’s festival were the huge numbers of people who arrived down for the weekend with no intention of taking in the music on offer in St Senan’s GAA pitch at the top of O’Curry Street. Instead, they intended to soak up the atmosphere on offer around the town, and again, this proved the case. Pubs provided music of their own, with some going all out to capture punters.

Meanwhile, up to 6,500 ticket holders took the time to check out the likes of the Coronas, the Futureheads and the Zutons in the kayham tent on the Friday night. Conditions were soggy at best, but the Zutons in particular provided a sparkling performance, with the camera chiefly interested in attractive saxophone player Abi Harding.

Amazingly, the weather on Saturday morning was perfect - blue skies and sunshine were gently tempered by a wind that became merely a breeze as the day wore on. Entertainment was provided around the town and the main street was mobbed from an early hour. Personalities like Munster’s Paul O’Connell were more than happy to sign autographs and pose for photographs in the sunshine.

It was left to bands 28 Costumes and the Broken Family Band to contend with the lure of the Irish soccer international on Saturday evening, before Kila continued their impressive run of spirited performances as they returned for a second year.

However, one of the highlights of the weekend was the dungaree-wearing, Jack Daniels swigging, three-string guitar playing Seasick Steve Wold, who blasted out his hobo-style songs I Started Out With Nothing and I Still Got Most of It Left and Doghouse Blues.

Unfortunately laddish rock band Supergrass were not as impressive, impassively taking to the stage and blasting out six or seven new tracks with little compunction or connection with the crowd, before playing hits Moving and Richard III.

"This is a nice place you’ve got here, we’ve been here now for a few days," singer Gaz Coombes tells the crowd, before the band rush through a version of monster hit Alright - apparently a song they haven’t played in a long time.

As we file out of the tent after Pumping on your Stereo, the party continues downtown as the main street is wedged with people dancing in the street.Incredibly, Gardai later confirm that despite the huge numbers in town for the weekend, the majority are well-behaved with few public order offences.

Sunday brings the undoubted highlight of what has become a very successful weekend, for punters and businesses alike. Scottish legends Travis draw such a roar from the crowd that Fran Healy is forced to stick his fingers in his ears, and the band put on a show that liberally sprinkles classic hits with newer, edgier material such as J Smith and new single Something Anything.

Writing to Reach You, Side, Turn and Flowers in the Window are played with such joy and aplomb that people remember why they loved Travis in the first place.

And the band can hardly be heard over the roar of finale Why Does it Always Rain on Me, happily sung with gleeful irony rather than resignation.

With any luck this festival will return next year, but, if not, we always have two brilliant weekends to look back on.