BALLYHEIGUE
SUMMER FESTIVAL 2007
Festival Highlights
Since the revamp of the Ballyheigue Summer
Festival in 2003 each years festival has become bigger and better. Last years
Festival was hugely successful but the 2007 Ballyheigue Summer Festival has
raised the bar yet again by becoming the best attended and most action packed
yet.
The Festival kicked off on Tuesday night with the Brain of Ballyheigue pub quiz in the White Sands Hotel with over 100 people (27 teams) taking part. The winning team correctly answered a highly impressive 91 out of 96 questions beating the second place team by 5 points.
On Wednesday we had the official opening in the Community Centre which gave everyone a chance to see this years Festival Queen candidates. The opening was performed by Oige Moran and was followed by a superb fashion show displaying some of the finest clothing available in Kerrys boutiques. Michelle did a great job presenting the clothes. Some of the highlights were the Communion children, the Bridal wear section and Caroline Leahys knitwear. The interval entertainment took the form of a fantastic short film produced by the 6th class kids of Booleenshare National School. Meanwhile the Gig Rig rocked to the sound of some great young DJs.
Thursday saw the start of the many outdoor activities and luckily the weather was kind to us with the Kids Fun on the Beach attracting over 100 children to take part in a bunch of games and activities. This was closely followed by the Beach Soccer Blitz in which Marian Park regained the trophy that they lost last year. As usaul the pitch was marked out to exacting UEFA standards by Michael. The final against the old boys from the street was a tense affair which required penalties to separate the teams. On the gig rig we had a Ballyheigues got Talent competition which gave the youth of the town a chance to show off their talents.Thursday night saw the first entertainment in the Festival Marquee. This took the form of Tony Stephens and his band who provided some wonderful music and dancing for those who attended.
On Friday the Teenage Disco was a big hit with both local and visiting youths. On the beach their was great activity with the King of the Beach race to the Black Rock and the Terrier racing both taking place. The Beach Race had over twenty participants and this years King of the Beach was Mick Harkin (yours truly) in a time of 23:58. Pa Cashmans' Terrier racing was a great success with a good crowd in attendance to watch a gripping final which resulted in a narrow victory by the short haired dog. The Ladies soccer blitz then took place amid some controversy as referee John Brassil appeared to get a number of important decisions wrong and controversially awarded a penalty to Kirbys Bar. The resultant kick appeared to stop short of the line but the goal was awarded after a brief stoppage. This led to Kirbys winning the competition by 5 goals to 4. The Texas Hold ‘em poker classic in Flahives was won by Mikey Hartnett and there was a good crowd at the festival marquee for the Friday the 13th Disco.
The sun came out on Saturday and helped to ensure that a good day was had by all. The kids enjoyed some of their favourite movies at the Community Centre screening whilst on the Beach there was great conditions for the fishing competition in which close to 20 anglers took part. The kids disco in the Festival Marquee was great fun and the Offical Opening of the Handball Alley/Dressing rooms rounded off a memorable day. Young Street buskers got their chance to perform their traditional tunes in the evening and the Green Rooster DJs strutted their stuff in the Festival Marquee and a great crowd was to be seen throughout the village.
Sunday is traditionally family day out which many of the activities taking place out of doors and again we were blessed with some decent weather. The sand castle competition drew an amazing crown with almost 100 children taking part and giving the Festival Queens a tough task in judging the winners. The historical walk was also the best attended yet and it attracted people from a number of countries. On the village the green the fete took place. This year it was organised by Booleenshare NS and was a great success with bouncy castles, sumo wrestling and much more. The punch and Judy show took place in the Community centre whilst the ladies tug of war featured the Cork Chicks, the Ballyheigue Babes, the Festival Queens and Kirbys bar. Some great pulls eventually saw Kirbys bar emerge as the victors to retain their crown. The kids also had a competition with Ballyheigues boys and girls taking on the tourists.
Next came the first All Ireland Rock Paper Scissors Championship. This was a great success and the kids contest was held in the open air with a stunning backdrop of Mount Brandon and Tralee Bay. Over 100 people took part with Molly O’Reagan taking the kids title. Meanwhile congratulations to the winning adult and first All Ireland Rock Paper Scissors Champion, Lucy O’Connor who outthought and outfought the participants in the competition at the Golf Club. Butterbox Baloney also took place on the village green and was followed by the grand parade. This was the biggest parade yet and provided some great entertainment in the form of bands, floats and other amusements the primary one being in the form of John Healy as Ginger Spice. A huge crowd supported the event and stayed on to enjoy the night.
Sunday night saw the selection of the Festival Queen and as usual Daithi O’Shea was on hand to interview the contestants and announce the winner. This years lucky lady was Brenda Lawlor who represented the White Sands Hotel.
The festival finale took place in the Marquee
with A-she, D-she (aka Electric Ladyland) rocking the crowd with some great
tunes. Their performance really was electric and the huge crowd really enjoyed
the show. Heres hoping that next years Festival will continue the trend and be
better again. Thanks to all who sponsored, supported or attended the various
events and don’t forget that volunteers are always welcome. Feel free to contact
me at
mharkin@ballyheiguefestival.com
Click to download Brochure (PDF)
