Memories to Last
While the Ardmore Pattern Festival 2010 is now but a memory, it will be long remembered by the thousands who visited the beautifully ancient seaside village of Ardmore, Co Waterford. Those visitors participated in over 70 events including tours, talks, artists trail, open air concerts, markets, kiddies events and displays which unfurled over three days and generated a huge buzz during the Festival run from 23rd to 25th July.
There was an energy and humour not witnessed before and Ardmore was heaving with activity, anticipation and excitement! The happy sounds of summer echoed through every crevice of the village - the playful noise of children, music, cheer and laughter echoed from the Festival Square in front of St Declan’s Church up to the High Road and beyond, seagulls squealed with delight and even the Round Tower appeared to lean towards Main Street to get a better view of the action!
Now, in its fourth year, the Ardmore Pattern Festival built on the strengths and popularity of previous years and offered a rich mix of events for all ages and had festival goers on the trot from the ‘get-go’. The newly introduced Festival Warm-Up events set the scene for a wonderful weekend, comprising of a lecture on the ‘Archaeology of Ardmore’ by local archaeologist John Tierney, the screening of a documentary called ‘Ardmore Now & Then’ by Tony Gallagher and an evening in concert with the Kilkenny Gospel Choir with special guests and local talents – Kathleen Quinn & Aine Neville-O’Donoghue.
With so much going on during the Festival Weekend it is difficult to report on it all. Suffice to say, thousands of people witnessed one of the most spectacular Pattern Festivals in Ardmore! This year’s Pageant was definitely one of the highlights of the Festival, when on Saturday evening 24th July, the Feast Day of St. Declan, scenes were recreated from 5th Century Ireland in front of the Church, enthralling the huge crowd that was in attendance. St. Declan’s interaction with the local people of the time, narrated by Liam Suipéil, was wonderful and hugely symbolic.
Ardmore’s hurling sons - Clinton Hennessey and Declan & Seamus Prendergast – paid a visit to the Festival and raised the Munster Hurling Cup on the Festival stage on Saturday night, much to the delight of all. It was a proud moment for the Waterford people! Sean Kelly, MEP also paid a very welcome visit on Saturday to witness the Festival first hand and spent his time wandering about to see various events and absorbing what Ardmore has to offer.
The Festival Square was the perfect hub for the weekend and was a hive of activity right up to the finale extravaganza when it was transformed into a scene from the ‘Wild West’ for the Hoedown with Two Time Polka (pictured). Sincere thanks to Waterford County Council for their co-operation in ensuring that the area was remediated as far as practicable for the weekend following the sewerage works and for the continued support of the local outdoor staff.
Of course the Ardmore Pattern Festival would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of our PP, Rev. Fr. Milo Guiry, our Sponsors, to whom the Committee would like to express its sincere gratitude, in addition to those who donated during fundraising events and over the Festival Weekend. The Pattern Festival continues to enjoy support from a wide variety of clubs and organisations and we would like to thank our volunteers who gave willingly of their time to steward, manage the festival office, work as litter pickers, direct traffic and manage other events ... a huge word of thanks to you all!
Ardmore Pattern Festival 2010 has made memories to last a life time and stories to be re-counted over again. A huge thank you to every one of you who came and participated, watched, listened, danced, laughed and made the Ardmore Pattern Festival 2010 the success that it was ... thank you for being with us! Here’s to Festival 2011 ;o) ! Míle Buíochas daoibh go léir!
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