Castlepollard and North Westmeath are to receive a significant tourism boost next summer when a major international music event, Life Festival, celebrates its tenth anniversary at a new venue, Tullynally Castle.
by Ronan Casey
Topic understands that the festival promoters have severed their association with Belvedere House, Gardens and Park in Mullingar, where the festival has been staged since 2010. An official announcement on the new home for the award-winning event is imminent but Topic can confirm the festival will take place in Tullynally over the three days and nights of the June Bank Holiday weekend 2015.
It represents a major coup for both Tullynally and Castlepollard. In recent years Life Festival has grown considerably, attracting almost 10,000 festival-goers to the midlands from all over the world. With major international acts from the electronic, dance, rock and pop worlds set to be announced in the months ahead, ‘Life’ will put Tullynally on the map.
Speculation has been rife in music industry circles in recent months that ‘Life’ was moving. The event has doubled in size since its first staging at Belvedere in 2010. Their decision to pull out will have a major impact on Belvedere’s books in the year ahead as ‘Life’ was one of its biggest earners. It will also have an impact in Mullingar where the spin-off was considerable.
However, for Castlepollard and Tullynally it is happy days and a major local spin-off will benefit local hotels, B&Bs, shops, restaurants and supermarkets, not just over the festival weekend but in the run up to the event as hundreds of workers prepare the site.
TIGHT-LIPPED
Management at Tullynally were tight-lipped about breathing new life into the north Westmeath estate. General manager Bartle D’Arcy would neither confirm or deny that ‘Life’ was moving there. “All we can confirm is that we have big plans for the year ahead,” Mr D’Arcy said.
The promoters of the festival could also not comment pending an official announcement.
Westmeath County Council, who operate Belvedere, also would not comment on what is a major blow for the estate. County Councillors told Topic that the budget for the year ahead featured a five-figure sum related to the proposed hire ‘.
According to the Council’s Draft Budget 2015, it was hoped Belvedere would bring in €346,000 in 2014, but the final figure is estimated to be closer to €317,800. As he presented the budget at a recent meeting, the County Manager predicts Belvedere will bring in €307,400 in revenue in 2015. He anticipated that business will be down 11.2%.
Belvedere cost the Council €606,288 to run in 2014, up from the estimated €594,509 agreed at last years budget meeting. The County Manager estimates that expenditure will be €571,098 in 2015, running a loss of over a quarter of a million. An extra capital provision of €25,000 was signed in for next year.
Whilst they would not comment on ‘Life’, Tullynally’s management did confirm that numbers are up 20% on this time last year, and the historic castle has just been chosen as a ‘must-see’ on the most popular inbound tour from America in 2015 – the eight day ‘Full Irish’ by Mullingar-based company, Exploring Vacations.
The ‘Full Irish’ will bring in thousands of American tourists to Mullingar for two days, twice a week from March to October, visiting Tullynally, Uisneach and other local sites before moving south.
Life Festival began in Charleville Castle in 2006, grown from an area at Glastonbury, before it moved to Galway, then Ballinlough Castle before settling at Belvedere. Its choice of location received rave international acclaim and the festival has won multiple international and Irish festival awards.
