Leixlip Festival

lods

Hate the way the village is given over to amusement operators from the North & stalls with Roma gypsies & people from outside with no connection with Leixlip. it should be about the community, not just about making a fast buck for people from outside the village.:mad:

Joe Public

From the website......

History:-
In 1989 one of the aims of the newly elected Town Commission was to hold a community event that would bring together the increasingly growing population of Leixlip and at the same time highlight the
attractions Leixlip had to offer. This was to be achieved by hosting an annual festival for the town.

Aims and Objectives:-
To provide a quality summer festival for the people of Leixlip, that would encourage them to stay in Leixlip and in turn invite their friends or relatives to spend the June Bank Holiday Weekend in Leixlip.
•To promote trade and industry within the area and in particular highlight the wide range of hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés.
•To promote the many historical and tourist attractions in and surrounding Leixlip.
•To encourage awareness among the community of the positive aspects of living in Leixlip and its environs, and advance the community spirit already evident in the region.
•To provide a training project that offers quality training to its participants and assist the Committee in the administration work of the Festival.

BuffyBot

I'm sure the numerous indigenous providers of amusement services in Leixlip are outraged..oh, wait..

Eric Cartman

the leixlip festival used to be great. Now its just an excuse for the courtyard to have a bumper weekend.

When the gigs used to be on free in the church up the farend or the carpark in the village it was a lot better.

Corruptedmorals

The single best thing was the Viking re-enactments, they were brilliant. I think it was in the grounds of Leixlip Castle..might be wrong. Yes it's sad the Courtyard have taken over the gig aspect. Abbaesque used to be great in the church carpark!

the_syco

lods wrote: »

Hate the way the village is given over to amusement operators from the North & stalls with Roma gypsies & people from outside with no connection with Leixlip.

Personally, I don't know anyone that lives in Leixlip that has such amusements...

lods

the_syco wrote: »

Personally, I don't know anyone that lives in Leixlip that has such amusements...

I was refering to the fact that the streets should be about local business & the community. We have planty of shops in the village without bringing in casual traders , are the amusments really needed? They're just a rip off . It has nothing going for it that makes it unique to Leixlip.

Corruptedmorals

If you get rid of them then the festival loses its draw for people too young for the courtyard and too old for face-painting, puppet shows etc. You don't have to go near them if you don't want to..don't see the problem. They add to it I think. I can well remember being delighted with them at 13/14. It is about local businesses but we don't have local amusement providers. The Courtyard, Spar, the Ryevale and sams and Sams all benefit hugely and so other restaraunts, pubs and shops.

JaMurphay

I just want to let you guys know that the Leixlip Festival Committee & The Courtyard are separate. If the committee didn't run the festival along the main street, The Courtyard would still have their bands in playing over the June Bank Holiday weekend. The local businesses do benefit a lot from the festival, especially the shops in the village. Also, plenty of places get advertisements in the brochure.

DoesNotCompute

JaMurphay wrote: »

I just want to let you guys know that the Leixlip Festival Committee & The Courtyard are separate. If the committee didn't run the festival along the main street, The Courtyard would still have their bands in playing over the June Bank Holiday weekend. The local businesses do benefit a lot from the festival, especially the shops in the village. Also, plenty of places get advertisements in the brochure.

Yes but I think one of the points being made, is that back in the day, the Gig Rig used to allow bands to play in a public car park (not in a pub's beer garden). The Committee seem to have decided not to have a Gig Rig anymore, and the Courtyard have instead filled this void.

JaMurphay

Well as I said in my last post, the festival committee & the courtyard are separate. The Courtyard has the money to book big bands. The committee have the stage in the spar car park & have local bands play there during the day. Also before the fireworks they have a band play there too. I'm not being confrontational or anything, just want to say keep in mind that there is a budget issue. I myself think that the main stage in the car park should be used for bigger bands over the weekend.

Eric Cartman

JaMurphay wrote: »

Well as I said in my last post, the festival committee & the courtyard are separate. The Courtyard has the money to book big bands. The committee have the stage in the spar car park & have local bands play there during the day. Also before the fireworks they have a band play there too. I'm not being confrontational or anything, just want to say keep in mind that there is a budget issue. I myself think that the main stage in the car park should be used for bigger bands over the weekend.

while its accepted that they are separate, it seems that the festival committee have in some way just given up, turning all late activities over to zinc and the courtyard. Im aware budgets are tight and the courtyard undoubtedly has more funds to play with , but it would be nice to have a festival again with a viking ship / outdoor bands / anything to do in the evening that didnt require me to hand over 10 euro to see and having to suffer expensive drinks and food just to attend my local festival.

Im not blaming the courtyard for what they do, they have a market tapped and people turn over money to them like its on fire. But it would be nice to see an alternative , and im sure it would help increase attendance of families etc instead of what happens now where walking down any laneway / covered area has you greeted by hoards of 14-17 year olds drinking cans and shouting abuse at passers by because theres nothing for them to do aside from looking at the terminator go round a few times.

jb-ski

The Festival committee do a good job given the limited (financial) resources that they have.

They seem to work off the same template as the previous years but it is undoubtedly losing it's attraction as a family day out.

There is a certain amount of free street entertainment, however the number of street traders selling 'junk' is increasing every year, & the amusement stalls & rides etc are overpriced & tacky (regardless of where they come from ).

I think Diageo/Guinness were fairly generous sponsors back in the 'good old days' of the Guinness Gig Rig and top level bands in the Village & Church car parks.

The Courtyard are certainly piggy-backing on the success of the Festival but good luck to them, long may it continue. (Maybe the other pubs could learn something from how they capitalise on the weekend!)

I have no doubt that the Festival Committee would welcome new volunteers with new ideas who could inject some time & energy into organising next years festival.

the_syco

JaMurphay wrote: »

Also, plenty of places get advertisements in the brochure.

For free? Or do they have to pay for the space?

lods wrote: »

I was refering to the fact that the streets should be about local business & the community. We have planty of shops in the village without bringing in casual traders , are the amusments really needed? They're just a rip off . It has nothing going for it that makes it unique to Leixlip.

The takeaways, the pizza place, the chinese, Spar, Tuttills, the butchers, the flower shop in the mill...

Only the usual shops? Pfft, I see them every day.

Yes, there is a reason to bring in the casual traders; otherwise there'd be nothing to look at. Same goes for the amusements. You want a festival; you have to make a festive environment.

The same shops and a band in the pubs is a normal weekend.

JaMurphay

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Im not blaming the courtyard for what they do, they have a market tapped and people turn over money to them like its on fire. But it would be nice to see an alternative , and im sure it would help increase attendance of families etc instead of what happens now where walking down any laneway / covered area has you greeted by hoards of 14-17 year olds drinking cans and shouting abuse at passers by because theres nothing for them to do aside from looking at the terminator go round a few times.

If you have any ideas, I wouldn't hesitate to pass them on to the committee. New fresh ideas are welcomed

jb-ski wrote: »

I have no doubt that the Festival Committee would welcome new volunteers with new ideas who could inject some time & energy into organising next years festival.

I myself am a former committee member & steward, unforetunately due to work and that I had to stop helping out this year. The committee are always looking for new members, especially ones who are enthusiastic and have ideas in mind.