Riverfest 2018

zulutango

Discuss ...

damowill

For me its the best weekend in Limerick by a country mile. Its the only time of the year where the city centre has a buzz about it. The Riverfest village has its flaws but it makes great use of Arthurs Quay & makes a necessary focal point for the festival. The Great Limerick Run brings in loads of people & probably one of the biggest in the country. The festival is the only time where the river is made use of during the year, apart from the annual Thomond Swims and GetWest kayaking activities. For adults & kids its a very enjoyable weekend. Go into town on Saturday lunchtime and the place is buzzing! All the pubs, restaurants & hotels are busy which is fantastic for the local economy.

For 2018, the events look promising and with the good weather predicted so we should be in for a good weekend.

The BBQ cook-off was a little disappointing last year, it just seemed a lot smaller than previous years so hopefully that improves.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sponsored/riverfest-limerick-may-bank-holiday-12433161

Mc Love

Best weekend for me in Limerick is the weekend of the Pig n Porter

Have never been to Riverfest, whether it was due to work or being away but I'm looking forward to going this year.

panda100

damowill wrote:

The BBQ cook-off was a little disappointing last year, it just seemed a lot smaller than previous years so hopefully that improves.

Do people really look forward to the bbq that much? Genuine question. I see limerick.ie pushing the bbq and 'fashion Friday' so much and I don't know one person who bothers going to either. They're both pretty stale at this stage imo

zulutango

I see that Grooveyard, who presided over the real shoddy Riverfests of the past few years, are running it again this year. I don't hold out much hope.

Silentcorner

There's a fashion show in Arthurs Quay tomorrow!!!!...in some way I can't see there is probably a link to the River in that...you can see the river from Arthurs Quay maybe that's it.

I don't understand why there aren't festivals held in Cleeves, I know there was plans for one but that seems to have disappeared, you have about 8 venues in Cleeves in what is a cracking setting...at the moment there are EVA exhibits there but it just seems so underused!

sleepyman

You can be sure whatever criticisms are highlighted here that the leader will come out and say it was a fantastic weekend regardless!!

bigpink

Only good thing that at least they are using the river for swimming kayaking etc
Celia Holman Lee and James Patrice Snapchat Star WTF any way finding out what is wasted on them

bigpink

BBQ is a joke watch people cooking and you might get food

Mc Love

You're not really selling me the fest!

bigpink

Go in for a look but it’s nothing special.Good weather will help and more people walking around an atmosphere
One thing can’t understand why they don’t close off traffic around the park by Penney’s etc will people all gather

zulutango

A couple of key flaws with Riverfest, which if they aren't addressed will ensure it continues to be lame in the extreme.

1. The name. It's vacuous and meaningless bull****. There's "Riverfests" all over the world. It says nothing about Limerick. Most towns and cities have rivers. With a name as unimaginative as this, you're basically not selling Limerick at all, either in Ireland or overseas, but you're also displaying mediocrity and lack of confidence, none of which are particularly appealing.

2. The locations. Don't sideline activities to small parks and side-streets. Be brave and use the main streets. Transform the city for the weekend. Aside from the Great Limerick Run you could be in Limerick and not even know Riverfest was going on. Thankfully, with the Great Limerick Run the main streets are used and it's an honest effort at a big event. Riverfest, who have nothing to do with the GLR, would be very little without it. If the organisers of Riverfest (City Council) were as brave and ambitious we could have a really fantastic city festival.

3. The fireworks. They're nice and everybody who attends goes away with a merry enough feeling that they saw something, and many of them wander into town and spend a few quid in the pubs. But I'd argue that there is a very poor return for the amount of money they cost.

keane2097

Only thing I saw at Riverfest last year was the fireworks display and I thought they were terrific.

Twoman Fullbackline

zulutango wrote: »

1. The name. It's vacuous and meaningless bull****. There's "Riverfests" all over the world. It says nothing about Limerick. Most towns and cities have rivers. With a name as unimaginative as this, you're basically not selling Limerick at all, either in Ireland or overseas, but you're also displaying mediocrity and lack of confidence, none of which are particularly appealing.

Couldn't agree more on this. "Riverfest" sounds like something a few lads would put on in a field somewhere with a few slabs of Gally and maybe a few bands playing on the back of a truck.

Also there's a lack of a big draw, a major event or gig. A zipline, a fireworks display and a few food stalls. I think it says a lot that this weekend, the big event in the Limerick calendar, Ed Sheeran is playing three nights below in Cork.

testicles

This post has been deleted.

Treepole

Twoman Fullbackline wrote: »

Couldn't agree more on this. "Riverfest" sounds like something a few lads would put on in a field somewhere with a few slabs of Gally and maybe a few bands playing on the back of a truck.

Also there's a lack of a big draw, a major event or gig. A zipline, a fireworks display and a few food stalls. I think it says a lot that this weekend, the big event in the Limerick calendar, Ed Sheeran is playing three nights below in Cork.

Ed Sheeran playing in Cork is hardly the fault of the orangisers of Riverfest. In fact he should have been Limerick this weekend, which when combined with GLR would have brought an unprecedented amount of people to the city for the entire weekend. Unfortunately Ed Sheeran and his people pulled out of the Limerick gig days before the announcement in favour of playing in Galway instead.

Limerick91

The fire works are planned for the middle of the Bell X1 gig, good planning!!!

Treepole

Limerick91 wrote: »

The fire works are planned for the middle of the Bell X1 gig, good planning!!!

:rolleyes:

I'm sure that will be factored into the concert and really add to the spectacle for those at the gig.

bigpink

Limerick91 wrote: »

The fire works are planned for the middle of the Bell X1 gig, good planning!!!

Ah stop haha.People will have kids there at 10 o clock waiting so if they change for after the gig it will be 11 at least

damowill

Limerick91 wrote: »

The fire works are planned for the middle of the Bell X1 gig, good planning!!!

they did this last year for hermitage green and it worked very well. adds to the concert imo

Treepole

bigpink wrote: »

Ah stop haha.People will have kids there at 10 o clock waiting so if they change for after the gig it will be 11 at least

:rolleyes:

Always with the negativity. The gig will have been planned around the fireworks.

Vladimir Poontang

How the fcuk did Grooveyard get this again?

mitresize5

christ almighty the Limerick forum must be the most negative outpost on Boards.ie

keane2097

mitresize5 wrote: »

christ almighty the Limerick forum must be the most negative outpost on Boards.ie

It's cause of all the vegans I think.

I’ll be seeing the fireworks, doing the zipline & Zorb Ball can’t wait

Vladimir Poontang

How dare people have a vision for a better festival. Be happy with your lot peasants

Swiper the fox

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

How dare people have a vision for a better festival. Be happy with your lot peasants

Sure you probably organised Mardi gras in New Orleans and Glastonbury a few times, would you offer them a hand at all?

Vladimir Poontang

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Sure you probably organised Mardi gras in New Orleans and Glastonbury a few times, would you offer them a hand at all?

Yeah I'll suggest we start off by drowning a few arseholes in the Shannon.

zulutango

That's worthy of a Limerick Leader front page story.

ShatterProof

mitresize5 wrote: »

christ almighty the Limerick forum must be the most negative outpost on Boards.ie

No it's not.

lufties

sleepyman wrote: »

You can be sure whatever criticisms are highlighted here that the leader will come out and say it was a fantastic weekend regardless!!

The Limerick misleader. A bit like pravda. Money talks unfortunately, especially in a place like Limerick where resources are limited. Any meeja outfit like the LL will do as their told to keep themselves in a job.

Jofspring

Treepole wrote: »

Ed Sheeran playing in Cork is hardly the fault of the orangisers of Riverfest. In fact he should have been Limerick this weekend, which when combined with GLR would have brought an unprecedented amount of people to the city for the entire weekend. Unfortunately Ed Sheeran and his people pulled out of the Limerick gig days before the announcement in favour of playing in Galway instead.

Wasn’t the reason he didn’t do Limerick because of the Munster matches. Thomond Park was booked up or at least at the time was on hold for potential Munster games for when the concerts would have been on.

They do need to look into having a big act play Limerick the same weekend as river fest though. Would tie in nicely.

Insect Overlord

lufties wrote: »

The Limerick misleader. A bit like pravda. Money talks unfortunately, especially in a place like Limerick where resources are limited. Any meeja outfit like the LL will do as their told to keep themselves in a job.

In fairness, even if the weekend events are underwhelming (and we've all read plenty of amazing ideas on here over the years, ones which really could and should be taken on board), it does get people out and about. The buzz around town is usually fantastic.

lufties

Insect Overlord wrote: »

In fairness, even if the weekend events are underwhelming (and we've all read plenty of amazing ideas on here over the years, ones which really could and should be taken on board), it does get people out and about. The buzz around town is usually fantastic.

I don't disagree. Its good for the spirit of Limerick. God knows its taken a right hammering over the years.

Not residing in Limerick myself, but according to a mate of mine, the night life has really picked up there. I lived there prior to the bust and the place seemed really vibrant. Perhaps its me that's changed though.

c.p.w.g.w

testicles wrote: »

It's worth €10 million to the local economy sure.

I'm sure a lot of that is from the run?

Vladimir Poontang

Some scumbags have brought a Llama down to Arthur's Quay and people are queuing to get their photo with it

FFS

4Ad

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

Some scumbags have brought a Llama down to Arthur's Quay and people are queuing to get their photo with it

FFS

Have you a photo for us ?

Silentcorner

RTE just covered it on the Six One News....well I'll be damned!!!

lufties

Silentcorner wrote: »

RTE just covered it on the Six One News....well I'll be damned!!!

Mickey noonan must've sent a request.

cnoc

Does anyone know when and what time the LE Eithne departs Limerick Docks?

bigpink

Zero traffic management for Riverfest it’s a joke

bigpink

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

Some scumbags have brought a Llama down to Arthur's Quay and people are queuing to get their photo with it

FFS

Same scumbags abusing it last week in a video on social media

Mc Love

bigpink wrote: »

Zero traffic management for Riverfest it’s a joke

Negative as always BP!

Traffic was going to be busy as a result of the riverfest and munster match taking place. I would agree that they should have stopped traffic going down by Bishops Quay.
They should have also stopped traffic from going up past Penneys. Really dangerous situation there as everyone was trying to scrum through on the narrow footpaths and with two lanes of active traffic, an accident with a child running out in front of a car could have happened.
Traffic should have also been stopped from going by Arthurs Quay by again blocking off the roads by the quay and from Liddy st. It would have allowed the organisers to expand out from the park as they had to stop people from entering the park at one point resulting in large queues outside and some people ended up walking away as they couldnt be bothered waiting to get in. It was extremely wedged in there.

bigpink

Allowing traffic around Arthur’s quay Park on Limericks busiest day is a joke
People with kids buggy’s etc

Vladimir Poontang

Think they should rename it knackerfest after what I saw in there today and tonight.

Lobsterlady

I was one of those that gave up waiting to get into the Riverfest 'park' today...it was jammers, and the queue was really long, snaked around metal barriers and all along the street down to the bus stop. It was moving very slowly so gave up.
So decided to have a walk around town instead and spotted Bob Geldof up by Pery's Square about to go for a wander in the park.

Mc Love

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

Think they should rename it knackerfest after what I saw in there today and tonight.

What did you see??

iguana

Mc Love wrote: »

They should have also stopped traffic from going up past Penneys. Really dangerous situation there as everyone was trying to scrum through on the narrow footpaths and with two lanes of active traffic, an accident with a child running out in front of a car could have happened.

They should never have had the kids rides squeezed into the 'Garden' area outside Penneys. It made the whole thing not just unsafe but utterly unpleasant. All the food carts and people eating were squeezed up into one side because the seating area was shoved up in front of the carts to accommodate the rides. Trying to look after a small child in that crowd with traffic passing right next to it was awful. Thankfully my 5 year old was surprisingly willing to be talked into avoiding the crowd and waiting until Funderland in a few weeks so we just got out of there. Tbh, I don't think he was enjoying the crowd and was glad to be offered an alternative.

Silentcorner wrote: »

RTE just covered it on the Six One News....well I'll be damned!!!

Hopefully it will provide a bit of counterweight to the videos of the prayer march thing up O'Connell St that are going viral tonight.

FutureGuy

Riverfest this year had a stink of craggy island off it.

lufties

FutureGuy wrote: »

Riverfest this year had a stink of craggy island off it.

Loads of priests?

iguana

lufties wrote: »

Loads of priests?

Possibly. They may just have been dressed up as priests.
https://www.facebook.com/john.carmodyi/videos/vb.100002947025758/1660203794087839/?type=2&theater