Sproai festival 2019

PTH2009

Takes place this weekend. Always great work put into it

http://www.spraoi.com/2019-programme/

sitkaspruce

*Spraoi

friendlyfun

Spraoi weekend. That means rain.

iseegirls

Good interview with the guy in charge of/manages Spraoi in the News & Star this week.

Said that they'll monitor the effect that All Together Now has on Spraoi.

I'm guessing that if ATN keeps it's August Bank Holiday weekend we could possibly see Spraoi moving to a different time of year.

greenspurs

Has has its day....

Only a pale imitation of its former self nowadays. Commendable to keep it going, but its not the only show in town anymore !

debok

greenspurs wrote: »

Has has its day....

Only a pale imitation of its former self nowadays. Commendable to keep it going, but its not the only show in town anymore !

Maybe you have just grown old. Familiarity breeds contempt. I'm sure a lot of new people come to it and love it . What harm is free entertainment in a city centre on a bank holiday? I actually can't understand your reasoning

greenspurs

debok wrote: »

Maybe you have just grown old. Familiarity breeds contempt. I'm sure a lot of new people come to it and love it . What harm is free entertainment in a city centre on a bank holiday? I actually can't understand your reasoning

Maybe, maybe.....

What harm is free entertainment? No harm at all, but what my point is that its gone a bit stale ..

Its not that hard to understand ?

Max Powers

greenspurs wrote: »

Maybe, maybe.....

What harm is free entertainment? No harm at all, but what my point is that its gone a bit stale ..

Its not that hard to understand ?

It ain't free, pay up ye spongers....only joking, but serious, dont forget gimme 5, at least.

IspeakcozIcan

Spraoi is still great. City centre is vibrant and buzzing. Parade and fireworks are always spectacular. Got loads of good coverage this year so hopefully there's a high turnout.

I'm heading to All Together now this year though so won't be at Spraoi

914

greenspurs wrote: »

Maybe, maybe.....

What harm is free entertainment? No harm at all, but what my point is that its gone a bit stale ..

Its not that hard to understand ?

I think if it has gone "stale" numbers would have dropped but thats not the case.

I for one do not sense it has gone stale. Every year it has different acts present. The parade and fire works are probably the best in the country.

I was beside a family from Down last year, and you should have heard the positive praise that they were giving Spraoi and they were blown away by the fact everything was free. So much so they said they will attend yearly.

Thats one family of 5 in accommodation for the weekend spending money in Waterford, how many more are like that, a lot I'm guessing.

I say get out there embrace it and support Irelands largest street Festival and for free.

Also maybe if you personally feel it has gone stale why not volunteer at it, that may give it a new lease of life to you.

Dunmoreroader

iseegirls wrote: »

Good interview with the guy in charge of/manages Spraoi in the News & Star this week.

Said that they'll monitor the effect that All Together Now has on Spraoi.

I'm guessing that if ATN keeps it's August Bank Holiday weekend we could possibly see Spraoi moving to a different time of year.

I hope they don't - Spraoi on the Bank Holiday weekend should be sacrosanct. Still getting huge crowds, different profile of people from ATN and teens can't go to ATN anyway.
Having said all that, not sure how much of Spraoi I'll see myself this year as I'm going to ATN, mainly to see The National!

Wanderer78

not my kinna thing, but i hope it goes well, it really picks the city up, and brings a lot of people in, enjoy it folks

friendlyfun

I really love the Spraoi. It has a great vibe to it and is uniquely Waterford.

Captain Red Beard

When they started fencing everything off it lost its magic. If you want a drink you have to pay Flash instead of bringing your own with you. It's still a good show though and the pubs are generally rockin. The parade and fireworks too are usually worth the trip in to town.

Gillman1998

greenspurs wrote: »

Has has its day....

Only a pale imitation of its former self nowadays. Commendable to keep it going, but its not the only show in town anymore !

This is my third year in Waterford and I think it’s an incredible event. For its size Waterford delivers so much entertainment through Summer in the City, Spraoi, the harvest festival as well as all the regular activities.

Best place I have ever lived, without doubt.

Flow Motion

Cant comment on whether or not its gone stale or not as I havent had the chance to engage with Spraoi for many a year. But what I would say the emphasis seemed to change to a more kids/family friendly event down through the years. Back in the 90's the Apple Market was heaving with people. Okay the drinking culture has changed in Ireland in the interim so having a load of boozed up people wandering about wouldnt float everyones boat these days. Then again it was all good natured fun with no aggro.
Seem to remember there being a fantastic variety of performers, events, gigs & DJ's around the place too That said I could be showing my age and getting all nostalgic for the 90's.

fricatus

Flow Motion wrote: »

That said I could be showing my age and getting all nostalgic for the 90's.

Particularly considering that username of yours! :P

friendlyfun

It always rains at the Spraoi that's literally the only problem I have with it. Suppose there's nothing they can really do about that.

Last year I went in on the Saturday and all ats were cancelled because it absolutely started bucketing down.

sitkaspruce

Wow - just wow.

Great to see such a big attendance. I caught some of Morbid and Co after Andy Mac finished his slot in the new WLR FM Broadcast Truck in the City Centre.

Down around The Mall was simply breathtaking, a brass band playing great songs, I then saw a daredevil performance from an agile acrobat while eating a freshly barbecued burger.

Did anyone get time to see the football exhibition in the Royale Theatre? Is it part of Spraoi?

PTH2009

sitkaspruce wrote: »

Wow - just wow.

Great to see such a big attendance. I caught some of Morbid and Co after Andy Mac finished his slot in the new WLR FM Broadcast Truck in the City Centre.

Down around The Mall was simply breathtaking, a brass band playing great songs, I then saw a daredevil performance from an agile acrobat while eating a freshly barbecued burger.

Did anyone get time to see the football exhibition in the Royale Theatre? Is it part of Spraoi?

no its a touring around ireland and is here for 2 weeks. Great exhibition with some great interactive bits

Felt the city was quite enough this weekend but thats expected with ATN out in Portlaw

Think they should think of moving spraoi to another time of the summer

deisemum

I've had 2 sisters who are regular visitors to Waterford and 2 friends here for the weekend. My sisters love Waterford but our friends were very impressed and think Waterford is a beautiful city and couldn't get over how clean it is. They didn't come for Spraoi but we got to see a small bit of it and were impressed by what they saw.

I took them around parts of the city to see some of the Waterford Walls and they were blown away by what they saw especially as one of them is an artist. They took photographs to show people back home. They loved all the floral displays around the city.

We spent most of the last 2 days shopping with breaks for coffees, lunches and dinner and they enjoyed each cafe/restaurant we went to though one place we walked out of before ordering because we were left standing for some time while waiting to see if they catered for coeliacs.

They've been posting their praise of Waterford on social media and are also full of praise about how friendly people in Waterford are. They're already saying they'll be back for Winterval though my sisters will be back a couple of times before then.

sitkaspruce

PTH2009 wrote: »

no its a touring around ireland and is here for 2 weeks. Great exhibition with some great interactive bits

Felt the city was quite enough this weekend but thats expected with ATN out in Portlaw

Think they should think of moving spraoi to another time of the summer

No, no they shouldn't.

Spraoi belongs in the August Bank Holiday Weekend, it's an institution.

I was among the revelers at ATN and like hundreds if not thousands I left this morning so i could enjoy Spraoi with the family as i have done for the last 20 odd years

PTH2009

Well done to the Waterford in your pocket team on facebook for bringing live coverage of the parade

In the past wasant a massive fan of theres but my opinion has changed a lot. Great page

iphonehead

PTH2009 wrote: »

no its a touring around ireland and is here for 2 weeks. Great exhibition with some great interactive bits

Felt the city was quite enough this weekend but thats expected with ATN out in Portlaw

Think they should think of moving spraoi to another time of the summer

They absolutely should not. 27 years of entertaining us on the August Weekend to the extent where it is now the Spraoi weekend and not the August weekend. No way. ATN move to another weekend - June weekend for example. Spraoi is part of our cities fabric.

alta stare

The fireworks were really good this year. Fair play to those involved. An added bonus was the rain staying away.

Regarding Spraoi moving from the August bank holiday weekend, i did hear from someone involved with Spraoi a long time that there has been talk of it moving if ATN becomes bigger. Dont know how much truth is in that though. One thing is for sure the place was alive all weekend and it was great to see.

friendlyfun

Seen there was a ticket thing going in some places? I got in and some jackeen feela started kicking up a fuss because he had ticket and I didn't. Petty people.

Crusty Blaa

I was in around Spraoi yesterday for the first time in about 5 years. Despite the weather, it was a brilliant day. Ended up outside Tully’s for most of the evening watching some brilliant acts before heading down to the parade and fireworks on the Quay. We don’t realise how lucky we have it in Waterford. Free entertainment for all ages.

BBM77

alta stare wrote: »

The fireworks were really good this year. Fair play to those involved. An added bonus was the rain staying away.

Regarding Spraoi moving from the August bank holiday weekend, i did hear from someone involved with Spraoi a long time that there has been talk of it moving if ATN becomes bigger. Dont know how much truth is in that though. One thing is for sure the place was alive all weekend and it was great to see.

Yes, not just that ATN steals Sproai’s thunder a bit but I’d say from a Garda resources point of view it won’t be possible to have both on the same weekend.

alta stare

BBM77 wrote: »

Yes, not just that ATN steals Sproai’s thunder a bit but I’d say from a Garda resources point of view it won’t be possible to have both on the same weekend.

To be fair im sure more Gardai could be brought in if needed. Plenty of overtime for Gardai from the surrounding areas.

It would be a shame to see Spraoi moving from the August bank holiday. As mentioned previously, in Waterford it is more known as the Spraoi weekend than the August bank holiday so hopefully things stay the same and the logistics can be worked out so both festivals remain.

azimuth17

BBM77 wrote: »

Yes, not just that ATN steals Sproai’s thunder a bit but I’d say from a Garda resources point of view it won’t be possible to have both on the same weekend.

That's nonsense really as it implicitly sets a limit to event size in Waterford.. During the last Tall Ships event in 2011 some 450,000 people came to Waterford over the three days. There was no problem with Garda resources.

Flow Motion

azimuth17 wrote: »

That's nonsense really as it implicitly sets a limit to event size in Waterford.. During the last Tall Ships event in 2011 some 450,000 people came to Waterford over the three days. There was no problem with Garda resources.

I commuted in and out the 3 days of ATN and I only met or encountered one Garda on the roads all weekend. Considering it was a Bank Holiday W/end, a major festival (ATN) and the Spraoi in town I think that highlights the lack of Gardai on beat in general.

914

News and Star reporting "more people than ever attended this years spraoi"

I was in Friday night, pretty much all day Saturday and the parade Sunday night.

Can't say I noticed a drop in the numbers. Saturday was mobbed, John Roberts Square, The Mall, Applemarket and Baileys new street were all buzzin.

Rain cleared up the Sunday night and looked like a very big croed at the parade. Parade and fireworks were excellent.

Moving Spraoi weekend would be a disaster, its stood the test of time 27 years. Haven't seen numbers effected the past years so why move it.

As someone said its Spraoi weekend and not the August bank holiday.

jimbojazz

They tried to make changes to the Spraoi a few years ago, as far as I remember they had the parade on an afternoon and might have even been on different weekends and it didn’t work.

This proved that if it’s not broken why fix it

The Spraoi is run for the people and is now part of the fabric of the city. It brings a lot of visitors to the city and a lot of much needed revenue also

No way should it make way for ATN that has little impact on local communities or businesses

alta stare

jimbojazz wrote: »

They tried to make changes to the Spraoi a few years ago, as far as I remember they had the parade on an afternoon and might have even been on different weekends and it didn’t work.

This proved that if it’s not broken why fix it

The Spraoi is run for the people and is now part of the fabric of the city. It brings a lot of visitors to the city and a lot of much needed revenue also

No way should it make way for ATN that has little impact on local communities or businesses

I agree. Also lets not forget that at any moment POD could decide to pull ATN from Waterford whereas at least Spraoi is embedded into our cities fabric so it would be a huge risk to mess with it.

iphonehead

alta stare wrote: »

I agree. Also lets not forget that at any moment POD could decide to pull ATN from Waterford whereas at least Spraoi is embedded into our cities fabric so it would be a huge risk to mess with it.

Agreed. The best thing we can all do on Spraoi weekend is turn out in our multitudes, throw our fivers (or more) in their buckets and let spraoi know how important they are to all of us. ATN will be fine, Spraoi is the one we have to collectively support.

alta stare

iphonehead wrote: »

Agreed. The best thing we can all do on Spraoi weekend is turn out in our multitudes, throw our fivers (or more) in their buckets and let spraoi know how important they are to all of us. ATN will be fine, Spraoi is the one we have to collectively support.

Absolutely.

Thankfully Spraoi has the backing of the city council aswell so i think it will be ok. I cant see it moving. Its is too big to mess with too much.