Published: Wednesday, 10th February, 2010 6:00pm

Another festival set for Athlone

by Adrian Cusack

Another entry has been added to the bumper list of festivals and events taking place in Athlone this summer.

The Athlone Music Festival is to be held at the Dubarry Park rugby ground on Saturday July 31 and Sunday August 1.

Derry band The Undertones and English singer-songwriter Hazel O'Connor are among the first acts who have been confirmed for the festival, and its organisers are currently in advanced negotiations with other well-known performers.

Some 25-30 acts are to perform at the two-day event, with all the main headliners due to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

A total of 5,000 two-day tickets are expected to go on sale for the festival, which will be staged inside a large tent at the Buccaneers ground.

The event coincides with the end of the European People's Festival, which takes place in Athlone from July 24-31 and is expected to draw thousands of visitors to the town from various parts of Ireland and Europe.

The Athlone Music Festival is the brainchild of Ultan Moran, who hails from Assumption Road. The son of Deirdre and Finbar Moran, he has been based in England for the last 21 years and is the owner of Kitty O'Hanlon's pub in Plymouth.

"I was born and reared in Athlone. My family still lives there and I went to college there, so for a long time I have wanted to do something back home," Ultan told the Westmeath Independent this week.

"I see this festival as a way of putting something back into Athlone and hopefully giving a bit of a boost to the local economy."

He stated that, if this year's festival is a success, he hopes to make it an annual event. "Ideally, over the next five years we'd be hoping to develop this into a festival which can attract 10,000 to 15,000 people and can really put Athlone on the map."

So far, The Undertones, Hazel O'Connor, Liam Byrne (a Christy Moore tribute act), Brighton band Two Spot Gobi and Plymouth-based folk-rock act Mad Dog Mcrea have all been confirmed for the festival.

Over 220 people joined an 'Athlone Music Festival' group was set up on the social networking website Facebook in the last week, and further details about the festival are to be made available shortly.

In addition to the music festival, seven other major events are expected to bring thousands of visitors to Athlone over the course of 2010.

The European People's Festival is being staged in Athlone for the first time since 1996, while the European Triathlon Championships will be held in the town from July 1-4.

Two major angling events - an International Pike Angling Competition in April and International Pike Challenge in October - will be held at Athlone Angling Centre of Excellence on Lough Ree.

Towards the end of this year, a number of events are expected to mark the 800th anniversary of Athlone Castle. No dates have yet been finalised for these events.

The national finals of the Community Games are to be held over three weekends at Athlone IT, while the Dean Crowe Theatre will again play host to the All-Ireland Drama Festival in May.

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