Festival of the Fires postponed for agricultural and archaeological reasons

The organisers of Festival of the Fires have stated they have decided to take a year off this year due to agricultural and archaeological reasons. This is intended to allow the venue of the iconic festival, the historic Hill of Uisneach, time to recover. Festival organisers say the festival will return in 2014 and in the meantime a series of summer gatherings will be held in the shadow of Uisneach. These events will take places to celebrate the year of 'The Gathering' and are supported by Westmeath County Council and the Irish Public Bodies Insurance. These Uisneach Gatherings will take place throughout the summer in a festival area close to the recently re-opened Uisneach Inn venue in the foothill of Uisneach. The first, the Bealtaine Uisneach Gathering, will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, from Saturday May 4 - Monday May 6 following the same ethos of the festival and will include music from top international and Irish acts, arts and crafts, family entertainment, fire ceremonies, fire performers, re-enactments, history and heritage, spoken word, theatre, poetry, family fun, cinema, local food and drink, genealogy and clan finding and the legendary Uisneach Warriors. The Bealtaine Uisneach Gathering will be followed by gatherings on the June Bank Holiday weekend, the August Bank Holiday weekend and at key weekends over the summer. Full details will be revealed shortly. The organisers stated it was "an incredibly tough decision not to stage our award-winning event, but the Hill of Uisneach needs to rest and we have to respect her wishes". The summer events will not be called 'Festival of the Fires' but will be events presented by Festival of the Fires.