Momentum from last summer's festivals must be maintained

During a year of few highlights, last summer's array of festivals and sporting events in Athlone brought a most welcome distraction from the doom and gloom. Between May and September, visitors and locals had a chance to savour attractions as diverse as the RTE All-Ireland Drama Festival, the Waterways Ireland triAthlone, the European Festival, Athlone Literary Festival, National Community Games Finals and Athlone Music Festival. In addition to these events, we had others such as the visit of footballing giants Villarreal (who currently lie third in the Spanish league, behind Barcelona and Real Madrid) to play Athlone Town at Lissywollen. Some of these events received better support than others. For example, the Athlone Town fixture and Athlone Music Festival (which hosted the likes of Imelda May and Sharon Shannon) attracted smaller attendances than the occasions merited. However, all of the festivals and events brought positive publicity and much needed revenue from visitors both nationally and internationally. Just as important was the contagious sense of fun and good times which they helped to create in our town. A noticeable joie de vivre was evident among local people who embraced the spirit of the festivals, participating and attending in great numbers. This was particularly noticeable during the European Triathlon Championships and the European Festival. But 2010 has now been consigned to history, and the 2011 calendar of events in Athlone looks quieter. The challenge, and the imperative, for the local community is to make this another successful year of festivities. The triAthlone has become a welcome fixture on the local calendar since 2006. Last year's triathlon was hugely successful in terms of the visitor numbers and media attention it generated, but it was not a financial success for the organisers The staging of the sixth annual triAthlone in July now seems as if it will depend on the authorities approving a cycling route for the race on the east side of the town. Happily, the RTE Drama Festival and National Community Games Finals will again take place in the town, while plans for a new local event, the Joe Ducke Trad and Arts Festival, appear to be at an early stage. In its budget for 2011, Athlone Town Council recognised the importance of events such as these by allocating €20,000 to help establish a festival in the town in 2011. The funding was requested by councillors who had sought that the momentum generated in 2010 be built upon. That is a worthy first step, but there is an onus on all of us to get involved, support the events that will take place, and help to bring back some of the 'fiesta fever' seen last year. Athlone's central location, the presence of the River Shannon, and the strength of the town's hospitality and shopping facilities means it's the perfect site for big annual festivals. It would take plenty of hard work, and no little courage in this economic climate, but in the long term there is no reason why the town shouldn't attract annual festivals which compete with the likes of the Galway Races, Galway Arts Festival and Cork Jazz Festival. Events of this scale have helped to copperfasten the names of Galway and Cork in the tourist lexicon both nationally and internationally. The same could happen right here in the midlands.