New Christmas lights and market cabins planned for Athlone

In these midsummer days Christmas is a subject far from most people's minds, but a new group in Athlone has been quietly working away on plans for a major upgrade to the town's Christmas lights and market.

The recently-established Athlone Festivals and Events Project Group is seeking a contractor to supply 15 Christmas market cabins for use in the town. 

The group is also looking for bids for the supply of new high-quality Christmas lighting, after complaints in previous years that the town's festive lights were sub-par.

The two projects went out for tender on Friday last, and the deadline for responses is August 6.

The Festivals and Events Project Group is chaired by Shay Hamilton of Athlone Tidy Towns, and it includes representatives from the Athlone River Festival, All Ireland Drama Festival, Athlone Agri Show and Westmeath County Council.

Its aim is to help raise the quality and profile of local festivals in order to help attract larger numbers into the town.

When asked about the plans for 15 market cabins, one of the group's members, Athlone Mayor Frankie Keena, said that when Christmas markets were held in the town in recent years, "the weather always seemed to go against us".

"We found that there was a need to improve the 'spec' of these markets, to help make it more attractive," he said. "If you had cabins that had a uniformity of style and a good height it would help to give the market a better profile."

Cllr Keena added that the Athlone Christmas lights were "poor enough, with a number of bulbs missing" last year, and there was a "serious need" to upgrade them for this Christmas. 

He also said there was an opportunity for year-round decorative lighting that could, for example, illuminate the trees along Elliott Road (formerly Accommodation Road), between the Luan Gallery and the Railway bridge. He said trees there could potentially be lit up in different colours at different times of the year.   

Both the Christmas lights and new market cabins are dependent on LEADER funding being provided. It's anticipated that 75% of the funding would be provided by LEADER, and the remainder would have to be generated locally. 

Cllr Keena said initial discussions with LEADER had been positive and he was hopeful that the new lights and cabins could be purchased and put in place in time for this Christmas.