A line-up that includes Kenny Rogers, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Glen Campbell, Van Morrison and Don McLean was the attraction at the Midlands music festival which opened in the grounds of Ballinlough Castle in Athboy, Co Meath, yesterday.
While leading performers and other VIPs could avail of a luxury €25 million Sikorsky helicopter to travel the 15-minute journey from Dublin to Athboy, the event organisers said they expected the vast majority of festival-goers to either stay in local hotels and bed and breakfasts, or to camp in the grounds itself.
Darryl Downey, one of the promoters, said he and co-promoter John Reynolds, of Pod Concerts, had decided to run the festival after spotting a gap in the market among country music fans aged 30 and over.
Partly to encourage families to make a weekend of the event, children under 12 are being admitted free, while a barbecue will also be held by the 17th-century Ballinlough Castle's lakes. However, he said he also expected younger people, aged from their teens upwards, to attend the festival.