On the Town: The brass section played loud and long. It was as if Killarney was beckoning. The tuba, banjo and trombone in the jazz ensemble, Gay Nolan and the City Gents, took centre-stage at a party to launch this year's Killarney Summerfest programme. The message was clear: Kerry is getting ready to rock.
The festival, which is now in its fourth year, is expected to generate up to €5 million and attract more than 120,000 people. It will "once again be a magnet and a marvellous experience", said John O'Donoghue, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, when he launched the programme in Dublin this week.
"I know that this festival can only serve to enhance Killarney's global reputation as a first-class tourist destination," he added.
"Many people have an old-fashioned idea of what Killarney has," said Patrick O'Donoghue, chairman of the festival and managing director of the Gleneagle Hotel. The town, he added, is Ireland's biggest accommodation centre outside Dublin, with 10,000 beds.
This year, the festival includes international acts Meatloaf and Status Quo as well as many Irish acts, such as Snow Patrol, Paddy Casey, Hothouse Flowers, The Revs and Republic of Loose.
"It's very much a family festival," said festival director Declan Murphy. The list of events includes a fun run, a bicycle race, a black-tie ball, a busking competition, an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, juggling, art exhibitions, a teddy bear's picnic, a regatta, a soccer coaching course and a céilí mór.
Among those who gathered for the pre- festival party at Dublin's Odeon bar were Seán Quinn, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland; Senator Paul Coughlan; John McIntyre, of The Revs; and Michael Carr, the proprietor of the Golf Hotel in Ballybunion.
The Killarney-based promotor and producer, Eric Cunningham, and Tim Foley, a project manager from Ballylongford, were also at the party.
For more information, go to www.killarneysummerfest.com or call the festival office at 064-71560