The 27th annual Rose of Castlerea Festival will take place from Wednesday, July 29, until Sunday, August 2.
It promises to be five days filled with lots of free family events and lots of entertainment for all ages!
Every year, the organisers strive to make the festival bigger and brighter and this year is no different.
Wednesday
On the Wednesday night, there will be a spectacular grand opening parade.
A world of colour and theatre will parade through the streets in a carnival atmosphere to officially launch the festival.
There will be some never-seen-before bright exhilarating inflatables to help create a spectacular evening for all.
Following the parade, the amazing Michael English and his band will play all their latest hits.
Thursday
On the Thursday, the day will start with a fantastic traders’ market at 10 am on St Patrick’s Street.
Then on Thursday evening at 7 pm, there will be the first ever bubble soccer tournament to Castlerea.
After the great success of last year’s ‘Reeling through the Years’ photo exhibition, it will be returning again this year in the Trinity Arts Centre, also at 7 pm.
At 9 pm Declan Nerney and his band will perform all his greatest hits in the heart of Castlerea in a free open-air concert.
This will be followed by a fantastic fireworks display.
Friday
Friday brings another busy day. During the day, there will be a children’s window treasure hunt and a teenage make-up master class.
Then at 8 pm, there will be a live pig racing with street entertainment, providing loads of fun for all the family. Music will be provided by a sensational local band ‘The White Cakes’.
Saturday
Saturday is a day for the children. The events start bright and early at 10 am, with a children’s colouring competition, cupcake decorating and teddy bears picnic all being held in the Hub.
Then, if they are not too tired, there will be a funky kiddies’ disco with DJ Keith at 4 pm.
That evening at 8.30 pm brings us another new event, ‘Trad at the train station’. This promises to be an excellent evening with set dancing with Mildred Beirne and Music by the Duntally Céilí band.
Also at 8.30 pm, there will be a White Collar Boxing exhibition in the Hub. ‘The clash of Castlerea’ promises to be a boxing bonanza full of excitement, rivalry and entertainment.
Sunday
Sunday brings us to our family fun day, starting with a swimming gala at 11 am followed by a family fun day in the Demesne at 1 pm which will include BBQ, sports day, penalty shoot-out, bouncy castles, face-painting and much much more.
For all the fitness enthusiasts, there will be a 5km/10km fun run/walk/jog starting at 2.30 pm. At 3 pm we introduce another new event the Castlerea heritage walk.
There will be a stroll through the hundreds of years of history throughout the town. Then at 4.30 pm, the ‘Gaelic for mothers and others’ will battle it out in a fun football blitz in the O’Rourke Centre.
Then, to finish off our festival, we will have the Rose of Castlerea selection night at 9 pm in Trinity Arts Centre. This promises to be a fantastic night’s entertainment, with the crowning of the 2015 Rose of Castlerea.
Monday
Castlerea Agricultural Trade and Craft Show will take place on Monday, August 3, which is a bank holiday.
The committee have devoted lots of effort to ensure that the event will be highly successful.
The first such event was staged in 1995. This year”s event will b opened by Ballinlough man Seán Finan, the national president of Macra na Feirme.
