Over 10,000 music fans are in a Sligo village for the fifth Boys of Ballisodare Festival.
The Boys of Ballisodare Festival is a weekend, outdoor music festival held in Ballisodare, County Sligo. The festival offers something for all musical tastes covering folk, reggae, rock and blues genres. The eclectic line-up includes Irish band Stockton's Wing alongside American rock and roll legend Chuck Berry. The festival also offers a carnival and exhibition stands
While numbers are down on 1980, the fifth Boys of Ballisodare Festival sees over 10,000 music fans in attendance. Day ticket sales are doing well but weekend tickets sales are down on the previous year.
Brothers Philip and Kevin Flynn started the Boys of Ballisodare Festival in 1977. Five years later there are numerous summer festivals throughout the country from old favourites such as Lisdoonvarna and Ballyshannon to new arrivals on the scene like Castlebar.
All follow the same general formula and yet all in a way are different.
While each festival is unique, Ballisodare stands out from the crowd. Event organiser Philip Flynn explains how the use of marquees gives an intimacy and atmosphere that other festivals lack.
If you put 10,000 people in a field of 30 acres, well they’ll fill it, but if you confine them to a sport of space only they need, they’ll also fill that and there’ll be much closer together and a much better vibe.
Organising the event is not without difficulties. At every stage in negotiations Philip Flynn wondered if headline act Chuck Berry would play at the festival, or if something outside his control would happen.
That’s a worry right up until the very last minute when he absolutely puts his foot up on the stage.
Other points of concern for the organisers are toilets, traffic flow and having enough acreage for tents. An Garda Síochána are on site but have no need to maintain a high profile. On leaving Ballisodare many of the festival goers will head off to music events in Slane and Carnsore.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 August 1981. The reporter is Andrew Kelly.
