Another Love Story co-founder Emmet Condon introduces this year's edition of the much-loved boutique music event, which (finally) returns to Killyon Manor, Co. Meath from Friday 19th - Sunday 21st August.
What more to write about a festival that has been three long years in the planning? What more to say about a festival which has been postponed multiple times, shaped and reshaped in multiple (sometimes heartbreaking) configurations along the way?
In some ways, for Another Love Story 2022, it feels like there are no words left, no hype to raise, or no posts left to share.
The truth is, the inescapable essence of a festival is in gathering people together, and no amount of talking, writing, zooming or streaming can replicate the buzz of all the beautiful souls who give themselves to this one, singular, and incredibly specific moment of being in that incredibly specific space.
Anyone who works in the festival business will, I am guessing, attest to the buzz of landing that booking you really wanted, or the thrill of putting up the SOLD OUT sign.
But for most, or at least most creating something at the scale of Another Love Story, I feel that all other elements of the process are eclipsed by the buzz of a small, but hugely passionate team being brought together to forge this mad dream into a bright, visceral reality - sensing the thrill of electricity in the air on the Friday night, or the soft, contented glow of a sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon with relaxed and happy souls strewn across the grass collectively watching an artist weave their magic live on stage - in short, feeling the warmth of people truly connect with the fruits of that incredibly dense labour.
Another Love Story started in 2014 as tiny festival weekender - set up as a counterpoint to what was feeling like an increasingly ubiquitous festival experience here.
Scale was then, and is still, a key point of reference - we have grown from a few hundred to 1500 happy campers, and we still feel that allows an attention to detail and a sense of true communal experience that the larger festival can't give.
In saying that, it is not without its challenges, and creating a festival in a post-pandemic world of stark new realities and spiraling costs can be, at times, a somewhat sobering experience.
But, come 3 pm on Friday, Aug 19th as the campsite opens - all that has happened over the past three years will, I have no doubt, finally and fully fall away.
We are excited to present our most exciting festival yet across 8 stages jam-packed with incredible Irish talent and a carefully selected blend of international guests to add the final flavour of the weekend, and all set, of course, across the beautiful grounds of our home in Killyon Manor.
We have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and we can’t wait to finally actually feel the thrill of what it is to be doing this small but precious thing we love to do once more.
Another Love Story 2022 is at Killyon Manor, Co. Meath from Friday 19th - Sunday 21st August 2022. Weekend tickets are sold out, but you can grab a limited Sunday Day Pass here.
