A great day again, and here's the story

It goes against all Irish summer odds that a one-day festival can have fine weather for three years in a row, writes Brian Byrne. But that's just what happened yesterday for the third Kilcullen River Festival.

But then, the organisers deserve it, because once again they pulled out all the stops to give the thousands who attended the event an end-of-summer memory that will be the saving grace for a weatherwise less-than-memorable holiday season.

The Army was missing this year, which was a pity, but the food, craft and novelty stands offered more than enough attractions for the mainly family groups who turned out from all over the mid-county and beyond.

Reptiles, scorpions, clowns, magicians and a breath-taking juggler of sharp knives were just some of the other elements that kept people occupied between the river novelty events.

And the bands, mostly from the Kilcullen area, provided a musical background for the throngs that promised a long future of talent in the town, maybe even to national and international prominence someday.



A really pleasant interlude included the official opening of the Kilcullen Farm & Nature Trail in Bridge Camphill, with the ribbon cut by resident Siobhan Dunlea.



Hilarity was provided as usual by a range of other kinds of talent from the pubs. This year a Barperson Race was new, and it's safe to say that none of them ever had to carry a tray of pints across the river before!



The Raft Race was open to other organisations this year, so the Badminton Club and the Solas Youth Cafe entered. Maybe they hadn't seen in previous years just how Bardon's Bandits marauders treat the competition, and weren't prepared to be boarded and tipped over. But the pirates did it to everybody, even the guitarist on The Spout Party Boat saw no quarter and his chords later in the evening were probably somewhat soggy

The evening ended with the tug-o-war, won by O'Connells from the Spout even if commentator Fergal Sloan kept trying to extend the number of pulls in the competition to give his favourites The Spout an extra chance to improve their situation.

Well, it's all over now, and it was yet another very successful Kilcullen River Festival. If a picture says a thousand words, this set has volumes to say.

Well done to all concerned—Geri, Tara, Steve, Brian F et al. You played a blinder.



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