Fourth festival was another great day

Well, the weather teased for the morning, but then the rain decided to stay away and it was just a great 4th Kilcullen River Festival, writes Brian Byrne.

And the crowds came. All afternoon they walked down the town, a steady stream of families mainly, all intent on making the most of the last weekend of official summer.

Once again, the organisation mostly worked very well indeed. Any few hiccups were there just to make it a proper Irish occasion.



The bands played. Oh boy, did they play. There is some wonderful rock talent in Kilcullen. And a surprise for guitarist Ger Wall, who was awarded the first Kilcullen Festival Music Award, by the vote of all the music scene in Kilcullen.

Richly deserved too, Ger has not just given tremendous musical enjoyment to his band's own fans, but has also generously worked with upcoming young local guitarists for many years, giving them the benefit of his talent and experience.



The Barman's Race was once again won by Amber from McTernans, who wasn't first in the race, but was ahead of her competitor who had the same level of unspilt drink to enable her to win the tie that transpired.



The new Kildare Chowder Cook-off was won by Fallons, thanks to a popular vote from a stream of festival participants who toured the competitor tureens in the Heritage Centre. They now go on to the National Chowder competition in Kinsale.



There seemed to be some confusion about who won the raft race, but McTernans and O'Connells seemed to be in the frame somewhere. And the Tug O War, well, we left after The Spout beat Joeys and were waiting to face a very fresh O'Connells.



The real winners of the Festival were the people who came along, enjoying a great day, great food and drink, great entertainment on the environs of the Liffey as it runs through Kilcullen.

And not a bad incident to be seen. Says something important, again, that we can have a great day out in a very mixed environment in Kilcullen, and just enjoy it. Well done, the organisers, the restaurants who provided great food, the bands, the stallholders, the many hundreds of people who thronged the square and the bridge, the entertainers.

That's Kilcullen, really.

(We'll have all the pictures of the day in place by the morning.)