Seeing red in Kilcullen

Kilcullen will get a distinctly red look over the next week as bunting and flags related to the Punchestown Festival ‘Paint the Town Red’ competition are put in place, writes Brian Byrne.

A thousand metres of bunting has arrived along with the flags, and the Kilcullen committee of Antoinette Buckley, Shirley Hallion, Austin Egan and Steve Kinneavy will be working to get them in place.

Businesses with street frontages are being encouraged to register for the competition, and decorate their premises in a red theme for the Festival, which this year runs from Tuesday 25 to Saturday 29 April.

Prizes worth more than €5,000 are up for grabs for businesses with shopfronts in Naas, Johnstown/Kill, Kilcullen/Ballymore, and Blessington in the competition, which was started four years ago in Naas.

A finalist will be chosen from each of the participating town/villages and will receive €800, while the overall winner will receive €1,500 plus the use of a private suite at the racecourse on a non-festival race day.

The competition details and timeline are:
Wednesday 5th April – register your business for the shop front campaign with Liz Fay, Punchestown;
Tuesday 18th April – email pictures of the themed business front to Liz Fay – lfay@punchestown.com;
Friday 21st April – the five finalists will be personally contacted and announced on social media;
Tuesday 25th April – the finalists and the overall winner will be presented with their prizes in the parade ring on the opening day of the festival.

For more information contact: Liz Fay lfay@punchestown.com or 045-897704.