River Festival doesn't let a little rain dampen things ...

Well, so it was wet ... so that didn't damp the enthusiasm for the River Festival, writes Brian Byrne.

Raincoats and umbrellas were substituted for sun-block and shorts, and the music and the food was great.

Right, the crowds weren't as big as previous years, but there was a steady arrival of family groups all through the afternoon to enjoy the usual attraction, and some more.

Raft Race, Duck Race, and the new Soap Box attraction ... and the cuppa and cakes with Mrs Doyle and friends at the Credit Union were in big demand.

All the pictures are here.

Great turnout for second Kilcullen Tri

There were more than 60 individual competitors and 16 teams of three in this evening's Kilcullen Triathlon, the second time it has been held, writes Brian Byrne.

The overall winner was Michael Monaghan from Naas, while the first woman to cross the line was Angeline Gleeson from the Kildare Track Racing Club.

The Fallons team of Ross Fallon, Con Creedon and Andrew Donovan won the team event.

The Triathlon was inaugurated last year as a Saturday evening event in advance of the Kilcullen River Festival, which will be held tomorrow.

All the Diary's pics from the Triathlon are available here.

Campaign for Educate Together secondary school

An information stand on a campaign for a new second level school in Kildare South will be at the Kilcullen River Festival this weekend, writes Brian Byrne.

It is being organised by the Educate Together movement, which already has two primary schools in the area, in Newbridge and Kildare town.

Going by the name SKET2L (South Kildare Educate Together Second Level Campaign Group), the organisers say that extension plans in the current second level schools will not be able to meet a 'significant' growing demand for more choice in second level education in Newbridge and the wider south Kildare area.

Following a public meeting in May in Newbridge, SKET2L has gathered names of more than 850 children whose parents want an ET second level school in the Kildare South.

In Newbridge alone, there's a shortfall of 162 places for pupils leaving the primary sector and needing to start second level.

Kilcullen's Cross & Passion College is one of the schools to which Newbridge children go as an alternative to scarce places in their home town. CPC has already increased its number of available places for this year to 144. The College caters for eight 'feeder' schools, two of which are in Newbridge.

In Newbridge, 500 new places are planned for St Conleth's Community College, and there's an application for an extension to the Patrician Boys School. SKET2L says that even these measures won't be sufficient to meet the demand, against a background of more than 580 pupils leaving primary level this past June in Newbridge and the surrounding locality.

In Kildare town the second level Community School is already enrolling at capacity, even before the town's ET primary school delivers its first graduating class in 2019.

In addition to the River Festival stand, SKET2L will be at the Whitewater Shopping Centre on Saturday 29 August. Further information is available from Jennifer Buttner, chairperson, at 087 4153129, or go to the web page sket2ndlevel.org.

Soap Box spy shots

There's some serious engineering going on with the O'Connells Bar entry for the Soap Box Derby that's a new highlight for next weekend's River Festival, writes Brian Byrne.

It's the only one of the entrants we were able to get spy shots of so far, and this is before the bodywork is added.

A neat touch is the pair of handgrips at the back. Looks like the whole thing could be quickly converted to be a dog sled if global warming turns off the North Atlantic Pump and we get the kind of winters our latitude is open to.

River Festival forced to drop Tug O'War

There will be no Tug O'War at this year's Kilcullen River Festival, because of insurance restrictions, writes Brian Byrne.

But there are many other attractions organised for the 23 August event to make up for the loss of this one.

Pet grooming expert Nanncy Poulain (above) is busy deciding on categories for the Dog Competition which will be open to young owners. Entry in each category will be €2, and the proceeds will be shared with local charities.

This year's Festival also has a Soap Box Derby, for which a number of local groups have been building vehicles. The competitors will be required to wear safety gear, and observe strict safety rules, and will race each other in pairs down from Hillcrest in knock-out heats.

The display of Army vehicles and weapons systems which was such a big draw in the earlier years of the Festival is back this year.

And the Raft Race which attracts some very inventive and humorous constructions will continue to throw up surprises this year.

Meanwhile, there's very strong interest being reported for the second Kilcullen Triathlon, which will be held on the evening of 22 August as part of the Festival weekend.

The organisers are making changes to keep crowds away from direct contact with contestants, following some minor difficulties last year.

Bunting up, Festival getting close

As we have turned into August, the preparations for the Kilcullen River Festival have cranked up a gear, writes Brian Byrne.

Ronan Murphy's pic from last evening shows the bunting being put in place by some of the usual suspects prepared to get up on ladders.

The sponsors launch evening will be in Fallons on 14 August, when the Festival Queen will be picked. There's still time for businesses and local organisations to put forward their candidate for this very pleasant duty — contact Mary at Fallons, or any member of the Festival Committee.

The Triathlon being held on the Saturday evening of 22 August has already attracted a lot of interest, according to organiser Steve Kinneavy. Last year's inaugural event proved a great success, and many more participants are expected this year.

Several extra attractions aimed at families will be featured on the Sunday, while the regular food and trade stalls will cater for all tastes and needs.

More details soon. In the meantime, anyone who would like to volunteer to do some rostered stewarding work for either the Triathlon or the Festival day itself should contact a Committee member or email info@fallons.ie.

River festival call for steward volunteers

A call has been made by the organisers of the Kilcullen River Festival for volunteer stewards both for the Triathlon on the Saturday night and parts of the main festival on the Sunday afternoon, writes Brian Byrne.

The volunteers can be rostered to work for a short period, and the organising committee hopes that some group might offer their members for the occasion.

In the meantime, preparations are going well for the event on 23 August, the sixth time it has been held. In addition to the familiar format of food and trading stalls, river events including the Lions Club Duck Race and the Raft Race, there will be a Soap Box Derby down the hill from Hillcrest.

Local bands are lined up to provide non-stop entertainment until 6pm, and there will be an extra emphasis on family-friendly attractions, including a Pets Competition.

Businesses and clubs have been circulated with a request to provide candidates for the Festival Queen, who will be selected at the Festival Launch Reception on 14 August in Fallons.

We'll keep you posted on the Diary as more information develops.

Memorabilia Display for River Festival

UPDATE: This Display has been cancelled, due to circumstances outside Billy's control.

Billy Redmond has set the date for his Memorabilia Display to be part of the Kilcullen River Festival, Sunday 23 August, writes Brian Byrne.

That will add a real heritage element to the Festival, and Billy is hoping to have a large number of people visit the Display in the Heritage Centre.

The Display will be open between 11am-6pm, with no admission charge. Billy has been in contact with a number of local families who have memorabilia at home to lend to the show.

He would still like to hear from other people who might have old items — such as work implements, period decorative features, posters and anything else in that vein — to show for the day.

"I'm doing it because I'm interested in this stuff ... what's the point in it all languishing in drawers and jars and attics?" he says. "Let us retrieve these items and let people be able to have a look at them."

Contact Billy, who recently displayed his own collection of badges and insignia from around the world, at 087 6311177.

New speed event for River Festival

A new element of this year's Kilcullen River Festival will be all about speed, but not on the river, writes Brian Byrne.

There's going to be a Soap Box race derby run down the hill from Hillcrest to the Town Hall Theatre.

It will be limited to 16 entries, and heats of pairs of contestants will be run off until there's an overall winner.

"All local organisations and pubs will be invited to build an entry," says Steve Kinneavy, who went to Grangecon last month to watch the very successful 4th annual competition organised there by the local GAA. "O'Connell's Bar are already working on their design."



Steve also says that there's a strong interest already in the Triathlon that will take place on the Saturday night before the Festival day. Last year's inaugural was very successful, and a significant number of athletes are already looking towards participating this year.

The Kilcullen River Festival will take place on Sunday 23 August.