Dunshaughlin group reveals details of Harvest Festival

Dunshaughlin Harvest Festival organisers have announced details of what they describe as a dynamic inaugural event, which will take place to coincide with the Solheim Cup at neighbouring Killeen Castle in September. The Dunshaughlin Harvest Festival will be a "fusion of food, folk and fun", and is intended to demonstrate that Dunshaughlin is 'the friendliest village in the world', running from 18th to 25th September next. The packed and exciting festival programme includes a craft and heritage village, an international food village and a trade village. There will be two separate free entertainment stages - from trad, rock and jazz to dance, drama and even celebrity cookery demonstrations with chef Kevin Dundon. Plenty of well-known Irish artists will grace the stage, including Don Baker and Brush Shiels. There will be a wide variety of cultural and heritage events spread throughout the week, including a limited-capacity concert from award-winning multi-platinum artist Liam Lawton. An exhibition of especially released artefacts from Ireland's museums will also be open to the public. In addition, there will be several other cultural evenings and a number of local heritage tours, including a fun midnight ghost tour. The bumper programme also includes drama, comedy, pub entertainment, a Guinness World record-breaking attempt, street theatre, a carnival, traditional village games, an inflatable playzone and a full children's programme. "The whole village has got behind this wonderful festival and have even produced a festival promotional video, which will be released on YouTube and on the festival website dunfest.com very soon," said Dave Robinson, the festival committee chairman. "The Dunshaughlin Harvest Festival is the first festival to be held in Dunshaughlin in more than 30 years," he added. "The opening of the M3 last year gave the residents an opportunity to revive village life. In recent months we have seen the opening of the Dunshaughlin Heritage Trail, and now the village has been nominated to represent Meath in the Co-Operation Ireland Pride of Place Awards. Through the competition, local people work together to create civic pride in their local community." The group is organising a gala festival fundraiser on Friday 15th July at the County Club, offering four zones of entertainment and dinner for only €10. The festival organisers are also now taking bookings for the festival craft and heritage village, the food village and the trade village. For further information on these, contact the secretary, Patricia Lynch, on (085) 821 8908 or email patriciaredlynch@gmail.com Meanwhile, Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, has set up a steering group which is working to showcase, to a worldwide audience, the very best that the Boyne Valley has to offer during the golf event in September. The first meeting was held at Trim Castle Hotel with representatives from all sectors of business in the area, who will work with the local community to encourage them to embrace the event. The group is chaired by Michael Killeen who has had extensive experience working in the private sector and Tipperary, Dublin and Meath County Councils. To date, over 50 local tourism businesses have participated in a Solheim Cup Customer Care Charter training programme which is designed to ensure that all visitors to the county are guaranteed a good quality and memorable experience. Mark Rowlette, client services manager with Fáilte Ireland, commented: "Between now and September, the local steering group will be very active, implementing initiatives which will contribute greatly to the success of this event. By providing international and domestic visitors with a positive experience of their visit to Meath and the Boyne Valley region, the hope is that this will create a lasting legacy. "This 'legacy' will encourage visitors to return to the area in the future as well as encouraging them to recommend it to family and friends."