Púca Festival Day 1: Imelda gets down with the 'goths and the bones' in the home of Halloween

Trim felt like the centre of the universe as the first night of the Púca Festival got underway.

The town was basking in the afterglow of being judged Overall Tidy Towns Winner 2022 at a special ceremony in Dublin and now the heritage town was kicking off one of the most ambitious music and entertainment festivals ever seen in these parts.

The event packed four-day festival opened with Imelda May taking to the Big Top Púca Stage in the Porchfields in front of approximately 1,300 people.

Elsewhere in the town, comedian Neil Delamere performed alongside MC Ian Coppinger and Support Sinead Quinlan in the Trim Castle Hotel.

Lisa Hannigan and Cathy Davey were the main attraction at the Boann Stage sited in front of Trim Castle!

Earlier in the day, Sorcas na Samhna – Celtic Circus, took place in Athboy in what was described as a dizzying display of Halloween circus performed with an Irish twist and live Irish music right in the heart of the home of Halloween.

Anxious council and festival staff in Porchfields, keen to see the festival become a major annual event for Co Meath, were busy watching concert goers making their way from the makeshift car parks to the concert venues either side of the castle.

While punters had to watch their step with the slippery conditions, not that anyone was complaining, one person who didn't put a foot wrong was Imelda May.

The Dubliner, following on from the excellent support band Hawke, played a superb set, mixing up some of her classic tracks such as 'Johnny Got a Boom Boom' and 'Big Bad Handsome Man' with newer material that also included a beautiful rendition of the much maligned Molly Malone. "Why are there not more statues of women in Ireland?" she asked.

She told a delighted audience why she was so happy to be in Trim and getting "down with the goths and the bones in the real home of Halloween".

That got one of the biggest cheers of the night, surpassed only by Imelda thanking her beloved band for helping her through recent tough times and health scares that saw her having to cancel some shows.

The bars were doing brisk trade outside with a E2 deposit on plastic cups, refundable on return, with the Púca Festival looking to ensure a 'Leave No Trace' policy.

An army of festival staff were still on hand however, to make sure not a single bit of debris was left behind, well Trim is Ireland's Tidiest Town after all.

Imelda, with her dad Tony and daughter Violet in the audience, finished with a tribute to her friend, the late great Meatloaf and a version of 'I would Do Anything For Love' bringing the curtain down on an enjoyable first night of the Púca Festival.

Tonight (Saturday) it's the turn of the Academic on Big Top Púca Stage, with Gavin James there on Sunday and Block Rockin Beats on Monday. The full festival itinerary is here as well as links to tickets.