Ratoath band Noah performing at Puca!

Cllrs hail Púca Festival success

The success of the inaugural Púca Festival which took place in Trim, Athboy and the Hill of Ward over the October Bank Holiday weekend will be built on next year with a target to sell 10,000 more tickets for events.

At their recent meeting, Trim Municipal District councillors spoke of the huge success of the festival and their hopes that it can be built on further going forward. They commented on what a huge weekend it had been for the town with Trim securing the national Tidy Towns title, followed by the Púca festival which drew 36,000 visitors to the area.

Director of Services, Des Foley, said they had a target of 15,000 ticket sales and had sold 14,000 and the aim is to increase ticket sales to 25,000 for next year’s festival. He said it had a huge economic spin off for the town and pointed out that the promoters had been appointed just three and a half months before the event and next time they would have a year to plan it. He said the intention was to grow the event more and would be looking to sell up to 25,000 ticket sales next year and attract bigger acts, with more time to plan.

Mr Foley said they had a number of meetings post event to review it and there were some tweaks and some things they learned from it but the commitment and investment is there and they are confident the festival can grow.

Cllr Trevor Golden said: “We can’t stop talking about it, which is a sign of how great it was. People you meet on the street speak about the different events and speak so highly of them. It is a wonderful opportunity for the town to build on it now for all local business to come on board and make it even better. There will be a few tweaks along the way but I think Púca is here to stay and will only get stronger and better.” He added that a tremendous amount of work had gone on behind the scenes to deliver the event and thanked everyone involved.

“We are all extremely proud to be Trim people that weekend between the Tidy Towns win and the festival,” he said.

Cllr French thanked all involved and particularly wanted to acknowledge the role of Mr Foley for taking leadership on it. “It was a singularly one of the best festivals major festivals we have had in Trim,” he commented.

Cllr Joe Fox added that it was a tremendous weekend for the town between the Tidy Towns win and the Púca festival and said it can be a major event on the national calendar and thanked Meath County Council, Michele Whelan and Boyne Valley Tourism and also Fáilte Ireland, for their work on it.

“The parade was unbelievable. From the balcony on Trim Castle, you could see the crowds on the street. It was like Croke Park,” he said.

Cllr Aisling Dempsey said: “It was great to be a small part of the set up as chair of Boyne Valley Tourism. I think it surpassed everything we could have hoped for this year. I am not sure how we we’ll do it bigger and better for next year but we will certainly do our best.”

Tributes were also paid at the meeting to everyone involved in Trim Tidy Towns and Meath County Council on their joint efforts to secure the national Tidy Towns title for the town.