Slane business owners brace and prepare for 160,000 fans for Luke Combs gig

While many Slane residents and business owners will batten down the hatches and stay sheltered from the 160,000 country music loving concert-goers, local publicans are hoping to orchestrate their teams to a hugely successful weekend in the village.

Pub owners John Archbold (Boyle’s of Slane) and Wayne Harding (The Village Inn) are weeks into their preparation for the back to back Slane concerts, building up to what could be one of their busiest ever weekends.

There is no overestimating the consideration that goes into concert preparation, as The Village Inn owner, Cllr Wayne Harding revealed that the headline act even helps to dictate the drink orders. “It was pints on draft for Metallica and Guns N’ Roses, and then it was gin and tonics, and prosecco for Harry Styles. Every concert throws up different tastes.”

This edition of Slane Concert presents new challenges for pub management. With the village being closed for much of the weekend, thanks to a two-day event, Archbold has had to take additional steps to maintain supply.

“I’ve got provisional orders placed, trucks coming on Sunday morning full of Guinness, Carlsberg, and cider. We barely have enough space for the amount of Guinness that will be drunk on Saturday,” he said, adding that emergency orders have been made in the past for Slane shows.

Another preparation point comes from the number of staff for the weekend. Both The Village Inn and Boyles of Slane will be well stocked in terms of their work force, with neither owner taking any chances of being understaffed on Saturday and Sunday.

Some peace of mind has already been given to Archbold, as he has been able to form an experienced and familiar team for the weekend.

“We’re very lucky. We have loads of brilliant ex-staff around Slane. They’ve put their hand up to help out for the weekend. They’re experienced, so they’re not going to have the pressure of not knowing what they’re doing. They’re the quickest, most mannerly, and polite people you’ll meet. There’s no messing around. They make it a really great day to work.”

Although pubs around the country besides large stadiums and venues may be well used to and adequately equipped for huge crowds, local pubs like Boyles and The Village Inn are dealing with unusually large volumes of people, despite their small stature.

“We’ve been here for 40 years doing the concerts,” Harding said. “But, we're a small village pub, managing a massive crowd as best as we can.” Despite the challenges, it’s something Harding is happy to face.

“We love the concert. It makes up for a lot of quiet midweek nights in November when there aren’t many people around.”

Archbold said in relation to his pub, “We can only hold 150, 200 people when you include the beer garden. It only takes a tiny percentage of people going past the door to fill up quickly.”

Security on the door is a step that both pubs are taking, however, each owner revealed that this measure was purely for maintaining safe crowd numbers, as Slane Concert has never been a day that has led to any behavioural issues in their premises, and they don’t forecast that to change this year.

There are operational challenges that could come into play over the weekend which could act as a spanner in the works. Archbold highlighted issues such as water supply, electricity dependency, and the potential of card machines going down. “You probably won’t even see me behind the bar, I’ll be all over the place, trying to stop things from going wrong. With all my years of running the pub, you learn how to fix things as efficiently as you can... There's a million little jobs, big jobs, and everything in between."

The introduction of a two-day concert has meant both public houses have had to up the ante. This even means that sleep will be at a premium over the course of the weekend. “We’re going to be here from morning to very late, then the alarm goes off at 7am,” Archbold said. “If I could organise more sleep, that’d be great!”

However, despite the vast amount of planning, hard work, and energy concert day demands, both of the business owners were very clear this was a day they welcome and enjoy.

“I embrace the concerts,” Harding said. “I love them. I love the atmosphere. I love the buzz, being busy. I love to see people enjoy themselves. I love meeting people, it’s a really fun time.”

Archbold is leading charge of Boyle’s of Slane for a third concert, after taking over the business in 2018. Describing the day as ‘mental in a good way’, he is also relishing 2026’s concert.

“It’s going to be brilliant - it’s very exciting. There’ll be a lot of people in good form. You get a buzz off everyone else’s energy, everyone’s having such good craic. The whole day has a great atmosphere, from start to finish. Everyone’s in a good mood… The day is just made up of loads of funny memories.”

The concert is not new to either Harding or Archbold, as they have both gotten plenty of practice and preparation throughout the years. However, one business in Slane, Silly Sid’s, is newer to the concert, but is using its innovation to make the most of the weekend.

Silly Sid’s operate a cafe in The Village Inn and a separate bakery in Slane, but will move to street food this weekend as Jim Marry revealed their plans.

“We’re moving out of the pub for the weekend, they need the kitchen. We’re using our bakery up the road to do burgers, chips, food like that. We’re looking to draw on the entry of festival goers. We’re also going to have a food truck up at Rock Farm, there’s a lot of people staying up there for the festival.”

Established in 2019, Silly Sid’s was able to be involved with the Harry Styles gig of 2023, but now, they are happy to be able to increase their output as they have become a more established business in Slane. “We started off by going around local markets, now we’re stepping it up, we’re expanding.”