Craic On

I had a meeting in Derry on Friday with Ryan O’Dochertaigh who runs a lot of music events in Derry. He also played with the Cannibals at the 2010 DylanFest in the Bar-a-Cuda, a highly successful gig, which had everyone at it on the dance floor bopping along to Dylan songs of all things.

He organises gigs and festivals in Derry now. I was there to talk to him about running private buses to the DylanFest and BeatlesFest. I think everyone in Derry must know him. As we walked through the centre of Derry near the Guildhall to a little cafe where we would talk he was waved to and stopped by loads of people. Even as we sat outside the cafe people would come up and talk to him. As we were leaving the girl who was playing guitar stopped playing to say hello and have a few words with him.

Surprise

An old boss of mine once said “Good people are always surprising you”. Ryan surprised me in that he had already spoken to the bus company, got a good deal and filled one 31-seater bus with family and friends. We have decided to try to run a few more. The company has 15 seater, 23-seater and 31-seater buses.

I have very god feelings about the DylanFest and BeatlesFest this year. When I first started running them there were two hotels and 64 hotel rooms in the town. Now there are none and none.

However, this year we are one of the few to be on both the City of Culture Programme of Events and The Gathering Calendar of Events. I can also see that there are 5-10 people a day linking through to the DylanFest and Beatles Fest section of CraicOn from other websites.

On Board

It’s been a great benefit having Ryan on board for the festivals this year. He and Kevin Brown will be playing at the Sean Ti on the Saturday night of the DylanFest (Aug 24th) and one the Sunday night in Rosatos (Aug 25th).

Let’s all try to get a crowd here for the festivals this year. If you know someone in Derry who would like to come tell them about the buses.

The cost for the round trip is £8 for adults and £3 for children. That’s very decent and Ryan is doing it at pretty much cost price with a little margin to make sure he doesn’t lose any money. I had told him that as he was doing the work he should add a bit for himself but he said he was happy just to get a crowd along.

Buses

One bus will leave at 2pm on the Saturday and Sunday from The Carrick Bar in Derry and go back at 1am on the Sunday morning. The other bus, which would be more suitable for families, will leave from outside The Carrick Bar at 3pm on the Saturday and Sunday and leave Moville at 8pm. there will be music on both in the pubs and the Putting Green cafe whilst they are here.

Why not repost this article to Derry folk who might want to come.

Ryan is going to create an Events page in Facebook for it but, until then, if you know someone who wants to come here for the festival then ask them to contact me at [email protected].

THe DylanFest is from Aug 22nd to 25th and the BeatlesFest from Aug 29th to Sep 1st.

Buses will run from Derry on the Saturday & Sunday from the Carrick Bar with a return cost of £8 for Adults & £3 for kids. Contact Ryan O’Dochertaigh at [email protected] or 07513483213