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BeatlesFest on the Lough 2011 is on

Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011

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BeatlesFest

Ireland's only annual BeatlesFest will take place in Moville from June 2nd to 5th.

This is the bank holiday weekend.

It is the 5th annual running of the event.

The first two years were reasonably good but it really took off in 2009 with the Sick and Indigent Song Club coming to town and doing great gigs in both The Town Clock and in Rosatos.

Indeed their gig in Rosatos was rated the Gig of the Year in Moville by some people.

2010 was great too.

BeatlesFest on the Lough 2011

In 2011 it will take place from the Thursday night to the Sunday night in quite a few pubs in the town. The pubs involved are Rosatos, Rawdons, Caiseal Mara Hotel, Bar-A-Cuda, and the Town Clock in Moville and the Sean Ti in Greencastle.

There will be late festival licences in the Moville pubs.

For the first time the BeatlesFest will be out in the street with gigs in the Malin Road starting at around 8pm on the Saturday and Sunday nights.

Moville

Moville is a small picturesque town in the countryside in Donegal which lies 18 miles north of Derry on a straight road along the salmon fishing Lough Foyle.

City of Derry is the nearest airport with Ryanair running cheap flights to there - especially if booked in advance. Through Ryanair we are in easy reach of the West of Scotland, Liverpool, Birmingham and London (Stansted).

A taxi to Moville from the airport costs £30 but there are also buses from Derry to Moville.

Tony Bramwell

The big news is that Beatles road manager, Tony Bramwell, who was also the Beatles PR man and Brian Epstein's talent scout, will be joint organiser of the festival.

He will be in charge of booking the bands and the PR.

Tony was also head of Apple records and Apple Films and later was head of Polydor Records with Slade, The Jam and Roxy Music signed up to his stable.

Tony discovered acts like James Taylor and also, later on, Eva Cassidy.

He put on Jimi Hendrix's first gig in the UK at the Saville Theatre in London before he was even famous in the US.

He is still in regular touch with Paul McCartney who texted him while he was at the BeatlesFest on the Lough in Moville last year.

Indeed Paul McCartney told Donovan in 2004 "If you want to know anything about The Beatles. He remembers it better than I do".

Read interviews and quotes from him here

Acts

We are gathering together information on the different acts who want to play Moville's BeatlesFest.

Here is this year's Programme of Events here.

It will be getting updated as we make more bookings.

Accommodation

For those who want to book accommodation now (before the best places get booked) take a look here Accommodation

Have a look at the BeatlesFest Facebook Page

If you want to play at one of the Open Mics, indoor or outdoor, contact info@craicon.com or phone 00 353 (0)74 93 82973 and we'll get you a slot.

Charities

We will be offering fundraising opportunities at the BeatlesFest on the Lough to the Foyle Hospice in Derry, which does such great work for cancer victims and their families in both Donegal and Derry.

BeatlesFest on the Lough 2012

In 2012 Derry will host the penultimate leg of the Round-the-World Clipper race.

Although Derry has won the right to put the race on, Lough Foyle is too narrow at Derry to have the start of the race there so it is going to start in Greencastle, Moville's sister town which is 3 miles away.

It is expected that 150,000 to 200,000 will turn up to watch it as well as 300-400 spectator yachts.

We have plans to put the BeatlesFest on the Lough on in early July when the last leg starts.

It is expected to give the local economy a boost of €15m to €20m.

Those attending the start will be looking for something to do that weekend and the BeatlesFest is an obvious choice to put on that weekend.

BeatlesFest on the Lough 2013

Derry has won the right to be the City of Culture in 2013.

There are expected to be 2m extra vistors to Derry in that year.

However, Derry wants to share the bounty with the surrounding area.

We will talk to Derry about putting on a massive BeatlesFest in 2013 maybe even with Paul McCartney as the centrepiece of it.

Conclusion

The great thing about the BeatlesFest is that you don't have to spend a fortune selling the 'product'.

A poll of 26 experts commissioned in 2004 by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2004 to find the top 100 musical acts of all time put The Beatles at Number 1 ahead of Bob Dylan, Elvis and The Rolling Stones.

The main challenge for us is to get the news out that it is taking place and the opportunities to do this over this year and the next two years are immense.

We see our immediate target market as Derry, Belfast, the other side of Lough Foyle in places like Coleraine, Limavady, Portrush etc. as well as the places that are in easy and cheap reach by air out of City fo Derry like the West of Scotland, Liverpool and London.

The BeatlesFest on the Lough is the only annual festival of Beatles music in Ireland.

We stand on the verge of making it a huge international festival.