2009 DylanFest summing up

Posted Sunday, September 6, 2009

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DylanFest

Whilst still being pretty successful there weren't as many people at the DylanFest this year as there were in the previous two years.

That could be down to a number of factors.

There was the economic downturn, there was the weakness of sterling and also the fact that there was less nationwide publicity.

Dave Fanning

In the first year I was on the Dave Fanning Show talking for about 7 minutes on it.

I was also on the Paul McFadden Show on Radio Foyle and I was surprised when a BBC crew turned up at my door to record an interview.

I was so surprised that I was actually in the shower when one of my children answered the door and when I popped my head out the bathroom door to see what was going on there was a guy standing in the hallway with recording equipment.

Press

It was in HotPress, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star as well as in the lcoal newspapers and radio stations.

In the second year I was on the Caroline Fleck Show on Downtown Radio and Radio Foyle and the two of the festival singers sung on the Mark Paterson Show.

Less Interest

This year, despite doing pretty much the same things, there wasn't as much interest nationally.

Although, the publicity did start a bit late.

However, it was in HotPress and the Press Release I sent out was read out on the Dave Fanning Show.

The publicity probably started too late this year as people have to make plans.

We mustn't make the same mistake next year.

Fewer Stories

It was published in the local newspapers but only in the couple of weeks running up to it.

There were fewer stories that I could get published.

There was no world renowned Dylan expert Michael Gray this year and no bands from Belgium, Germany and Italy to get news like there had been in the first two years.

I was scratching my head for news angles but I couldn't think of as many as before.

Not On Street

One of the big reasons for the lower numbers coming was that there was no music out on the streets.

The reason for that was that in the previous two years most of the money for it came straight out of my pocket and I was determined that that wouldn't happen again.

Good Crowd

However, in saying that there was still a pretty good crowd that turned out for the DylanFest and the pubs involved were pretty full to the brim especially on the Saturday night.

The two highlights, people were saying, were The Plea in the Town Clock on the Saturday night and the Open Air session in the grounds of the hostel at Gulladuff House.

The Plea were absolutely fantastic.

It was the first time they had played in Moville since the last DylanFest and they had improved again.

Gulladuff House

Steph Buhe from France and the Teraways held an open air concert at Gulladuff House on the Saturday afternoon and evening and invited other people up to play.

It was supposed to be low key but at its peak there were over a hundred people there.

The Teraways, who had practiced all winter for the DylanFest were a great help in getting the publicity out and also by doing stints both at the Putting Green Cafe and the grounds of Gulladuff Hostel.

Building on Success

All in all in it was a nice and enjoyable festival but it hadn't built on the successes of the first two years.

It should be growing bigger by the year.

I will have plans out shortly which will enable this to happen in future years.

For the first three years I had been running it all by myself pretty much.

However, I intend to put together a team of people with different skills to put the DylanFest back on the road to growth in the future.

More of this soon.

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