Annual Ireland Newfoundland Festival takes place in Ireland this year

The annual Ireland Newfoundland Festival, Festival of the Sea, is on the go again and will be taking place in Ireland this year from Sept. 18-26.

Vice chairman of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership, Walter Kirwan was in Newfoundland to spread the word, along with Ireland Newfoundland Festival chairperson Paula Ui Uallachain.

"We are on a blitz to raise awareness throughout the area about the festival," said Kirwan.

Both Kirwan and Ui Uallachain travelled to Placentia, the Cape Shore and the Irish Loop to ensure people know about the festival and to encourage those interested to sign up.

The Ireland Newfoundland Festival is an annual festival that alternates between the Island of Newfoundland and Ireland.

The festival explores the cultural connections between Southeast Ireland and the Irish Loop and Cape Shore-Placentia areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, where many Irish immigrants ended up settling down.

As noted on their website, www.irelandnewfoundland.com, the connections between the two areas are explored and fostered through a program of cultural, heritage, educational and business events. The festival aims to promote and re-enforce the ties between the areas and its peoples and to "foster future collaboration between both areas."

Begun in 2005, the festival has been growing ever since and in 2010, Kirwan said he hopes to see the largest crowd sign up for the festival yet.

"There is no real limit to the amount of people who can sign up," explained Kirwan. "A good half the people on both sides have always been billeted and we are trying to keep to that because there is a feeling that gives a very good situation for the links to develop between the families and the communities to get stronger. The accommodation in all the areas will be ample to contain quite a few, and the last time I think, there were 105 people that came from Newfoundland. We'd be certainly aiming to at least double that and maybe more."

The first festival started with 30 people who traveled from Newfoundland to the Waterford and Wexford areas of Ireland. In 2006, approximately 80 Irish delegates came to Newfoundland and in 2007, 100 visitors from Newfoundland spent 10 days in Southeast Ireland.

In 2008, the festival was reviewed and fine-tuned at a conference in St. Bride's and in 2009, Irish delegates once again visited Newfoundland for a wonderful 10 days.

This year's festival begins in West Waterford, moves to East Waterford and Tipperary, then on to Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow where it eventually wraps up.

There is a full slate of things to do and depending on one's personal preferences, a few choices to make.

"The people who came from Ireland last year to Newfoundland were so overwhelmed by the people here and the generosity," said Ui Uallachain. "Now they are just so anxious to return that to the people of Newfoundland. They are so looking forward to it. We have all kinds of things organized. There will be photographic shows, lectures on the launch of the Emigrant's Trail, all kinds of things lined up. It'll be as mad as you want it to be or as easy going."

Among things to do are tours of Lismore Castle and Mount Melleray Abbey, historical talks, a school twinning event, theatrical shows, boat tours as well as wonderful food, entertainment, music and pubs.

"There will be lots of people who will have an aspiration to go on holiday to Ireland but this is one of the best kind of contexts they could get to do it in the sense that they are going with people from Newfoundland and they are going to be met by people who've been to Newfoundland who will look after them and give them the best of a welcome. You couldn't get a better situation to do your holiday in Ireland," said Kirwan, who also noted because of the global recession, prices are cut back and so the trip is a bit more affordable than it was.

As Ui Uallachain said, depending on what a person wants, they can probably get it.

"Food is a big thing, especially in Waterford and West Waterford. It has a name for everything from excellent pub grub to gourmet restaurants with Michelin stars. Food is excellent and of course, home cooking is good, too," she said.

Providing just what the visitor wants is another nice feature of the festival, said the chairpersons.

"We are covering so many topics and issues but different groups and people are into different things. We've got the school twinning. When we were here last year we had the Irish language workshop, which drew great interest. We will carry that on as well," stated Ui Uallachain. "There are a lot of things packed into eight days."

As Kirwan mentioned, the festival is quite flexible to travelers' plans.

"If someone was taking a holiday to Ireland and just wanted to take in a small part of the festival, or if they were staying with friends or something, they could pay a certain amount just to go to the events," Kirwan said. "It is pretty flexible. People can do their own transport or they can join with a group."

Kirwan said the cost of the festival, an exclusive package price will be up on their website soon.

Extremely varied program

"It's a good mix of things to do. It is an extremely varied program. Within that eight days, the program is such that any kind of experience that someone from Newfoundland was thinking of having in Ireland, they can catch them all there within those eight days," said Kirwan, who also wanted to give praise to Sherry Gambin Walsh, the Newfoundland coordinator, who he said is doing a tremendous job.

For more information on the festival, visit the website at www.irelandnewfoundland.com.

The Festival is supported by Ireland Newfoundland Partnership, Waterford County Council, Waterford City Council, FÁilte Ireland, New Ross Town Council, Dungarvan Town Council.

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