125 Notes for bands ye can probably see in Radiator for less than a tenner of a Friday plus the remainder of a washed up disco pop act?? yer alright...

I'm sure the organisers are admirable in their intentions but heres the biggets contradiction...

get a venue with hostel facilities , hot water etc and lots of stuff ye cant get at big festies...so ye have high overheads to cover ....fill it with unknowns (largely)...and have to charge 125 quid for the pleasure??..dont think its gonna fly....

how many tics sold? 1500 is capacity right? 125 quid? no thanks....

A bit too pricey alright for what it is, but you'd still have to admire their attempt to spotlight the lesser-known irish bands in a festival environment... It should force the audience to pay more attention to the bands that they would probably skip if they were playing an early afternoon slot at the likes of oxegen or electric picnic.

I think its a good idea. However, 125 blips is a big ask for something like this especially as there have been and continue to be great gigs this summer which have demanded equal money.

So, did anyone here go to it? The review in today's Indo isn't very clear about whether the whole thing was a success or not...

I was at it. In fact I was at it both years. Last year was pretty amazing and with a damn good line up of mainly unsigned irish acts, but also including the Blizzards, Republic of Loose, and many others.
The purpose of this festival is not to have the big names, they couldnt afford them at this scale, but that doesnt mean that an unsigned act cannot be fantastic live. By the way, Sister Sledge were f**king brilliant! They came on a bit late, but they really were amazing live with more hits than you think.
Overall, this is a small, friendly festival. You bump into the same people again and again as it is that small. Toe food is great and the music too. The weather had some people leaving on Sunday morning, but there was still more people at it this year than last. I hope word spreads about this and it becomes a great success because its the best festival I have ever been at.

I will be at this every year as long as its running.

PS. We saw some great bands that were really worth a mention, The Spikes, Gavin Glass, Fight Like Apes, Mainline, The Chakras and of course, the ever entertaining and brilliant Springbreak.

Hmmm.... First Post eh?

Whatever you're into.


I don't trust you either! Your "its the best festival I have ever been at" tipped the boat over. Also, you didn't mention a single negative. Even glowing reports mentioned about not being allowed to bring your own drink into the campsite.

Defo falls into one of the following;

1) band member of band at it

2) mate of band member of band at it

3) promoter

"the ever entertaining and brilliant Springbreak" does it for me, these guys are brilliant craic for a night out but they do covers, only covers....

first ever posting...........

I *heart* SpringBreak

They do a mean Toto cover alright

What's this "first post QUESTION MARK" nonsense?

First of all I dont really get how somebody can slate a festival, before it actually has taken place...I agree that the price was kinda steep, but at the end of the day,the money will be used for the charleville castle restauration... to clear things up yep this is me first post and nope I am not involved with the festival itself... but yeah i went and i really enjoyed myself!! it was intimate, clean, very cozy and the atmosphere was brilliant, maybe as mentioned from one poster before a bit clumsy, but thats what made it so charming..
Futhermore we were able to bring alcohol onto the camping-/ festivalgrounds, no problem whatsoever and they had cheap and brilliant cocktails.
and whats wrong in giving small unsigned irish bands the chance to appear at a festival??? thought the gorgeous colours were very different and really good, enjoyed sick boy, very agressive music in a nonthreatening way..The Chakras were aight too, even though not as good as at last years HWCH festival..would have never gone and bought tickets for Sister Sledge, but yeah even that was absolutely enjoyable and the crowd luuved it, and so on.....

Good point, Dan - I don't see people knocking HWCH because of this.