DYSART FESTIVAL 2008


Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th August

Dysart Castle, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny


LINE-UP INCLUDES


JOOLS HOLLAND, MARC ALMOND, KATHERINE JENKINS, REPUBLIC OF LOOSE, THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, LUAN PARLE, JOHN MARTYN, GEMMA HAYES, HOARSEBOX, CLIVE BARNES, DIRTY EPICS, HAM SANDWICH, THE MINUTES, THE FLAWS, THE CHAPTERS, MYP ET JEEP, GORBACHOV, DISTRACTORS, PRISON LOVE AND MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED


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Ireland’s newest music festival – Dysart Festival – will take place in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th August in the breathtaking wooded valley at Dysart Castle.

On Saturday, the unique boutique festival will be headlined by music legend Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, John Martyn, Marc Almond and the Blind Boys of Alabama. They will be joined on the line-up by the best in young Irish talent including Republic of Loose, Luan Parle, the Flaws and Ham Sandwich whilst Mercury Music Prize nominee Gemma Hayes and Clive Barnes complete the initial line up.

On Sunday, kick back and enjoy a bucolic day with picnic-rugs and hampers as the wooded valley plays host to the Dysart Picnic Concert featuring an array of classical and orchestral performances headed by Welsh opera phenomena Katherine Jenkins. Other performers on the day will include Irish bluegrass maestros Prison Love and Dakota 66.
On both Saturday and Sunday, the Dysart Comedy Tent will feature a selection of comedy acts from The Laughter Lounge. Hosts of the this stage will be The Rock & Roll Rescue Squad, purveyors of the Dublin’s ‘only credible karaoke’, Songs of Praise in the Village, according to that authoritative organ, the Irish Times.

This year the festival will exploit the unique nature of the venue, with two stages in spectacular natural amphitheatre settings, one an enclosed, festoon-lit glade in a grassy bowl which will host the second stage – a timber craftwork installation and the main castle arena – a huge, curving natural bowl framed by ancient Irish forests and the bend of the River Nore.
At the centre of the site lies Dysart Castle, the birthplace of Ireland’s greatest Enlightenment philosopher George Berkeley, who asked the question: “If a tree falls in the woods and no-one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

This year the woods he grew up in will host some sounds even the good Bishop couldn't help but get his groove on to.


TICKET INFORMATION
Early Bird catches the worm - €55


Advance Tickets - €75
Gate - €85


Completely Different Tickets - €140
Completely Different 2 Day Tickets - €240

Unit 
Market Cross, Kilkenny
Phone +353 56 77 95955
www.dysartfestival.com