27th July - 5th August, 2007
Oldcastle, Co. Meath
History of the festival
Oldcastle Arts and Music Festival is an annual community-run
festival organised by CULTURE GAP, a voluntary, not-for-profit
company established in 1998. Culture Gap is an affiliate of
A.O.I.F.E., the national association of festivals. Run over
the last week in July / August Bank Holiday weekend in venues
throughout the town, LeCheile brings together all art forms:
music, art, drama, literature, both performances as well as
interactive workshops for all ages.
The festival began in 1998 with the objectives of bringing
a range of arts and culture to a small town and developing the
skills of local youth necessary to run such a festival. As a
community festival its varied programme seeks to reflect the
spread of ages and interests in the local community and also
draws on the range of local talent (musicians, theatre
companies, writers etc). Several festival Committee members
are involved in playing and promoting music. Other expertise
(IT, PR, administrative skills) are allocated across the range
of tasks involved in making the festival happen each year. A
wider network of local musicians and artists also provide
support, including contacts and advice to the festival. The
festivals achievements have been recognised by annual support
from Meath County Council Arts Office and 'Club of the Year'
award from Meath VEC in 2004.
Over the past 9 years LeCheile has included some of Ireland’s
finest musicians. The Hothouse Flowers, Kila, Something
Happens, The 4 of Us, Picture House, Altan, Aslan, The Frames,
Dara, The Saw Doctors, Relish, Mundy, Turn, The Undertones,
The Walls, Juliet Turner, Jack L and Republic of Loose (below).
Many other bands, yet to become house-hold names, have cut their
stage teeth at LeCheile. The music line-up caters for all tastes,
ranging from Botswana rappers Da Crazy Naughty Nasty Crew,
Jazz great Babatunde Lea to more traditional acts such as
Kila, John Spillane, etc.
Each year the festival features a range of art forms,
including art/drama workshops and performances, street theatre,
Viking reenactment, poetry, comedy etc with innovation and
diversity a feature of each year's line-up. In 2001, for
example, the festival featured an open-air music session at
nearby Loughcrew Gardens with an eclectic combination of
musicians; non-nationals from the University of Limerick's
World Music Centre and local traditional musicians. Comedy
names have included Des Bishop, Tara Flynn, Barry Murphy, Neil
Delamere and the stars from Naked Camera. Literature and
theatre has featured names such as Vona Groarke and Mary
McEvoy, while workshops and competition for children have
included childrens' photography competitions, rangoli,
puppetry.
The festival draws some 10,000 people to the town over the
course of the weekend making it one of the most significant
events for hospitality and tourism businesses in the region.
Monitoring of ticket sales and website traffic highlight
interest in the festival across neighbouring counties,
Northern Ireland, with significant numbers arranging holidays
in the area to coincide with the festival dates.
Neosupervital at LeCheile 2006
Further info available from the MySpace site
