Famous matchmaking festival gets underway

YET another Matchmaking Festival swings into action in Lisdoonvarna this weekend. While it is coinciding with what has been described as one of the toughest tourism seasons for the country, Lisdoonvarna hotelier Marcus White is nonetheless upbeat regarding the prospects for the month of September.
He told The Clare Champion that while he is not anticipating an increase in business, bookings are nonetheless pretty good and said he will be happy if business reaches the same level as last year.
Noting it has not been a good year for tourism in the West, he said they were fortunate in his business in that they generated a lot of business from the German market in the early part of the season.
The Lisdoonvarna hotelier stated a big disappointment this year was the collapse of the English market. Even though the White Group has two offices in the UK promoting Lisdoonvarna, they failed to attract visitors, who instead opted for hotter climates. He said, traditionally, the English are great spenders and are very important to Lisdoonvarna and the whole North Clare area.
He noted, however, that they were hoping the area would benefit from the good year for Irish farming. “Farm prices were never so good,” he said, adding they are looking forward to farmers coming in increased numbers this year.
“Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the country, Lisdoonvarna is still a great place to come to forget about the difficulties and enjoy the facilities and entertainment the world-famous resort has to offer,” he said.
This year, Mark Flanagan made an earlier than usual trip from his home in Memphis, Tennessee to help to promote the Matchmaking Festival 2011.
He also feels farmers with more money in their pockets will come to the matchmaking capital of Ireland, adding that now, more than ever, Lisdoonvarna is the ideal spot to find a companion and love.
Peter Curtin of the famous Roadside Tavern is also looking forward to an improvement in numbers throughout the month. One of Ireland’s oldest pubs, having opened in 1865 and later expanded into a bakery, he is hoping the addition of his recently opened micro brewery will be a big boost in promoting business.
The month-long Matchmaking Festival gets underway with horse and pony racing in Doolin and music and dancing in all the hotels and pubs throughout the weekend.
It will be all systems go for the remainder of the month when visitors will patronise the spa wells early in the day, enjoy the afternoon and night-time entertainment in the hostelries, as well as having an opportunity to meet and chat with world-famous matchmaker, Willie Daly.