Gearing up for Cooley Collins Festival

THE annual Cooley Collins Festival takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend, from Friday, October 22 to Monday, October 25.
Among the highlights of the weekend are céilís with music from two of the best known bands in the country. The weekend will open with a céilí in The Cooley Lodge in Peterswell with music from the Fourcourts Céilí Band, beginning at 9pm.
On Saturday, there will be workshops for children and adults at various locations in the Gort area, followed on Saturday night by another céilí in The Cooley Lodge, this time with music by the Tulla Céilí Band.
Sunday will see a three-hour concert in Sullivan’s Hotel commencing at 4pm with performances from a wide range of performers.
The festival concludes on Monday with a céilí in Sullivan’s Hotel in Gort from 3pm to 6pm.
“A great feature of this year’s festival is that all the pubs in the locality will have sessions and live traditional music. There is a lot of interest in this year’s festival because we have gotten so many pubs involved. This has been illustrated by the attendance at the meetings. There is an emphasis on having as many locals as possible involved in it and we are really encouraging as many people as possible to come out and support this festival,” said Gerry Finnerty, Cooley Collins Festival PRO.
“At a recent meeting of Gort Chamber of Commerce, a number of business people indicated their interest in opening for business on the weekend of the Cooley Collins Festival. It was the view that this could be very beneficial to all the businesses of the town and the chamber is of the view that this would compliment the festival,” Mr Finnerty added.
At the recent launch of the festival in Harte’s Bar, tribute was paid to long-time committee members Anne Walsh and Mary Coen.
A presentation was made to both women for their many years contributing to the festival.