Good vibrations from inaugural BAD Fest
THERE was a festival atmosphere in Gorey Town Park on Friday as the first Bad Fest took place.
The festival which was a showcase of music, art and skating was the brainchild of the Gorey Youth Participation Project which was funded by Gorey Municipal District and Creagh College.
As part of the Youth Participation Project a group of ten young teens were asked to put forward proposals for a festival and three proposals were chosen and merged into one to form Bad Fest.
The ten teens then completed an Occupational First Aid course and an event management workshop to give them the skills to run such a festival.
They wanted to run a festival which young people would enjoy but was also family orientated with a focus on the benefits of having a hobby. The Third Space Pop Up Art show was then invited to come on board and they devised an exhibition entitled Common Group.
The 40 strong art group are took part to add much needed colour to the town by painting the walls in both the park and the showgrounds, which will be a permanent public art installation. The art exhibition included graffiti, sculpture, poetry and much more.
During the day Third Space artist Ali Kemal Ali unveiled his UFO. It has been spotted at different times around town catching everyone’s attention. Electric Picnic have requested that both the UFO and The Soundclowns make an appearance at their very popular festival on all three nights somewhere in the woods.
The Wexford Eagles, Gorey Boxing Club and the Worx Gym Gorey also took part in the day showing all that they had to offer through exercise hobbies. For the children there were also arts and crafts while Gorey Skate Park also gave an exhibition showcase of their skills and talents.
On the day there were rousing performances from Mama Jama, Bad Bax, Aurora Go- reyalis, Sam Ali, Jimi Cullen, Dave Clarke, Tina Carter, Karen Dunbar and Eoin Walsh.
An oak tree, donated by St. Aidan’s, was also sown on the day.
The students who organised the festival are members of Gorey Youth Needs, Gorey Rugby Club, Creagh College, Gorey Community School and the skate park. Mandi Tighe of Gorey Youth Needs thanked everyone who had helped.