Over 30,000 flock to Indiependence fest in Mitchelstown
The Indiependence Music and Arts Festival held at Deerpark, Mitchelstown over last weekend was an outstanding success with 30,000 music and arts fans descending on the North Cork town over the three days, creating an electric atmosphere for the event.
The site at Deerpark, some three kilometres from Mitchelstown, which normally is home to wild boar, pheasant and deer, was transformed for this weekend as music and art took over to host the 12th year of the music festival. A huge tent housed the main stage, which featured the headline acts Tom Odell and The Coronas and the Rip Tide Movement, while the Big Top had Limerick band Hermitage Green and others, and smaller tents catered for the other supporting acts.
In the field adjoining the main arena the campsite had been sold out over the preceding months and there was constant traffic between the two areas, as the campers availed of the many food and beverage tents dotted around the arena. Among these was the Lee brothers from Charleville, Brendan and Ray, who were promoting their new 808 brand of donuts. “We’re shaking up the old order with fresh thinking and exciting new recipes,” said Brendan.
Another Charleville connection was Dessie McCarthy, who grew up in the town. He was selling lanyards to which were attached the full programme of bands and locations for the entire weekend. “We are selling these with the proceeds going to local organisation Special Friends, a charity set up by the parents of children with special needs. They provide funding for speech and language, occupational and music therapy, as well as swimming lessons so that children with special needs will have an equal opportunity to become role players in our society,” he said. Proceeds from the sale of the lanyards go directly to the Special Friends organisation, displaying the corporate social responsibility of the organisers.
The inclement weather of Sunday didn’t affect the ticket sales for the day as fans flocked to hear that evening’s headline act, Manic Street Preachers, whose brilliant set brought the 2017 Indiependence festival to a close.
Commenting on the success of the weekend event in Mitchelstown, event organiser Shane Dunne said: “The festival went extremely well again this year, with huge thanks to our staff, security, medical team and Gardai, who ensured it was a safe event for all of our patrons.
“We had around 10,000 people per day on the site and tickets for the festival sold out on Sunday.
“We’d like to say a huge thanks to the people of Mitchelstown, who welcome all of our patrons every year and we’re already looking forward to hosting INDIE18 next summer.”