Disney top brass tour the west
A group of executives from the mighty Disney corporation will be brought on a tour of West Kerry next week as Fáilte Ireland seeks to promote the Wild Atlantic Way and capitalise on the potential of Star Wars tourism in the wake of the filming of The Last Jedi in West and South Kerry and Donegal.
The Disney executives will be wined and dined in the Global Village restaurant in Dingle on Monday night, which will set them up nicely for a tour of West Kerry the following day, during which they will be able to see first hand the sites where they spent megabucks filming key scenes from the most recent Star Wars film.
Ballyferriter’s ‘Star Wars Working Committee’ hopes they will stop off at Musaem Chorca Dhuibhne in the village where they are getting ready to open an exhibition on the filming in Star Wars in nearby Ceann Sibéal and Farran, along with a selection of Star Wars character costumes. If the visit does happen the Disney execs will have the pleasure of meeting pupils from Scoil an Fheirtéaraigh and hearing their tin whistle rendition of the theme music from Star Wars - and of course their stories of Chewbacca’s visit to their school.
Meanwhile, the Star Wars committee started work this week to turn the narrow lane behind the single street in Ballyferriter into a ‘Star Wars Trail’ aimed at attracting film tourists. Along with Star Wars memorabilia, the lane will have the twin advantages of easy access to the village’s pubs and a fine view of the film location on Ceann Sibéal. If the view from the lane isn’t good enough then visitors will be able to get a closer look through a coin-operated binoculars that’s to be set up near the village school.
But for the Star Wars faithful there’s nothing to compare with walking the hallowed ground where Luke Skywalker gazed out at the great blue yonder and they’ll be able to do this over a choice of two walks in Ceann Sibéal/Farran, which are being opened up to visitors by local farmers. In Farran the Star Wars trail is being called ‘ The Meditation Rock and Binary Sunset Walk’ (the name will make sense to those who’ve seen the film!), while the easier-on-the-tongue ‘Sunset Walk’ is on offer in Ceann Sibéal.
Both walks will be up and running on May 4 when the Ballyferriter Star Wars committee is planning a day of Last Jedi events. Timing is everything here because May 4 is held in a certain reverence by Star Wars fans. The reason for this is that it’s the one day of the year when they can say, ‘May the 4th be with you’ (May the Force be with you), without sounding like they’ve completely lost the run of themselves.