The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Sun comes out as Castle Fest ends on a high
THE west Kerry peninsula was caked in fog for much of last week, but the haze graciously decided to leave the crowd from ‘below the hill’ alone, for the duration of their summer festival parade at least.
Given the chance, they absolutely delivered. As per usual, Summer Festival, with 42 events in just four days, was an ambitious endeavour for what is a small parish, but the people of Castlegregory thrive when faced with a challenge, and they excelled again between.
Vince Filgate, one of the stewards working on the parish’s streets on Sunday, made his way to The Clubrooms after the superb Summer Festival Parade, and was unrestrained in his praise for the pageantry:
“The parade was short, but very sweet. For a small parish, it exceeds all expectations on an annual basis. You could see a serious amount of thought went into the floats.”
The natives and visitors were speckled along the narrow streets, sitting on window sills, chatting excitedly, sitting very comfortably in the summer evening’s sun.
Their attention was caught by the whistles and drums of Samba Cuisle coming around the corner onto Main Street, leading a delightful series of colourful participants.
The ‘Olympic Fencing Team’, eventual winners of the parade’s kids prize, arrived first to drive a few stakes into the Príomhsráid, before a deck of cards from Alice in Wonderland sent the ‘Olympians’ on their way.
Thereafter came a chain of captivating floats and participants, including energized campaigners for ‘Ker-exit’, Mickie Mouse, his doting wife Minnie, local GAA stars, and Castlegregory’s answer to Sister Act, who ultimately won the Jonathon Kennedy Memorial Trophy.
Maharees Heritage and Conservation’s maritime-themed entry was judged to be the best float in the parade.
Margaret Filgate, wife of Vince, was at The Clubhouse door waiting for a staging of Murt Mulcahy’s play After Sarah Miles, and she praised how the people of the area got behind the events:
“The parade is an annual event, but there’s no sign of it losing its appeal, as you can tell from the amount of locals and tourists who watched the pageant moving along the route.”
Brothers Conor and David Rowlands were delighted with the occasion, and events besides:
“I’d definitely recommend anyone to come along for a look at the parade any year, but the whole week is great craic”, David said.
“I was down at the GAA field for the Family Fun Day, and it was all very enjoyable”, Conor added.
“You had races, a BBQ, obstacle courses, bouncing castles, all that kind of thing. Everyone was having a great time.”
The entire week was loaded with events: a cheese and wine reception, beach clean ups, bush tucker trials, a GAA Superstars competition, treasure hunts, and much more.
The famed foam parties, arguably one of the most popular social events in the entire county, brought proceedings to a close, as always.
Marcia Ganter chaired the festival for the first time in 2016, and was delighted at the event’s success:
“Thankfully everything went well from start to finish. The weather wasn’t great, Sunday aside, but despite that the people of Castlegregory and elsewhere really came out and supported this year’s Summer Festival.”
“I’d like to congratulate Eva O’Connell, who was named as the Festival Queen, and all the other prize winners across the dozens of events we’ve had since Thursday (July 13). I’m already looking forward to the second week of July next year, when the 70th Summer Festival gets under way!” Ms Ganter added.