ENNISCRONE’S BLACK PIG PARTY
ENNISCRONE welcomed visitors from all over the country and beyond last weekend for the annual Black Pig Festival – and according to organisers it was the best yet.
The popular five- day event concluded yesterday ( Monday), and a fun run brought the curtain down on an action- packed programme of events in the west Sligo village. Having kicked off last Thursday, the festival attracted thousands to Enniscrone with local businesses and hotels having a bumper weekend. The official opening of the festival was performed by Quirky Nights Glamping entrepreneur David McGowan, and he spoke to a large crowd on Friday evening about the great community spirit that exists in west Sligo. From there, it was a hectic weekend of events and Sinead Durkan, who was involved in organising the event says it was an overwhelming success.
“It went off really well,” Sinead told the Sligo Champion. Weather- wise it was a bit hit and miss but otherwise it was fantastic and there was a great turnout. There were fantastic crowds, particularly on Saturday when they were out in force, and the three pubs in the square would say it was their biggest weekend in a long time.”
One of the more intriguing aspects of this year’s festival was a mock wake held in Hopkins Pub, where locals dressed up in mourning at the Black Pig’s death.
“We had fabulous sight specific theatre in Hopkins and we brought people into the wake house which was great fun. After, we went up the street in a procession and the festival was officially opened by David McGowan. It was very busy on Market Day [ Saturday] although the weather wasn’t great in the morning and traders were very happy with it. There were also seaweed foragers, the Ox Mountain walk by the Walking Club was a big success and then we
were straight into the music with Everyday Solution,Solution who are going to become a big hit very soon. The fireworks on Saturday night also went off very well.”
However, Sinead says the family fun day, held on Sunday, was perhaps the biggest success of all.
“Sunday with the family funtastic day at the beach was amazing. Brendan McGloin, a sculptor was there and there were about 30 people on the beach building sandcastles which was brilliant and we are hoping to have drone footage of it soon. There was also a splash and dash event, a duck race and kiddies yoga, so it was a great day.”
Given the growth of the Black Pig Festival – it has become increasingly prominent on the national stage in recent years as well as locally – Sinead says the small but determined organ- ising committee will build on recent successes.
“Overall, this year was definitely a big success. There’s a small committee and I’ve only been involved in the last year but we are building it up every year and it has worked out so well.
“We got great feedback from the tourists and locals so we think we can build on it and are extremely positive about the future.”