Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HOLYWOOD BOOMS TO BEAT OF SIR BOB
PUNK LEGENDS BOOMTOWN RATS HEADLINE HARMONY 18 FESTIVAL WITH REEF & TOPLOADER, RYAN MCMULLAN... AND LOADS MORE
THE Boomtown Rats. Reef. Toploader. Ryan Mcmullan. You would be hardpressed to find such a line-up in one weekend festival. And you would probably be surprised to find it’s taking place not in Belfast or Dublin but in the little town of Holywood, Co Down. It’s thanks to the vision of local businesswoman Mari Jackson and a band of stalwart supporters that the festival is now in its fourth year and undoubtedly bigger and better than ever. Mari said: “We have gradually built things up to a point where people are beginning to sit up and take notice that Holywood really rocks. “Everything’s bigger this year – bigger acts, bigger marquee and bigger bills. But we get great support from the town and the surrounding areas and we know everyone will help us pull it off.” The phrase “something for everyone” may be an overworked cliche but, in the case of Harmony Live 2018, it happens to be true. For those whose musical tastes were formed Boomtown in Rats the – late the real 1970s ones, there’s not some the tribute band, and still going strong after more than 40 years.
In fact, the current line-up boasts four of the members who recorded the classic hits of the late 70s and early 80s, including Rat Trap and I Don’t Like Mondays – Garry Roberts on lead guitar, Pete Briquette on bass, Simon Crowe on drums and, of course, singer and frontman Sir Bob Geldof. If the 90s are your fave musical decade then there’s Britpoppers Reef, who stormed the charts with hits such as Place Your Hands and their No1 album Glow. They reformed in 2010 and their critically-acclaimed fifth album, Revelation, was released this month. They are supported by Toploader, of Dancing In The Moonlight fame, who are also finding their second wind after chart success in the late 1990s. Bringing things up to date are modern young artists such as Ryan Mcmullan, from Portaferry, Co Down, who has been supporting Ed Sheeran on tour and is now headlining his own concerts at home and abroad. Add the likes of Rews, Joshua Tragedy Burnside of Dr Hannigan and The from Belfast, plus The Wood Burning Savages from Derry, and you have the best of Northern Ireland talent getting a chance to shine alongside the old stagers. Even the very young are catered for with a Family Fun Day on Sunday, June 3, that includes a dog show to find this year’s most harmonious hound. Mari adds: “In conjunction with Forestside shopping centre, we also have a busking competition for young and old and a singer/ songwriter showcase that gives up-andcoming talent the chance to perform on a big festival stage.” Sounds like fun – and an awful lot of hard work. So it’s a surprise to learn that the
organisation behind it is a charity and all the members volunteers. Mari said: ““We’re not in this to make a profit – we just hope to have a few pounds left over to book next year’s acts.
“No-one takes a salary or anything – we are in it because we love music, we love Holywood and we want to help the communities here come together.
“We chose the name Harmony not just for its musical meaning but because people in Holywood have generally lived in harmony, even at the height of the troubles. People think Holywood is full of wealthy people but that’s not the case – there’s a mix of economic circumstances just as there’s a mix of religions.
“But we are all united in pride for our town and we want to make it a great place to live.
“This festival is just a way to bring us all together and create a single community of music lovers.”
Holywood used to have a festival dedicated to blues and jazz. But that became a victim of the recession.
Mari, who lives and works in the town (her hubby runs Garry’s Barber Shop in the High Street), thought it was time to fill the streets with music again and resurrected the festival in 2015. In 2016 she changed its name to the Holywood Harmony Festival to broaden its musical appeal and last year filled a marquee at the town’s rugby club with 900 revellers dancing along to The Hothouse Flowers.
This year Mari is being even more ambitious – a 1,500-capacity marquee will be going up on the rugby pitch from June 1.
And the site will also play host to a Family Fun Day on the Sunday with bouncy castle, entertainers and a dog show.
It’s all been put together by a small group of unpaid volunteers with very little public money support. Mari said: “We are getting some money from Arts & Business NI, which is very welcome.
“But most of the support has come from companies and individuals in or near Holywood.
“As well as Forestside, we have had generous support from, among many others, Hophouse 13, Wirefox, Homebird Cafe, Randox and Templeton Robinson.
“Putting on a festival costs a surprisingly large amount of money so it wouldn’t happen without generous people putting their hands in their pockets – and, of course, without music fans buying tickets.
“That first weekend in June will be the culmination of nearly a year’s work so we hope everyone will come along and support us.”