50 years of Hillfest in Kildorrery
This year’s Kildorrery Hillfest will mark half a century of the festival, and secretary Eamonn McCarthy has said, unequivocally, that this year will be “One of the best weekends we have in the village.” With 50 years of a legacy of the festival behind them, this may be no small feat for the village organisers.
The festival kicks off on 1st July and the marquee will be the place to be for a ‘ Reeling in the Years’ style event, as the festival committee have gathered together a menagerie of memorabilia and cast members to host a variety show that will guide the audience through fifty years of the festival, with a nod to events both local and international since 1972. Anyone with anything to add in the way of programmes, posters or other items from the past, are asked to please contact the committee.
In years past, the Kildorrery Hillfest held one of the heats for the Cork Rose of Tralee competition, and for one night only the event is resurrected (in a fashion), as the ‘Rose OVER the Hill’ returns, and guarantees plenty of laughter for the evening.
This is just one of the events for the 2022 festival, and organisers including chair Marie Collins are hoping for a repeat of the success of 2019 when approximately 1,000 people turned out for ‘ Strictly Kildorrery’.
HIGHS AND LOWS
Since its inception, the festival has seen highs and lows. Through the years when a profit was barely turned, to the ones where it seems all of Munster came to town to see The Wolfe
Tones in 2000. Eamonn McCarthy remembers the band walking down the street after a pint in the Castle Gale, and “they were like the Pied Piper of Hamelin with the crowds following them to the marquee”. On that occasion, about 3,000 people came to enjoy the craic for what was then a 10-day festival.
Smartphones have changed how things are organised, however there’s no escaping the workload for the dedicated volunteers. While once upon a time an organiser stood in a phonebox running out of 50 pence pieces trying to book a band, now one fields up to 100 calls in a day, all while doing a day’s paid work. Eamonn recalls one band pulling out at the last minute after the drummer’s father passed away. When he called the band’s manager, he was told that was the third time the man had ‘died’, and, as the show must go on, a replacement band was hurriedly signed-up from the phonebox!
2022
This year, tickets need to be prebooked for all events and will be limited, so it is essential to be organised in advance. The marquee will return to the Creamery Yard with a fully licensed bar on-site. Friday has live music from Donie O’Sullivan (Footloose), while Saturday night brings ‘ABBAesque’ to the village, which has through the years played host to The 4 of US, Joe Dolan, Bressie and the Miami Showband. Linda Martin and Chips, Red Hurley, The Sawdoctors and Brendan Shine have all also graced the stage of north Cork on the hill.
2022 is a welcome return to normality for villages up and down the country and Kildorrery is no different in offering the whole community and wider afield an opportunity to get together, dance, laugh, have a drink and basically, enjoy the summer!
The full line-up of the weekend and events is continually being added to, so keep an eye out for further details of Kildorrery Hillfest 2022. Volunteers are always welcome for what is sure to be a very busy and enjoyable 50th celebration.