Kilkenny Arts Festival can take credit for bringing a minimum of €6million euro in knock-on business to the local economy according to organisers of this year’s event which came to a close last Sunday.
This year’s festival saw a five per cent increase in tickets sales and the revenue of at least €6 million matched last year’s effort which is a remarkable achievement considering the state of the national economy.
Many events completely sold out leaving droves of people looking for tickets to gigs such as Luka Bloom, Gemma Hayes and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.
Outgoing Chief Executive, Damian Downes said, ‘I am delighted that Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011 was such a success despite the current economic climate. It was very gratifying to see the support that the festival generated. This is a tribute to the high curatorial standard across all strands. The local response was enormous and as usual we had to cap the number of volunteers at 200.”
Mr Downes steps down from his position this year and it is not yet known who will replace him as CEO in the future as of yet.
Stand out gigs over the ten days are certainly subjective but Agnes Obel was a stunning performance which was attended by presidential hopeful Michael D Higgins. The Danish singer/pianist sold out all of her CDs following her haunting gig at St Canice’s Cathedral on Thursday night. She is a rising star and we haven’t seen the last of this extremely talented musician yet.
Luka Bloom, Steve Cooney and Martin O Conner entertained the masses in the Set on Saturday night with the first part of the show dedicated to raw traditional tunes. The auditorium was alive with enthusiastic fans who were warmed up to scorching levels when Luka took to the stage in the second part of the show. He never fails to deliver and this gig was no exception.
Gemma Hayes was very comfortable in the surrounds of St John’s Priory on John Street where she told a riveted audience that she was rather nervous, as her parents were in the audience that afternoon. She entertained the fans with soulful lyrics and hysterical stories of her childhood days. She is a most engaging artist and hopefully she will make a return visit to Kilkenny in the not-too-distant future.
Morgan Kelly made headlines nationally following his talk on the economy at St Canice’s Cathedral.
While, T with the Maggies with Donal Lunny was packed to capacity with an appreciative audience also at St Canice’s Cathedral.
Theatrically, The Big Deal was a hard-hitting piece of drama that broke down the boundaries surrounding the issue of transgender people — it was heavy going for afternoon viewing, but well worth while. This style of raw and intimate storytelling with very real characters is becoming more and more popular with audiences who appreciate the truth in theatre rather than the theatrical smokescreen that has traditionally been on offer.
