One of the most popular music events in the west is back this year to entertain and delight its audience. The Westport Music Festival ‘09 will run from Thursday August 6 to Sunday August 9 with The Wolfe Tones, Jimmy Buckley, The Great Pretenders (Queen Tribute ) and Goodbye Venice (Joe Dolan Tribute ) entertaining the crowds in free open-air concerts.
The venue for the event is the same as the last three years and will be situated at the Fairgreen, Westport. Again, the festival is very much family oriented with street theatre, busking and a heritage/family day to entertain all the family. Shamrock Jive will also be performing throughout the week. Shamrock Jive is a combination of many well-known dance styles such as jive, salsa, rock-n-roll, and ballroom.
Opening this year’s festival on August 6 is world renowned band The Wolfe Tones. They have been on the road since 1964 and have travelled the world over, performing hits like ‘The Spanish Lady’, ‘A Nation Once Again’, and ‘Irish Eyes’. Success and subsequent fame have given the rebellious Wolfe Tones the opportunity to collect a wealth of old Irish songs and to write a few new ones. They play and sing the music they like, and they play it and sing it the way that they like. Luckily, a vast number of people throughout the world agree with their taste.
On Friday August 7 Jimmy Buckley and Band take to the stage with all your favourite country and western hits. Hailing from Limerick but living in Galway, Jimmy’s career is going from strength to strength and he is destined to be a huge star — he is already one of the top entertainers in Ireland. After his massive hit song ‘Your Wedding Day’ (written by his manager Henry McMahon ), Jimmy conquered the Irish music scene and he continues to make his mark on the concert scene in England.
Queen fans will take to the streets on Saturday August 8 to see The Great Pretenders (Queen Tribute ) rock Westport. Throughout the years, no other rock band has conquered the world and the charts like Queen. Starting in the early seventies and throughout the eighties, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon have written hit after hit. From their first number one single, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, to their stadium anthems, ‘We Will Rock You’, and ‘We Are The Champions’, their music has reigned across the radio airwaves from Great Britain and Europe to the United States and Australia.
Bringing this year’s festival to a close on Sunday August 9 is The Goodbye Venice Show (Joe Dolan Tribute ) a tribute that brings all the best hits from Joe Dolan from the last 30 years. The Goodbye Venice show is packed with all your favourite hits and once again you can dance the night away to ‘Good Lookin’ Woman’.
