Punchestown

A new era began for Samhlaiocht when Dick Sullivan, manager and CEO of Punchestown racecourse, asked it to organise musicians to entertain the crowds at the Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown Racecourse.

With a turnout of 90,868 race goers over the four day meet, it's clear that if there is a national sport in Ireland, it's not football or hurling, but horseracing! During the festival 7000 bottles of Moet, 2000 kegs of lager, 1000 sides of smoked salmon, 1000 racks of lamb and 5000 kilograms of beef were consumed - try doing that at a football match! Samhlaiocht added 10 musical groups to the mix and stood back to watch the show!

Given the promise of sunshine and racing Samhlaiocht had an easy task in tracking down willing performers, with musicians agreeing to participate no matter what corner of Ireland they hailed from. But given that the Irish National Hunt Festival is one of the social events of the year, I was probably more interested in what I should wear than in what musicians I should bring to entertain the crowd! And so I trawled through my wardrobe, quickly realised I had nothing suitable to wear and went mad around town - seeking the most daring of creations, raising hemlines and buying the highest heels in Tralee!

The festival itself is a unique affair, taking place in Kildare, and the county comes to a standstill - imagine the Rose of Tralee in the good old days. But on Steroids!

The fashion at Punchestown has always been a winner and with celebrity judges including Yasmin LeBon and Kerry's own Daithí O' Shea - this year was no different. On Ladies' Day, in particular, fashionistas have the opportunity to strut their stuff, and boy - they do just that!

The musicians, full of enthusiasm, set up amongst the glitterati and with full access to the grounds and reserved enclosure, they spaced out amidst the marquees, grandstand, parade ring, or just in the sunniest available spots to make sure of maximum impact.

The Samhlaiocht musicians included Emmet Scanlan, lead vocalist from 'What the Good Thought', who perched himself cleverly outside the Guinness Reserved Enclosure Bar. The McClintnock family, who came second in the Samhlaiocht Easter Busking competition, drew crowds with their traditional music. Urs and Martin from Coconut Samba and Bobby Lee and Fergal from the Cork Music Collective teamed up with their African drums, proving a resounding success as the boom-boom-ba-boom rhythm rebounded and reverberated throughout the racecourse. Children quickly joined in, laughing, dancing and banging along - and the African drummers became the Family favourite!

House of Cosy Cushions played experimental rock music; whilst singer songwriter Andy Wilson thrilled the crowd. Samhlaiocht's own Ann Roche picked up her guitar for the event, and sang sweetly outside the entrance of the venue, entertaining the ingoing punters. The opportunity to play in front of such a huge audience was superb and the exposure was invaluable with the musicians adding to the festival ambience.

And me? Well I had a flutter or two, a tipple or three, basked in the sunshine and cursed myself for buying the highest heels in Tralee!

If you would like Samhlaiocht to organise entertainment for upcoming corporate events or parties please call Michele on 066 712 9934.