Arts and music festival to bring much needed tourism and culture to north-west Meath

The August bank holiday weekend is fast approaching and so too is the fifteenth year of the Le Cheile Festival in the town of Oldcastle, Co Meath. The festival which is all about the arts and music sees the local community coming together to bring much needed tourism and culture to north-west Meath.

Le Cheile logo 1Organisers have said that this year’s events have grown ‘truly huge’, and to handle the massive amounts of work needed, the town of Oldcastle has united to ensure a smooth, safe and efficient weekend of family entertainment.

Renowned Sheridan’s Cheesemongers will oversee and run the open air markets on Saturday 4th and 5th, and the Oldcastle Chamber of Commerce have also partnered with the Le Cheile Committee to ensure this exciting venture is a success.

Festival PRO, Fergus Govern said: “With the addition of the Sheridan’s brand this year, we realise that the streets of Oldcastle are going to be heaving with welcome visitors and patrons.  Sheridan’s regularly pull in huge crowds of over 3000-4000 at their other events nationwide, so we knew that we would need to get the town involved in order to help us marshal this event.

And as per usual the town has responded. The Oldcastle Chamber of Commerce have enthusiastically joined with us to help stage the open air markets. Parts of the Square will be covered with a huge marquee to house the 40 plus stalls of Artisan Foods, Crafts, and Children’s events over the Saturday and Sunday. The Chamber are working closely with businesses in the town to manage traffic flow, parking and re-routing where necessary, and a solid plan is now being put in place, in conjunction with local Gardai, which will see volunteers help with directing and informing patrons of the available parking over the weekend.”

The Oldcastle Credit Union has also joined with Le Cheile in sponsoring the children’s events, which will include street performances, face painting, theatre, bouncy castles, bungee trampolines, plus a host of other events.”

One of the highlights will be the fire sculpture and fire dancing on the Square on Friday 3rd at 10pm, with Babylon’s Inferno. Another exciting event are the Freelancing Knights of Redemption, a troupe of medieval re-enactors that have featured in many Hollywood movies, including ‘King Arthur’, with Kiera Knightly and Clive Owen. The troupe will stage live shows throughout Saturday on the Square, with authentic weaponry, armour, and period dress. Organisers of Le Cheile say the streets will be alive with the clash of swords and shields, and it promises to be hugely exciting.

As with most Festival events, Le Cheile is highly aware of the need for a safe, family oriented environment accessible to all, and so many of the events are free this year. Some of the units in the town that have been un-occupied due to the down turn will be opened and will feature as Pop-Up Shops and also house the ‘Public Hanging’ Art Exhibitions and Children’s Art Workshops.

Organised by well-known local artist, and new Le Cheile member, Dave Gavin, the units will be dusted off, re-opened and provide artists with hanging space, and also allow the parents of Oldcastle to bring the kids on an art trail through the various shops, whilst allowing the sale of works of the artists involved.

Also on board this year are the Gilson Endowed Trust and Board of Governors, who have allowed the addition of a time capsule on the grounds of the Gilson School. The capsule will house snippets of modern day history, news items, details of local clubs, societies, items detailing the cost of living today, and of course details of this year’s festival.  The capsule launch will take place shortly after the festival finishes, and will not be re-opened until 2037, to see how life in Oldcastle and Meath has changed in those 25 years.

Other Oldcastle associations coming on board this year include the Tidy Towns Committee, the Civil Defence, the GAA, the Soccer Club and the Writer’s Club, who will launch their second book of prose, ‘This Won’t Hurt’, a collection of A&E medical stories and anecdotes, on Saturday.

Govern added:  “It’s always a great weekend when Le Cheile kicks off in August, but we’ve a feeling this year is going to be even bigger and better than before, and that’s before we even mention the huge music gigs we have with The 4 of Us, The Walls (formerly The Stunning), Bressie, Paddy Casey and the Republic Of Loose. I think it’s great that so many organisations have realised the huge amount of effort we put into this festival year after year, and without doubt, their help and enthusiasm will benefit both the festival and the town immeasurably. All we need now is the weather, and we’ve a man on that job as well.”

For full line up details, ticket information and sales, times, venues, and all things Le Cheile, please log onto www.lecheile.com or follow the updates on facebook.com/lecheile for chances to win tickets. An information line is also available and open for any queries on 00353 (0) 86 877 2716, or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." mce_' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy14773 + '\'>'+addy_text14773+'<\/a>'; //-->

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