Major new music festival for Roscommon

Roscommon's newest festival has a line-up that is sure to pique the interest of local music fans, with The Zutons, Villagers, John Grant and Orla Gartland among the headliners at the inaugural Night & Day festival this September.

The two-day camping festival will take place on the grounds of the picturesque Clonalis House, Castlerea on September 24 and 25.

A Victorian Italiante residence, Clonalis is widely regarded as one of the most historic of Ireland's Great Houses and has become a popular retreat in recent years for its accommodation offering for visitors.

It is home to the O’Connor family, who are direct descendants of the last High Kings of Connacht. The 700 acre heavily woodland grounds are the perfect setting for a festival.

The lineup was announced at a launch event at The Workman’s Club in Dublin on Thursday last.

Other acts to appear on the Queen Meab (Main Stage) include: The Mary Wallopers, Cathy Davey, Moxie, Alana Henderson, Paddy Dennhey, Columbia Mills, Amy Montgomery and Soda Blonde.

Night & Day takes place on the autumn equinox, a time of equal periods of night and day, across three tented stages.

Acts to appear on the Sol stage include: A Smyth, Junior Brother, Maija Sofia, Niwel Tsumba, Sprints, Wood Burning Savages, Jealous of the birds, The Zen Arcade, Jester and Arlene.

The Luna stage will begin with political debate, a ‘big interview’ on each day as well as performances from: R Kitt, Neil Flynn, Niki K, Houseplants, AE Mak and Colin Perkins.

The festival organisers Cruachan Productions outlined their vision for the festival that will see local brewers, distillers and artisan food stalls on site throughout the weekend.

The festival is a strictly over 20s event, but under 12s can enter for free when accompanied by an adult.

There will be a full programme of family friendly events taking place in the walled garden including; workshops with ancient musical instruments, storytelling with experts from the Rathcroghan visitor centre and interactive music performances by Ceol Connected.

Tickets will go on sale on March 11 at nightandday.ie.

Speaking at the launch festival director Brendan Hurley said: “We can’t wait to bring some of the biggest international and Irish acts to Clonalis House. Work on the festival began before Covid-19 arrived but the pandemic meant we couldn’t make it a reality until now.

“We think our carefully curated line-up will appeal to music lovers who want to hear the best Irish and international acts, and explore the best new talent in the country.

“The decision to limit tickets to 2,000 is to ensure everything runs smoothly in our first year, but our plan is to slowly build up capacity in the coming years,” he said.

Head of Communications Craig Hughes said: “It’s really exciting to launch a music festival, but even more so to do so in a part of the country where we grew up and that has been underserved in terms of live music events for far too long.

“We’re confident that there’s an appetite among music lovers in the west of Ireland and throughout the country to make this festival an annual event,” he said.

Ballymore Properties are the main sponsor of the event, which is also supported by Harmac Medical and Ireland West Knock Airport.