Niall Tierney leaps the swinging arm of the pendulum at last year’s festival RMG29
A LAST ditch effort to save this year’s Donagh Festival has paid off.
The popular summer festival looked to be in serious jeopardy due to a shortage of volunteers.
Originally the lack of help meant that many families hoping to attend the three day event would have been left disappointed.
But a meeting in the Millennium Hall last week was a resounding success with many volunteers coming forward to offer their help in organising the programme.
Because of the tight schedule the festival has been cut slightly, but only slightly, with most of the events going ahead as planned.
Elizabeth McCormack, the association’s assistant secretary said, “We had a really good turnout at the meeting and very good people willing to take on the responsibility. It may be slightly shorter this summer, but most of the events will be there.
“We’re really happy that it’s going ahead. I’ve had so many people that have stopped and told me that if I want any help, to contact them. Everybody wanted to get this sorted and people were delighted to hear that it was going ahead and we weren’t going to shelve it,” she said.
“The charity vintage tractor run is taking place on Sunday 9th July at 2.30pm with all proceeds going towards Beltany House Respite Care and Kidney Research UK. The festival doesn’t only help the community, it gives help to charities every year around the local area. Every year we get a great response to this.
She went on, “The committee is in a race against time, but is confident that now that they have the help and community behind them, everything will go to plan. I’m more than hopeful that it will be a real success because we have the backing of the community. We now have loads of help. It will go off very well. Everyone has taken their jobs and I’ve already heard back from most that they have got their jobs done.”
The festival kicks off early on Friday evening with a tea party and games at the Alexander Rise Green at 5.30pm. Sunday sees the Family Fun Day with a fancy dress parade and a tractor run starting from the Millennium Hall at 2.30pm.
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Posted: 8:32 am July 7, 2017
