Glorious Sunshine Beams on Bumper Fleadh Crowds

Tullamore basked in glorious sunshine yesterday as thousands of people thronged the streets of the midlands town for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2009.

Date released: Saturday, 22nd August, 2009

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2009

Issued Saturday 22^nd August 2009

Glorious Sunshine Beams on Bumper Fleadh Crowds

Tullamore basked in glorious sunshine yesterday as thousands of people thronged the streets of the midlands town for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2009.

The major cultural event attracted people from around the world to the midlands as they travelled to experience the ‘craic agus ceol’ that is Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Organisers are expecting numbers to exceed 250,000 and yesterday’s burst of sunshine allowed music enthusiasts to enjoy music literally in every nook and cranny of the town.

Senator Labhras O’ Murchu, Director General of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, complimented the organising committee for their approach to organising the event and put them and the town of Tullamore in the top three host towns for Fleadhanna.

Attracta Brady, Chairperson of the organising committee, was confident that the numbers of people attending the event was sizeably bigger than previous years.

“For our point of view, we are delighted about how things are going so far. The weather has been great and this has also contributed greatly to the event. It is an overwhelming sight to literally see people dancing and playing music in the streets today [Saturday] as I walked through the streets.

“Everyone is here to enjoy themselves and we are happy to have had a hand in organising this event and seeing people enjoying the fantastic event that is Fleadh Cheoil.”

Elsewhere, thousands of competitors from the four corners of Ireland, the USA, the UK, Europe and further afield competed for the many coveted All Ireland titles.

Today, organisers expect that bumper crowds will again attend events and competitions at various locations around the town before the conclusion of the 2009 event this evening with the Senior Ceili Band Competition, to be held in the Church of the Assumption.

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