Forever Young Festival: ‘It was a mud bath but it’s been great ever since’

Festival goers attending Forever Young in Co Kildare this weekend have said conditions have “picked up” at the site after safety concerns were raised on Saturday over wet and muddy conditions.

“This is our third year at the festival. We’ve had a ball every year. We arrived in a monsoon though,” said Carmel O’Donnell on Sunday.

Ms O’Donnell, from north Tipperary, was attending the festival with eight of her friends. “We thought were in for a weekend of sh*t here. And it was a mud bath but it’s been great since and we’re having a good laugh, now we’re sitting here with our sun cream on,” she said, as the weather picked up and the sun came out for the final day of the festival.

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Andy Bell of Erasure performing at the three-day Forever Young festival at Palmerstown House, Co Kildare. Photograph: Alan Betson

Conditions had “deteriorated very fast” on Friday and “the arena was an absolute mud bath”, Ms O’Donnell said.

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The festival reopened fully on Sunday after day-ticket holders were shut out on Saturday due to safety concerns.

The organisers of the 1980s nostalgia festival at Palmerstown House Estate near Naas said it was forced to postpone all day visitors to the festival until Sunday “due to extreme weather conditions”. This meant acts performing on Saturday only played to those who were camping there for the weekend.

Ms O’Donnell and her friends said staff were “fantastic” and believed they made the right call for the safety of concert goers on Saturday.

On Saturday videos posted on social media showed muddy and slippery underfoot conditions caused by overnight rain.

Nessa Fallon attended the festival with three friends in the luxury camping section. It was her third time at the festival but her first time camping, she said. The friends “set up our tent in the rain on Friday, we were able to listen to the music from our tent on Saturday as the weather was dreadful”.

Ms Fallon said she believed the organisers “had no choice, it was a tough call, I imagine”. However, with the rain cleared on Sunday, there was “a brilliant atmosphere”, she said.

In a post on Twitter on Sunday morning, organisers of the Co Kildare event said: “Yesterday was a difficult and horrible day for so many. BUT we plan to be fully open today to all visitors. All Saturday tickets will be valid for Sunday.”

On the question of refunds, the organisers said Saturday tickets would be valid for the 2024 festival and all weekend non-camping ticket-holders would receive the equivalent of a free day next year.

“If that doesn’t suit our valued customers, we will handle all refund requests next week. We hope to bring specific acts people missed yesterday back in ‘24. Your patience and understanding has been genuinely appreciated in this terrible situation.”