Big weekend for artists and hurlers of Kilkenny

Kilkenny was in party mood last night as the city's biggest arts festival yet was opened and hurling fever gripped the county.

For the next 10 days the city and parts of the county will play host to scores of artists from around the world in what has become one of the State's biggest arts events, with a budget this year of £400,000.

Highlights include the premiere of Brendan Kennelly's play Judas, starring Adrian Dunbar in his first stage role for more than five years.

About 1,000 people attended the official opening in an advance factory at Loughboy, on the outskirts of the city, which is housing exhibitions of work by the Scottish sculptor, David Mach, and the Mexican artist, Francisco Toledo.

Later even larger crowds gathered for a spectacular open-air drama performed in the Market Yard by a Polish theatre company, Teatr Osmega Dnia.

Throughout the day black-and-amber clad hurling fans, looking forward to tomorrow's All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Galway, mingled with arts buffs in town for the exhibitions, recitals, concerts, readings and drama which make up the festival.

The festival brings thousands of extra visitors into Kilkenny each August. Of the 65,000 who attended last year, a third were from outside Ireland and a further third came from outside Kilkenny, according to a survey carried out for Millennium Festivals Ltd, which supports the outdoor events.

While some performances sell out early, a spokesman said tickets were still available for most events. Two new hotels have opened in Kilkenny since last year's festival so beds, while scarce, are available for late arrivals.

Once a city-based arts week, the festival has expanded into the county and will include a performance next weekend by the World Wind Quartet at the Ballykeeffe Quarry in Kilmanagh, recently transformed into an amphitheatre.

A number of fringe events take place around the festival proper, including the many buskers who were practising their art yesterday, ranging from weather-beaten Irish balladeers to young classical violinists.

Traffic into the city, which suffers congestion at the best of times, was extremely heavy yesterday. The same will be true in reverse tomorrow when thousands leave the county to head for Croke Park where Kilkenny will be seeking a place in the All-Ireland final for the third year in succession.

The county is chasing its first win since 1993, a desert of Saharan proportions considering Kilkenny's strong hurling tradition.

Booking information for the arts festival can be obtained from its website: www.kilkennyarts.ie