The big guns may have announced their line-ups, but for those who prefer their festivals a little smaller in size or more specialist in nature, there’s plenty of alternatives on offer.
Sibín, one of few festivals in Ireland with a distinctly underground agenda, will take place at The Millhouse, Slane, Co Kildare on Saturday, April 30th. There'll be five stages at the site, including a dedicated techno/electro stage, a bands stage, and a reggae stage. As organisers want to keep the event (which began in 2008 as a birthday bash for founder Michael Soro) somewhat exclusive, numbers are limited. Tickets, including return bus tickets from Dublin, are available from eventelephant.com.
Meanwhile, the ShamRock Music Festival takes place at Cavan Equestrian Centre from June 3rd to 5th. A large number of tribute bands such as These Charming Men, Oasish, The Fillers and Coldplace will be joined by Damien Dempsey, O Emperor, Gemma Hayes, Republic of Loose and Chesney Hawkes. Yes, that Chesney Hawkes.
In Monaghan, the Harvest Time Blues Festival runs from September 2nd to 4th (harvestblues.com) with a number of American bluesmen making the trip. And Cork x Southwest, at Liss Ard Estate, will see Echo the Bunnymen and Patti Smith alongside young guns like Mick Flannery, Jape and Yuck on June 4th and 5th corkxsw.com
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