Fires lit on Uisneach to launch Westmeath's "Festival of Fires"

Fires blazed on hilltops of the midlands on Friday night - May 1 the festival of Bealtaine - to mark the announcement of a festival to take place on the historic Hill of Uisneach in 2010.The Festival of the Fires, Europe's oldest recorded festival, traditionally took place on Uisneach, once the seat of the High Kings of Ireland and of the goddess Eriu from which Ireland derives its name.May 2010 will see a more modern take on the Festival, with a cultural celebration designed for a national and international audience, featuring theatre, music literature, poetry, holistic health, arts, traditional crafts, installations and sustainability.Festival "villages" will be created, an there will be various installations - as well, of course, as music, unsurprisingly, since among the main movers behind the event is Paddy Dunning of Grouse Lodge Studios in Rosemount, where music legends REM and Michael Jackson have recorded.The original Festival of the Fires is referenced in dozens of historic texts and by such historical figures such as Caesar. Fires were lit on the hill, following which other fires were lit on a "ring" of hills in the distance, and ultimately on the famous Hill of Tara in Co. Meath.Read full details and see photographs in next week's Westmeath Examiner, in the shops on Tuesday May 5.