A feast of family fun for the Bank Holiday weekend

Just DanceElectronic and Dance music feast "Life Festival" has a new home in the stunning grounds of Belvedere from 4th-6th June.Now in its fifth year, the addition of Minimal Techno Maestro Ricardo Villalobos will be hosted on the stunning Lakeside Stage promises to be one of the highlights of the weekend.Ricardo will be a popular draw following his blistering spring sell out show in the Olympia.Fans of PsyTrance, Progressive, Breaks, D&B, Electro, Minimal Techno, Dub and Ambient will al be catered for at "Life" with a line up that includes Infected Mushroom, Ricardo Villalobos, LTJ Bukem, Astral Projection, Total Science, Zion Train, Mad Professor Joker, Eat Static, Chris Liebing, Vibronics, Surgeon Doc Scott, Space Tribe, Neil Landstrumm, Bto name just a few.As well as the music there are arts installations, a tepee and yurt village where arts and crafts workshops are held, and a "Body & Mind" corner offering a range of massages and other therapies. There will also be a street performance ring with jugglers, magicians, sword swallowers and clowns.The food village with will cater for all tastes and has established its reputation for organic food, noodles, crepes, falafel, fruits, meats and smoothies and those who live to shop can do so ethically in the shopping village where both local crafts and world crafts will be on sale.Life Festival 2009 was nominated for Best Small Festival of Europe finishing in the Top 10 and won the best Dance Festival of Ireland for the second year in a row in 2010.Stylish showjumping meets top family funThe Mullingar Equestrian Centre has been working hard to create a fun-filled family day as one of the features of its its Mullingar International Show and Summer Festival. Quite aside from the fantastic spectacle of three days of showjumping from Friday to Monday, there is lots of fun for everyone.The first feature event, Sunday 4pm, is the Puissance Wall, a name that comes straight from Middle English and means "Power". "This is a massive wall over which the horses must jump. It is a 'must see' event and one that children and adults associate with show jumping. People can never get over the height of the wall," says Robert Fagan of the Equestrian Centre.The second feature event is on Monday and is the €20,000 Grand Prix, where all the top Irish riders will be joined by riders from the UK to compete for the big prize.There are three days of Show jumping with four arenas running each day from 9am, with 6 International Classes and 50 National jumping classes.There will also be clowns, face painting, pottery painting, psychics, slides, swings, a dog show, cossack display and western riding and plenty of trade stands. There is also a pro-am event where local children who qualified over the winter won the opportunity to be paired with a senior rider and will compete in a speed class.Children are free and the gate money from the weekend is donated directly to the North Westmeath Hospice.County Pride: Verdict Westmeath for a double winWestmeath hurlers secured one of the four places in the semi finals of the Christy Ring Cup after they saw off the stern challenge presented by Down at Páirc Tailteann in Navan The hurlers will return to Navan to meet Kildare at 5pm this SaturdayAs for the footballers, a frustrated County side have the opportunity to turn around their league campaign when they face Wicklow at O'Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday 6th.Followers favourite Denis Glennon is on board again and will be joined by fresh faces fKeith Scally, Conor Lynam and Willie Murtagh. Experience will be the byword in the midfield with Martin Flanagan and David Duffy bringing their experience to that vital sector. Wicklow boss Mick O'Dwyer, the most successful manager in GAA history, has opted to go with the same side that started in the preliminary round win over Longford.Kilbeggan RacesFamily DayKilbeggan is always an excellent social event for the midlands but their family days are that extra bit special. This year The Irish Credit Union has sponsored the Conor Lambert Puppet Show to come along and put on two shows. There will also be a bouncy castle, obstacle course, high rise super slide, face painting, karoke and a DJ. With gates at 1.30 and the first of seven races getting underway at 2.55 race fans should pack a picnic, suncream and hot tips and enjoy all the thrills and spills of a national hunt race meeting. Ladies should also note that Bloomfield is sponsoring a fantastic Spa Package which must be won on the day.GoldsmithFestivalThe 26th Goldsmith International Literary Festival will take place this year between 4th and 6th June in Goldsmith Country of South Longford South Westmeath.This year's theme is:"A man he was to all the country dear,And passing rich with forty pounds a year."(The Deserted Village 1770)Passing rich in Ireland in 2020?Participants this year include poets Adrian Duncan, Dave O'Connell (group editor of the Connaught Tribune Group), poets Chris Agee (Belfast) and Richard Halperin (Paris), and Prof. Sean Moore of the University of New Hampshire.Seamus McCormack, Chairman Contact: Anne Tully 043 71448; 087 9236983.