Mearescourt style festivals should be in Belvedere: Glynn

(Above) Mick Foster was one of the stars or the recent Mearescourt House festival.

The recent festival at Mearescourt House is the type of event that should be held in Belvedere, according to Cllr Ken Glynn. The Fianna Fáil man was one of a number of representatives at the September meeting of Westmeath County Council who praised the organisers of the recent three-day festival in Rathconrath, one of the first events of its kind in the country following the easing of restrictions.

Cllr Glynn said that everyone involved in the organising of the festival, including the staff in the council’s arts office “should take a bow”. Held over the weekend of September 10-12, the event showcased the talents of local musicians. The councillor also expressed the view that events of this sort should be held at Belvedere House and Gardens.

“I have heard so much positive feedback. This is the type of event that should be held in Belvedere rather that what we have had there. It would bring people out in their droves and is a taster of what can be done,” he said.

Cllr Andrew Duncan also praised the organisers of the Meares Court House festival. He said that its staging and response from the public “crystallised” the reopening of society.

Arts officer Miriam Mulrennan said that staging of the festival was part of a scheme spearheaded by the Department of the Arts in conjunction with Westmeath County Council and other local authorities.

“We started by doing a call-out for an event management company. We hoped it would be a local one so that on the ground knowledge could be harvested and mined so we could have local talent on stage and that is exactly what happened.

“There was a really wide programme of concerts. It was great to see that the leaning was towards local talent but also and perhaps less visibly, this scheme was intended to reach the stage hands, the riggers, the lighting and sound companies.

“All of that talent was locally sourced where at all possible. We’ll see if it is something that we can replicate next year,” she said.