Flying start for Fusion Fest - new Mullingar community arts festival

Fusion Fest 2022, the new Mullingar community arts festival, got off to a flying start on Saturday at the town Bandhall. “We are thrilled with the response to our baby festival, the day couldn’t have gone better! “says Fiona MacGinty, one of the festival organisers.

“The talent on display was just so good, I was blown away. We were so happy to showcase young and upcoming musicians and dancers, along with not so young performers and fabulous story tellers. Great workshops too and fantastic to see people of all ages participating.

“And of course, who doesn’t love the sound of the Mullingar Town Band, as they marched and paraded through the market into the festival grounds. It was so uplifting.”

Fusion was held alongside the Railway Market, hosted at the Bandhall every second Saturday. Patricia Magee, who manages the market, was happy with how the events complemented each other.

“The day really had that festival vibe about it, kids having their faces painted and eating ice creams, colourful flags waving in the breeze, great music in the air and lots of families enjoying the atmosphere. The rain came and went, thank goodness, we even had the sun come out several times, we were blessed!”

Kim Magee, Mullingar Town Band director, said the festival came together magically. “All we could do as organisers is create a framework for people to showcase themselves and it was heartwarming to see the community come together for Fusion. And to see happy smiling people enjoying themselves, after two years of Covid was really something. We are grateful to everyone who helped make Fusion a reality.”

Artist Lucy Tormey was both relieved and happy that Fusion launched so well. “I was so worried it would rain and ruin everything before we even got ourselves off the ground. Quite the opposite happened in fact! It was all quite magical. The Pettiswood Artmakers enjoyed their day at Fusion and I was delighted to see them bringing the beats to the drumming workshop.”

Fiona adds that maybe having the two Fusion Fest Fairies, Poppy and Sparkle, kept bad weather at bay and certainly, they brought a lot of fairy fun to the younger audience, creating a whole new tribe of student fairies with flower garlands to Mullingar!

Will there be another Fusion in the future? Fiona says: “I’d love to think we could do it again. Like, why not? It really brought the community together in a safe and fun way. I’d say: watch this space!”