Toireasa Ferris with daughter Liadain, Ger Leen, Jim O’Gorman, Chris O’Connor and David Wallace launching the upcoming Ardfert Medieval Festival. Photo by Steven Baker
ARDFERT village will host a ‘Medieval Festival’ as a horde of Vikings come ‘ashore’ on Sunday, June 7.
The festival will be celebrating the Feast of St Brendan and will see certain sections of the village transformed into a medieval settlement all thanks to the help of the Waterford Viking Historical Re-enactment Society.
There will be a series of ‘medieval games’ held on the day too with local parishes getting ready to take part in the contest for bragging rights and parish pride.
Neighbouring parishes will participate in challenges such as jousting, tug of war, pie-eating and log throwing from 2.30pm onwards in what is being dubbed the Parish Pride Championship.
A poultry show organized by the local gun club will take place in the morning, weather permitting there will also be an open air traditional Irish dancing competition which will also be part of the Parish challenge.
Live music, thanks to various talented musicians, will be heard during the afternoon. There will be market stalls selling homemade produce as well as crepes, teas and coffee etc, as well as live music with the finale being a celebration concert in Ardfert Cathedral that evening at 7.30pm.
Kerry Choral Union along with the junior choir, some 80 singers in all, will be performing in the open air nave of the Cathedral.
“We set up Ardfert Development Association two years ago partly to restore Ardfert’s historical position in Kerry and Irish history. Ardfert was once the medieval capital of the Kingdom. So we thought it would be great fun to create a Medieval Festival,” Ardfert Development Association chair Tina Wallace explained.
“Whilst there will be talks and educational pieces, the real theme behind it is a family fun day out with a twist. The kids will be able to see the workings of a medieval village, talk to St Brendan about his life – that’s played by actors. But they can also have a medieval ice cream!” she said.
So Ardfert seems to be the place to be on Sunday June 7 for something completely different.
