.(click to enlarge) Luxembourg Rose, Síle Reidy, with her former colleagues at Tralee Credit Union in Ashe Street.
THERE was a special welcome back for a former colleague in Tralee Credit Union yesterday, when a Rose popped in to say hello.
Síle Reidy from Ballymacelligott is the Luxembourg Rose and she’s already home before the madness of the Festival begins next week.
Sile worked in Tralee Credit Union prior to moving to Luxembourg, where, as part of her degree program after completing her Erasmus in Lille, France, she is employed with Credit Suisse Fund Services as part of her work placement.
She is currently a student at the University of Limerick studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Business majoring in Accounting and Finance so she would fit right in with the team in Ashe Street, who all wished her the best of luck next week.
.The Ashe Memorial Hall will be lit up in a digital street mapping display during the festival.
IF you’re out and about during the festival next week (yes, it’s starting that soon!), then you won’t want to miss the spectacular Illumination of Ashe Memorial Hall.
This ‘digital street mapping’ is a ten minute presentation at night where graphics will be projected onto the building to form a history of Tralee with surround-sound accompaniment.
The presentation will take place intermittently from 10pm to midnight on Wednesday 17th, Thursday 18th and Friday 19th and will celebrate Tralee’s 800 year history, the 1916 Rising Centenary and 57 years of the Rose of Tralee.
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There will also be live music on both ends of Denny Street this year and a stage will be located in front of the Ashe Memorial Hall for the three parades on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and for the free Garda Band and Willis Clan concerts on Sunday, August 21.
Full details of all festival events, which are subject to change, are available from www.roseoftralee.ie, Facebook.com/roseoftraleefestival, Twitter @roseoftralee_ and from the official brochure, on sale from Festival Office, Kerry Book Shop, Hussey’s Newsagents, Oaklands Daybreak, Garvey’s Supervalu and First Chapter at Manor West Retail Park.
WITH the Rose of Tralee International Festival just over a week away, it’s worth a re-cap on how the entertainment in the Square is going to work this year.
There will be 84 hours of entertainment in The Square over the duration of the extended festival, but only 15 hours of this will controlled by a ticket system.
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Organisers say the general public will be restricted from accessing The Square at certain times to ensure control of numbers to artists who potentially would have a large following and, as has been the case since 2011, to help towards the increased street entertainment €330,000 expenditure budget.
The nights where people will need tickets to enter the Square are on the Wednesday night (The Academic), Thursday night (The Ronan Collins Showband Show), Friday night (Hometown and Reggie n Bollie), Sunday night (Hudson Taylor and Hermitage Green) and Monday night (Nathan Carter).
The key request from festival organisers to the general public is to cooperate with the Volunteers who have given their time, free of charge, to ensure that everyone enjoys the festival in comfort and safety.
The all-weather Saddle-span Dome Roof over the stage in The Square will create a more ambient and chilled vibe to the evening concerts at the venue, five of which are controlled by ticket and the remaining two (Sat 20th & Tue 23rd) free to the public.
How will festival-goers access The Square?
The entrance to The Square during security ticket control times is located via the North West corner, next to Carraig Donn, with an exit only to the north east (next to Dan Fitzgerald’s) and south west (next to An Cearnóg).
Access to businesses will be restricted at these times (after 7pm), while provisions have been made with some businesses located on the corners of The Square to have controlled public access into their premises.
Security and Festival management will endeavour to facilitate the public as much as is practicable and, as has been the case in recent years during ticketed events on Denny Street, patrons of businesses in The Square have been asked to take note of the times when security controls will be in place.
Full details of all entertainment acts due to perform in The Square – day and night – are available from www.roseoftralee.ie and on Facebook.
The Event Controller, Bryan Carr, said: “The Festival must adhere to strict risk assessed guidelines including legislation regarding control and management of events both indoor and outdoor. While we appreciate people may have concerns in relation to these events; rest assured that just as previous Festivals we want to ensure another safe and incident free festival for visitors and local alike to enjoy. We would like to thank all the businesses in advanced for their continued support of the Festival and we ask the general public to support and promote our Festival to make it a successful and safe event for 2016.”
THE Rose of Tralee Festival is less than two weeks away now and the 64 Roses who will be joining our own Kerry Rose, Danielle O’Sullivan in Kerry, must be getting excited.
For some of them though, it will be a sort of homecoming, as a number have close links to Kerry. Some have been born and bred here, others have parents from Kerry, for others it’s more distant, but they’ll all feel at home when they arrive at the start of the Festival on Tuesday, August 16.
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.Luxembourg Rose – Sile Reidy
Síle Reidy will be coming home in August as the Luxembourg Rose. The 20 year old is Ballymac born and bred and of course, grew up with the festival, the Rose Parade and watching the selection on the telly. She’ll have some support during the week!
New York Rose – Kristin Stack
Kristin Stack is the New York Rose and her mother hails from the Tralee area, while her father is from just over the border in Athea, Co Limerick. The 26 year old is sure to have huge support and will know her way around, as she goes back to Ireland twice a year to spend time with her family.
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.Ottawa Rose – Sarah Griffin
Sarah Griffin is the Ottawa Rose and part of her roots stem from Ardfert. She’s no stranger to Kerry as just last autumn she compete at the 2015 All Ireland Irish dance championships in Killarney.
Queensland Rose – Jess Logan
Queensland Rose Jessica Logan’s Irish ancestry is from her father’s family, who emigrated from Leitrim Tipperary and Kerry. The 27 year old said she’s looking forward to visiting this month.
.Texas – Katherine O’Sullivan
Katherine O’Sullivan is the Texas Rose and has even closer ties to Kerry. The 25 years old from Austin claims paternal grandparents from Tralee and Ballyduff, her mother’s side is from Macroom.
Westmeath Rose – Niamh Moriarty
Westmeath Rose, Niamh Moriarty’s father is originally from Lisnagree, in west Kerry. She has many happy childhood memories of the Rose of Tralee Festival as each summer their family holiday was planned around the Rose of Tralee events. She remembers sunny days on Banna beach, visits to the Tralee town park, the Rose parade and midnight madness to name but a few.
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.Cork Rose Denise Collins.
Denise Collins is the Cork Rose but from her biog it looks like she’s half-Kerry.
She’s from Knocknagree on the Cork/Kerry border and says she’s from a family of seven, four of whom support Cork and three support Kerry. But she doesn’t say where her allegiances lie!
Her mother Margaret is a nurse in Millstreet and father Pat has an architectural office in Killarney. She went to Hollymount Primary School on the Cork side of the border and Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore, on the Kerry side of the border.
She’s captain of the Knocknagree Ladies football team this year and as a child was successful for Gneeveguilla Athletics Club in Kerry, winning many county and Munster titles and one All-Ireland for sprinting. She also trained as a lifeguard at 15 and spent her summers as a lifeguard in Killarney for six years. I’d say we can claim her!
.Kerry Rose Danielle O’Sullivan helps launch the Rose of Tralee 3×3 Tournament 2016 with Premier Financial Services and members of Tralee Imperials club. Photo by Gavin O’Connor
A BASKETBALL tournament is to be held during the Rose of Tralee Festival and teams from all over the country are being invited to take part.
Organised by Tralee Imperials and sponsored by Premier Financial Services, the ‘Rose of Tralee 3×3 Tournament 2016’ will take place on Saturday, August 20 featuring a senior, an Under 16 and Under 18 boys and girls events at Mounthawk School gym.
“Next year we are hoping to get international teams from the Rose centres, but this year we are building it up and hoping to make it a major event on the basketball calendar,” said John Dowling of Tralee Imperials.
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Imperials have teamed up with the Rose of Tralee International Festival and it’s sure to be an exciting weekend with teams of three (with one replacement) playing on half courts with games just 10 minutes a half.
The cost per team of four entry is €20 and there is practice nights available for underage teams at Mounthawk gym on Wednesday nights on August 3, 10 and 17.
.An event for the diaspora is taking place in the Town Park next month.
THE Tralee Community Garden project are holding an event coming up during the Rose of Tralee Festival inviting visiting diaspora and Irish descendants to plant a tree to remind them of their roots.
‘Planting Community Roots’ is part of the Community Tourism Diaspora initiative on August 20 from 10am to 2pm.
Irish descendants abroad are invited to come to the garden in the Town Park to plant a shrub or tree as a permanent reminder of their roots and loved ones at home.
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They will be planting a beech tree to replace aging fencing and will be photographed and get to keep the memento. There are no taxes or fees for the activity say the organisers.
So if you have relatives coming home for the festival, let them know about the event. They can register by email on traleecommunitygarden@gmail.com.
Email should contain the name and place of residence, marking the email ‘Diaspora Initiative’.
Places are limited and booking is essential. Participants must be available to plant their tree between 10am and 2pm on Saturday, August 20.
WITH the Rose of Tralee International Festival just two and a half months away, things are already hotting up in terms of ticket sales for one particular event.
With 66 Roses coming to the Festival this year, the demand for Rose Ball tickets is high and 25% extra tables will be in place for this year’s glamorous occasion.
The Festival’s Chief Executive, Anthony O’Gara, revealed this morning at the Tralee Chamber Alliance Business Breakfast meeting, that there were just 17 tables left at the €125-a-head event and encouraged anyone who was present and interested in going, to get moving on tickets as they were selling out fast.
The Rose Ball is the social highlight of the year in Tralee and guests at the black-tie event will mingle with the Roses and celebrities in the Dome on Friday, August 19.
.Bryan Carr speaking at The Rose Hotel on Friday morning. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE Square will take over from the Denny Street stage to host ticket-only concerts for this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival.
And a new canopy-type structure will partially cover the 2,000 capacity space to keep punters dry in case of rain.
The details of the concerts were revealed at the Tralee Chamber Alliance Business Breakfast meeting at the Rose Hotel this morning.
Bryan Carr, Head of Street Entertainment at the Rose of Tralee Festival, explained what the canopy will be like.
“The Square concerts will bring everybody into the heart of the town. The capacity of The Square is 2,700, but we’re limiting it to about 2,000 for the events. We’re bringing in a saddlespan structure – it’s a circular structure that we’re putting into the heart of the Square,” he said.
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.A general example of what a saddlespan structure looks like.
Mr Carr said 400 seated people could be covered by the structure, which would obviously mean much more would be accommodated for the standing concerts.
Mr Carr said last year, 253 local businesses contributed €90,000 to the street entertainment programme. He is hoping to increase this figure to 270 businesses raising €120,000 this year, as the Festival has been extended and there is a lot more on with visitor numbers set to increase dramatically.
The Square will host ticket-only concerts on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, it will be free on Saturday, back to ticket only for Sunday and Monday while Tuesday will again be free.
There will still be a stage on Denny Street which will hold some daytime events as well as, of course, the Roses after the Saturday night parade and for Midnight Madness.
Another exciting feature of the Festival is a digital street mapping on the Ashe Hall in Denny Street. In a ten minute presentation at night, graphics will be projected onto the building to form a history of Tralee with surround-sound accompaniment. The presentation will take place intermittently throughout the night.
In terms of The Square concerts, the line-up is on Wednesday night The Academic, Thursday hosts The Showband Show, Friday night is Hometown/Reggie N Bollie, Sunday is Hudson Taylor and Hermitage Green while Monday night it’s the turn of country superstar Nathan Carter.
The bars in The Square will be open for all concerts. For more ticket details click here
.Rose of Tralee International Chief Executive, Anthony O’Gara speaking this morning at The Rose Hotel. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE Rose of Tralee won’t have a permanent ‘Dome’ building until at least 2018, said Rose of Tralee International Festival Chief Executive, Anthony O’Gara, this morning.
Mr O’Gara was speaking at a Tralee Chamber Alliance Business Breakfast meeting at the Rose Hotel where details of the festival’s street entertainment were revealed.
Mr O’Gara also used the occasion debunk the perception that the Rose of Tralee Festival has any financial stake in The Rose Hotel.
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Speaking about the proposed Dome, Mr O’Gara said it would be more likely that the permanent structure would be built in 2018 rather than next year.
“I think it [the Dome] will be the year after next,” he said. Mr O’Gara also called on the business community to get involved in the process.
“The Dome project is going to be a very big challenge over the next couple of years. It has to be decided what the shape, structure and ownership of it will be. The Rose Festival will be in a position to take that on commercially, we’re prepared to manage it and to make sure it works every year, but we will be engaging with the business community in Tralee, Kerry and internationally to come on board as partners and we’re very open-minded about what the structure of that partnership will be. The most important thing is that we have an events centre in Tralee, where we want to host 1,000 or 800 people and bring business to the town,” he said.
With regard to The Rose Hotel, Mr O’Gara wished to clarify the Festival’s involvement in the business.
“The Rose of Tralee festival does not own The Rose Hotel or any part of it. We have a partnership,” he said. Mr O’Gara continued to explain how the Festival engaged with Dick an Eibhlín Henggeler a few years ago to persuade them that it was a good idea to buy the Fels Point Hotel.
The Festival was involved in the purchasing process and they took responsibility for the restructuring of the hotel and the refurbishment. He said the Henggelers undertook all the financial aspects and that they are the owners of the hotel.
He said the Henggelers have a close relationship with Festival through their late daughter, Dott, and they want to support the Festival. The means by which they are going to support it, is that when the hotel gets to a commercial place where it is capable of supporting the Dome project, the Henggelers will contribute “a couple of million towards it”.
.The Willis Clan will perform at the Rose of Tralee Festival in August.
TICKETS to the feast of entertainment at this year’s extended Rose of Tralee International Festival will go on sale from Tuesday, May 3.
The longer event will feature more Rose and entertainment participants from all over the world and will attract more visitors to enjoy a week-long celebration in Tralee from August 17-23.
Music and entertainment highlights feature X-Factor Finalists, Reggie and Bollie; America’s Got Talent and Reality TV sensations The Willis Clan, while Hometown, Nathan Carter and Hudson Taylor are all back by popular demand.
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The Ronan Collins Show Band Show, the aerial spectacular group Fidget Feet, more street theatre and 16 marching bands including a 44-piece group from Jersey Shore, USA will add further energy to the Festival.
The General Manager of the Rose of Tralee, Oliver Hurley, said: “The people of Tralee and our Rose Centre organisers have been longing to bring all of our Roses to Tralee in August and that dream is coming true. It’s a major, yet necessary, financial undertaking in order to deliver a major windfall locally. We are confident that this bigger, better festival will have the support of the people and business community in Tralee. It’s always exciting to announce when our tickets are going on sale and we are also very much looking forward to announcing details of our new team of sponsors for the 2016 festival in the coming weeks.”
Free and affordable entertainment remains the order of the week including – three Rose Parades, three spectacular Fireworks Displays, the Skyfest Air Show and more live music on the streets.
The organisers have added a stunning pyrotechnics fireworks show to the line-up on Tuesday, August 16 to welcome the Roses to Tralee and to herald the start of the new-look Festival.
Family Town in Tralee Town Park will be bigger than ever with the return of Family Town: The Show and the world famous aerobatic group Fidget Feet who will entertain people of all ages.
This is all in addition to the magnificent events in the Dome including – televised Rose Selections on RTÉ on 22/23 August, Qualifying Selections on 17/18 August, The Fashion Show, International Rose Ball, Strictly Come Dancing and Discos.
The Rose of Tralee International 10k Race will take place on Sunday 21st August and a Taste of Kerry Food Fair will run throughout the weekend of 19-21 August in the Festival Dome and as part of the Festival Market in Tralee town centre.
Last year’s Rose Ball and Televised Selection nights were sold out in July, so to avoid disappointment, now is the time to book tickets to all the Dome and street events. Details of the second annual International Women’s Conference will be announced in June.
Tickets to all Dome and Street events will be available from www.RoseofTralee.ie from 9am on Tuesday 3rd May. For more information, please contact the Festival Office on 066 721322.
