Festival that celebrates cultural heritage of Limerick river to be bigger than ever

THE Maigue Riverstrust has announced a festival dedicated to events on and along the River Maigue, to be held on June 14 and 15 around the Croom Town Park.

Following on from last year’s very successful kayacking event, the festival will line up with the annual Family Fun day organised by Croom Development Association.

Kicking off the festival on Friday the 14th, will be “The Music and Magic of the Maigue”, an evening of traditional music, song, dance, poetry and puppets celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the River Maigue Catchment.

The line-up will include musicians Liam Flanagan, Con O’Riain, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, puppeteer Des Dillon and his amazing menagerie, story teller and historian Trevor McCarthy, as well as musicians, singers and dancers from Ballyhoura Comhaltas. The event starts at 7:30pm on Friday 14th in the Civic Centre in Croom with tickets priced at €10 for adults and €5 for children.

Saturday (June 15) will see two kayaking sessions taking place, similar to last year. Dave Neville from Nevsail will again be guiding groups of people down a section of the Maigue, finishing at the new slipway in Croom.

Meanwhile, adults and children will be able to peer through microscopes at the wonderful variety of life that our rivers support during the Nature Classroom sessions conducted by biodiversity expert Geoff Hunt in the Civic Centre. These sessions will take place from 11 to 12am and 1 to 2pm.

Additionally, Inland Fisheries will be doing live displays of the fish and other life to be found in the River Maigue.   Experts will be on-hand to give fly-tying lessons and a casting competition will take place in the park. This will begin at 11am

The Croom Family Fun day will also be taking place in the park in the afternoon with the usual events of arts and crafts stalls, face painting and dog shows among other annual events.