The August Bank Holiday saw the return of Crawley’s 11th Annual Irish Festival plus a brand new event, the Celtic Rock in the Park on Saturday night.

Over 10,000 people attended the Crawley Irish Festival on Sunday making it the most successful event ever. The new Children’s Entertainment Tent proved popular and was a fantastic addition to the format. We appreciate that there were a number of sound problems surrounding the FDL Dance Stage and Clarion Stage and apologise for these problems. We will be working keenly to prevent them in future. We welcome your feedback regarding the weekend: please forward your comments to info@celtic-irish.co.uk

The Celtic Rock in the Park was a great evening of modern Celtic Rock and classic Irish Rock. Unfortunately, the attendance was lower than expected. Partly due to the weather reports and the heavy cloud cover. It looked rather ominous but no rain materialised and the feedback for the event was fantastic.

The Grand Raffle winners were drawn Sunday evening:

• 1st Prize: Natali Whelan from Redhill, Surrey
• 2nd Prize: Grainne Murphy from Dublin, Ireland
• 3rd Prize: Robert Daunton from Ealing, West London

Our next event will be the Crawley Fleadh, a week of activities during November. But we also have a few gigs on in between. Click on our what’s on section for more information.

Radio Mercury, the commercial radio station serving Surrey and Sussex, have come on board to present the Celtic Rock in the Park concert. Steve Allen, the drive time DJ will compere on the brand new professionally lit stage.

It is a great testament to our activities that the local radio station wish to become involved in this, the first ever, exciting Celtic Rock concert.

In the seperate rumour mill, visitors to the Celtic Rock concert should keep their eyes peeled for a few celebs who will also be coming down.

The Celtic Rock in the Park concert takes place this Saturday, 26 August from 6pm at Southgate Playing Fields, Southgate Avenue, Crawley. Tickets just £8

Find out more at CelticWeekend.com

The Crawley Celtic Weekend is fast approaching and is now just two days away. Get ready for the biggest overhaul in the history of the Crawley Irish Festival. Ignore the weather reports - we’ve the luck of the Irish!

Saturday from 6pm: The Celtic Rock in the Park is the brand new event added to the bill featuring the award winning Emerald Dogs and the hardest working Thin Lizzy tribute act LimeHouse Lizzy. A brand new evening concert will be lit as you’d expect and a brand new stage will give the feeling of the most unique music festival you’ll find this summer. At just £8 at the gate, it’s also probably the cheapest you’ll find.

Sunday from 12pm: The Crawley Irish Festival has also seen a major overhaul. Some of the biggest acts from Ireland to cater for all tastes plus a brand new children’s entertainment area will mean there is something for everyone. We’ve also added a dedicated and elevated Irish Dance stage where all the dance displays will take place.

Come along and enjoy the Craic!

Find out more at CelticWeekend.com

12pm: Southgate Playing Fields, Southgate Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex - [map]

The 2008 Crawley Irish Festival will showcase some great Irish entertainment, music, sport and dance. This year’s event features a great mix of bands plus new additions centred on youth participation.

The festival is a great family day out over the August Bank Holiday. So keep Sunday 24 August 2008 free in your diary for Crawley’s biggest Irish festival ever!

Tickets - £TBC adults / £free children available at the gate

[Festival Website]

Earlier this year, the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society decided to move the Fleadh to November (from August) and extend the events on offer to include participation with local schools and to ease the organisation responsibilities leading up to the Crawley Irish Festival.

The Crawley Fleadh is the third annual event and the first year the events will be held in November to coincide with the academic term. The Fleadh will bring qualified GAA coaches into local primary and secondary schools: it will give children the opportunity to play Gaelic Football and Hurling for the first time in Crawley’s history. Arts and literature will also be catered for with storytelling and much more. For adults, Irish language classes, set dancing classes and theatre in the form of the award winning “Rare Oul’ Times” show performed by the Nomadic Theatre Company - plus much more for the whole family.

The Celtic and Irish Cultural Society wish to invite sponsors for the weeklong event (18-26 November 2006). Sponsorship financing will be used to extend media coverage and promote the events. Please contact David Nolan on 07740358221 for more information about how to get involved.

[Crawley Fleadh]