Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Koroit offers pure Irish charm

Festival patrons may see green for days after town's top event.

 By Amy Marshall. Warrnambool Standard 27th Apr. 2005 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 2005 All rights reserved

Fiddlers, whistles, jigs and hornpipes will charm the streets of Koroit this weekend at the ninth annual Koroit Irish Festival. Festival patrons should be seeing green for days after violin cases have been locked away and taken home, with this year's event shaping up to tie the biggest yet. Joining the party will be international music act Aes Dana. There'll also be Irish folk, traditional Celtic and contemporary music performers appearing on five stages. There will also be a Guinness tent, food court, arts and crafts stalls, the Australian Danny Boy Championship, street performers and children's activities. The festivities begin on Friday and continue on Saturday with entertainment centred around the Koroit Theatre, the Commercial Hotel and Mickey Bourke's Pub. Program coordinator Maurice Molan said the highlights included the UK's Aes Dana and Adelaide band POP which strives to reproduce the energy and excitement of a live U2 experience. "It's taken a fair bit of time and effort to get those bands into Koroit," Mr Molan said. "So I'd say the highlights for me this year will be the concert on Saturday night, the Danny Boy competition and Dennis O'Keeffe. And we'll have the Guinness tent for the first time that will have music in it from lunch time to late Saturday night," he said. Mr Molan also tipped contemporary original Celtic line-up Captain Darling to be the surprise packet of the festival. Festival president Colin Ryan said the Danny Boy singing competition would see six finalists compete for $1000 prize money on Saturday night following heats that day. He said the Koroit Irish Festival allowed the tiny township to attract bands they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to see. Mr Ryan said a village green was created at the Blackwood Centre for patrons to enjoy. 'We're encouraging people to bring their deck chairs and take advantage of the lovely grass area," he said. Admission on Saturday is $10 for adults, $5 for secondary students, free for children under 12 and $25 for a family ticket.

Friday, April 1, 2005

Trivia time

Warrnambool Standard 1st Apr. 2005 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2005.  All rights reserved

Rock historian Chris Spencer is back on the trail of south-west musical trivia and hopes Standard readers can help out. Bendigo-based Chris has received a copy of a record single recorded by the Mod Squad, featuring covers of Green Green Grass of Home and Your Cheatin' Heart. The record includes details on the band's line up - John Maher, Peter Bird, Eion Cameron and Richard Barns. "My query this time is, in what year was the record released?" Chris said. "The catalogue number of the record is MC&-022, which does not fit in with other releases I have documented on the (Tower Hill Records) label". Any helpers can contact Stand and Deliver.