For Ardmore Pattern Festival, 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the modern history, a milestone everyone wants to celebrate. From the original committee of 2006, John Supple and Maurice Power have given a full decade of service to the festival through organising events, fundraising as well as the odd participation too. This is a huge achievement for the community-run festival and so the committee decided it was important to make it a year-long celebration, and one to remember.
On Friday 1st January, New Year’s Day, the legendary Phil Coulter performed in St. Declan’s Church, Ardmore at 4pm to a packed crowd. There wasn’t a spare seat in the house and as the storm blew outside, the church was filled with a magical candlelit atmosphere as one of Ireland’s biggest record sellers sang, played his piano and told stories of his fifty years in music.
Phil Coulter was born to parents from N. Ireland; he grew up in Derry and is a musician, songwriter and producer. He has a string of awards and accolades to his name including 23 platinum discs, 39 gold discs, 52 silver discs, two Grand Prix Eurovision awards; five Ivor Novello Awards, including Songwriter of the Year; a Grammy Nomination and National Entertainment Award.
Just before the interval, Phil revealed to the audience that Ardmore Pattern Festival had hidden nine mystery envelopes under random seats and encouraged everyone to feel under their seat to see if they would be one of the lucky winners. Inside these envelopes were vouchers for local businesses in Ardmore, all supporters and sponsors of the festival. This caused great excitement and lots of jostling amongst the crowd.
Following the break Phil announced that he also had a treat for the audience and introduced his wife Geraldine (nee Brannigan) to the stage, she sang beautifully with Phil in accompaniment and the audience loved it. During the two hour concert the church was filled with Danny Boy, Coultergeist, The Town I Loved So Well, Scorn Not His Simplicity and Ireland’s Call just to name a few.
To round off the evening’s entertainment and in spite of the best efforts of the weather a huge fireworks display lit up the sky across Ardmore Bay. Free mulled wine and mince pies were served in the Sandcastle next to the beach which made for the perfect viewing point. As the fireworks burst with pinks, yellows and blue lights, the rushing waves against the shoreline could be seen. It was an amazing and dramatic way to ring in 2016.
Louise Gleeson, committee member said “We wanted to give something back to the community for all their support over the years. A concert on New Year’s Day with fireworks was something we all agreed would be a magical way to start the year. We also decided that all proceeds from ticket sales will go to the ISPCC and Irish Cancer Society.”
The committee also reminded the audience that 2016 will also mark the final year of the current committee members. All of whom wish to thank everyone who has supported the festival over the past decade, supported them personally during their voluntary work with the committee and of course all of the sponsors and those who donate to the festival. Introducing the concert was Rosie Mansfield, committee member, and she also said how the committee want everyone to enjoy the year from start to finish, and how there would be lots of entertainment coming throughout the next twelve months. So watch this space…
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