Heineken Green Energy

infobox music festival
music_festival_name =


caption = Heineken Green Energy 2008 logo
location = Dublin Castle, Ireland
years_active= 1996 - present
dates = May bank holiday weekend
genre = Rock
website = [http://www.heinekenmusic.ie/ www.heinekenmusic.ie]

Heineken Green Energy is an Irish music festival that takes place at Dublin Castle over the May bank holiday weekend. It attracts over 50,000 people per year for what is the opening of the music festival season in Ireland. Heineken Green Energy first took place in 1996 and since then has occurred on an annual basis, with smaller shows in other city venues supporting the main event in the Castle.

The 2008 festival took place from May 3-5, featuring Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Radio Soulwax and The Kooks. It has previously hosted Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Brian Ferry, Morrissey, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Orbital, The Streets, Beck, Mercury Rev, Stereophonics, Supergrass, Buena Vista Social Club, Manic Street Preachers, The White Stripes, Kasabian and Ian Brown. Irish acts to have featured include The Frames, The Cranberries, Snow Patrol, Damien Rice, Bell X1, JJ72, Paddy Casey, Republic of Loose, Kíla, Sinéad O'Connor, Ash, Future Kings of Spain, The Blizzards, Delorentos and The Coronas.

Venue

Leona Daly, Heineken Brand Manager has said:

"Heineken Green Energy has the added advantage that, apart from a line-up of top acts, it's one of the few music events of its size that takes place in the centre of a city. I believe that the convenience of the central location is an important element in the event's success."

Leona believes that much of the success of Heineken Green Energy is down to the choice of Dublin Castle as venue.

"There's something truly unique about this venue that fans seem to really like. It has great acoustics in what is a very historical setting within the city, and that helps create a unique atmosphere that sets Heineken Green Energy apart from other festivals." ["Hot Press", Vol 32: Issue 8, May 7 2008, pages 52-53]

History

1996 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 1st time in 1996.

1997 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 2nd year in 1997, featuring Lou Reed.

1998 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 3rd year in 1998, featuring Texas and Finlay Quaye.

1999 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 4th year in 1999, featuring Catatonia.

2000 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 5th year in 2000, featuring Van Morrison.

2001 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 6th year in 2001, featuring Buena Vista Social Club and JJ72.

2002 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 7th year in 2002, featuring The White Stripes and The Frames.

2003 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 8th year in 2003. It was held in Dublin over the May Bank Holiday weekend. 2003's venues included Dublin Castle, the Ambassador, Temple Bar Music Centre, The Village and Whelans as well as 20 other key music venues in Dublin City. Over the weekend approximately 40,000 people attended in excess of 17 live gigs. Musicians to play the 2003 festival included Groove Armada, Moloko, Craig David, Stereophonics and Beck.

2004 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 9th year in 2004, featuring The Streets and The Stooges.

2005 festival

Heineken Green Energy took place for the 10th year in 2005, featuring Beck and Paddy Casey.

2006 festival

The 11th Heineken Green Energy Festival at Dublin Castle was headlined by Snow Patrol who played on April 29. [http://corkuniversitypress.typepad.com/beautiful_day_40_years_of/2006/03/snow_patrol_hei.html] Richard Hawley also played that day. The 2006 event also saw Ian Brown and Republic of Loose on April 30 whilst Kaiser Chiefs and Graham Coxon finished off the festival on May 1. [http://travelguides.lastminute.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=74442] With many other acts playing around the city during the weekend as part of the "gig trail/fringe" (ie the other music venues around the city), Dublin once again became an international music centre for the duration of the festival. [http://entertainment.ie/festivals/display.asp?ID=339]

2007 festival

Heineken Green Energy Festival took place for the 12th year in May 2007. Kasabian headlined the Heineken Green Energy festival on the Saturday of the May bank holiday weekend (May 5). They were supported by The Blizzards and Future Kings of Spain. [http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-festivals/kasabian-to-headline-green-energy-festival/spId/23052FD2-02C2-BFF1-733F6CA789ECA920.html] Sinéad O'Connor headlined the Heineken Green Energy festival on the Sunday of the May bank holiday weekend (May 6). She was supported by Kíla and Delorentos. [http://www.sinead-oconnor.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=1]

2008 festival

Heineken Green Energy Festival took place for the 13th year in May 2008. [http://www.worldeventsguide.com/event.ehtml?o=107] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds headlined the Dublin Castle event on May 3, Radio Soulwax headlined on Sunday May 4 and The Kooks headlined on Monday May 5. [cite web|url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/mheygbqlaukf/|title="Headline acts for Heineken Green Energy Festival announced…"|date=2008-01-30|accessdate=2008-02-01|publisher=Breaking News.ie] [cite web|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/entertainment/mheygbqlaukf/|title="Headline acts for Heineken Green Energy Festival announced…"|date=2008-01-30|accessdate=2008-02-01|publisher="Irish Examiner"] On Tuesday February 5 at 9 a.m., tickets for The Kooks and Radio Soulwax performances went on sale. Tickets for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds sold out quickly.

References

External links

* [http://www.heinekenmusic.ie/ Official site]