- Féile Festival
Féile (IPA2|feːlʲə; Irish "Festival") was a
music festival held in theRepublic of Ireland between 1990 and 1997. Most years it was inSemple Stadium inThurles ,County Tipperary , and hence nicknamed the Trip to Tipp. In 1995, it was held inPáirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city; Féile 96 was indoors at thePoint Depot inDublin . Féile was generally a three-day festival held over thebank holiday weekend in early August. In 1996 it was in July; in 1997, it was reduced to a single day in late August.The festival was a progression from the
Siamsa Cois Laoi held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the 1980s, and theSlane Concert s atSlane Castle , which had been on hiatus since 1987 but would return from 1992. TheOxegen festival, first held asWitnness atFairyhouse Racecourse in 2001, was seen as filling the gap left by the ending of Féile, and had the same promoters, MCD. []History
1990
Hothouse Flowers headlined the Saturday night line-up, although there were acts onstage from midday. The Sunday line-up includedVan Morrison . Other acts to perform includedDeacon Blue ,The 4 Of Us ,Mary Black , []Meat Loaf ,Big Country , No Sweat,The Little Angels ,The Amazing Colossal Men ,Maria McKee ,That Petrol Emotion ,Energy Orchard ,The Saw Doctors , []Moving Hearts andTracy Chapman . []1991
Acts included Van Morrison,
Nanci Griffith ,Elvis Costello ,The Pogues ,Luka Bloom ,Transvision Vamp , The Farm,Something Happens ,The Mock Turtles ,The Stunning ,The Fat Lady Sings , []The La's ,PJ Harvey , andPaul Brady . The Saw Doctors played again, with Mike Scott ofThe Waterboys joining them to sing "The Trip to Tipp", which they had co-written for the occasion. []1992
Acts included
Bryan Adams ,Simply Red ,Christy Moore , David Byrne,The Wonder Stuff , the Saw Doctors, The Stunning,Ned's Atomic Dustbin , James, and Extreme. [] []1993
Acts included
INXS ,Iggy Pop ,The Sultans of Ping FC ,Kerbdog andChris de Burgh . Unruly behaviour by fans attracted criticism, with 141 arrests, mostly fordrug possession , and tworape s reported. [] The concert reportedly generated IR£300,000 for theGaelic Athletic Association . [] There were three stages, and theJim Rose Circus . []1994
Acts included Blur,
The Cranberries ,Björk ,Rage Against the Machine ,House of Pain ,Kerbdog andCypress Hill . This was the last year of the initial arrangement with the GAA for the use of Semple Stadium. Objections from locals prevented renewing the arrangement. [] Dance music dominated over rock in the lineups. []1995
The "Féile" name was retained but the concert moved to
Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city. Thecampsite was further from the venue, diminishing the festival atmosphere. Acts includedThe Stone Roses ,Elastica , Ash andThe Devlins .Kylie Minogue appeared in the sidebar at an early stage in her transition from teenybopper to dance queen. [] Freecondom s were distributed to concertgoers. []A man, Bernard Rice, was drowned trying to swim across the River Lee to the stadium. The city
coroner , Cornelius Riordan, condemned Féile at theinquest , allegedly describing it as "an extravaganza of song, music and sleazy excesses that seem to have cast a hypnotic spell over the youth, as testified by this tragedy". [] Promoter MCD, and its head Denis Desmond, sued Riordan forslander ; the case was settled out of court. []1996
Pulp had been scheduled to play a concert at the
Point Depot , the largest indoor music venue inDublin , accommodating 4,500 fans. With no outdoor venue secured for a festival-style "Féile", the Point event was expanded into a multi-act weekend, with Pulp headling on the Saturday. [] Acts on Friday were Joyrider,The Jesus Lizard ,The Afghan Whigs ,Beck ,Manic Street Preachers , andFoo Fighters . Acts on the Sunday includedAlanis Morissette ,Frank Black , andMazzy Star . []1997
The festival returned to Thurles, reduced to a single day to allay local concerns about unruly campers. Acts included
The Cardigans , Reef, Foo Fighters,Kula Shaker , Manic Street Preachers, andThe Prodigy . [] No alcohol was on sale in the stadium. []References
External links
* [http://www.ivenus.com/therightstuff/features/FocalPoint-wk42.asp iVenus view on Féile]
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