Hilton Park - Clones - Co Monahan
August 23rd-24th 2008
Warning! This site is infested with typing miscakes and speilling errors. It also contains elements of truth and small traces of ironing irony.
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The Flat Lake comes 'straight from the fridge' this year and is gearing up to return with a weekend of unique entertainment as Kevin Allen and Pat McCabe brew up a host of remarkable talent.
Set in the glorious Hilton Park estate in County Monaghan, this dream-like festival of creative skullduggery manages to fuse copious offerings of high-brow art with generous helpings of popular culture.
It will include film screenings, theatrical debuts, literary and historical talks, heated debates, sculptural exhibitions, poetry recitals, eccentric discourse,sticks of rock, children’s entertainment, campfire camaraderie and an array of delicious food 'n drink that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Heading the literary line up is Nobel Poet-Laureate, Seamus Heaney, Canadian Poet Laureate George McWhirter – along with Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, Frank Ormsby, Medbh McGuckain and many others.
Among those being honoured with a ‘Flat Lake Interview’ will be legendary bluesman, Henry McCullough, as The Flat Lake follows the rich trail of Ulster music all the way back to the Belfast Maritime Sound of the sixties... so get your kinky boots on and get out here. Henry will also be putting together his own Flat Lake All-Star Band for a spectacular ‘one-off’…so watch this space. Others confirmed for 2008 include Bernard Loughlin, Murray Lachlan Young, Maurice Leitch, Cecilia Ahern, Sean Tyrell. Little John Nee, Glen Hansard, Adrian Dunbar, Dermot Healey, John Maher, Sean O’Reilly, Eoin Mcnamee, Ailbhe Slevin, Christian O’Reilly, Joe O’Byrne, John Minihan and Steve Pyke.
In between all this, there will be bands of all shapes and sizes, not to mention The X-Tractor Talent Contest, where a panel of illustrious judges are set to view an array of acts from singing ‘n dancing to general idiocy and old style recitals.
Last year’s Flat Lake Festival enthralled audiences from far and wide.
The signature ‘Flat Lake Interviews’ saw literary heavyweights Colm Toibin and Eugene McCabe go head to head in the Butty Barn. Film maverick Neil Jordan took the hot-seat alongside Stephen Rea and Timothy O'Grady. The nail biting Damien Hirst Auction thrilled spectators as bidding figures spiraled beyond belief - Dylan Moran tickled humours - Victoria Mary Clarke and Keith Allen shared their wisdom on yoga and Angels, whilst Shane McGowan and Sinead O’Connor strummed into the wee small hours, Dundalk’s own Jinx Lennon blew his unsuspecting audience away into the summer night and Pat McCabe’s ‘Radio Butty’ filled in the gaps as he broadcasted live from a biscuit tin receiver.
This year the 2008 Flat Lake Auction will mount an exciting line-up of emerging contemporary artists alongside a mouth watering display of classic beatnik cars and farm machinery. The Kids Area will be full of wicked surprises and the 60 piece Welsh Male Voice Choir will hopefully make many a festival hair stand on end.
The Flat Lake Festival is truly one of a kind in Ireland, reaching the parts other festivals simply don’t … and all in a sponsor-free environment.
TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE
Book your tickets via www.ticket-text.com
– but be quick, as the tickets are limited.
VOLUNTEERS – WE NEED YOU: Feel like getting Arty 'n Farty this summer? Then we strongly advise you to GET INVOLVED!
Please contact info@theflatlakefestival.com mailto:info@theflatlakefestival.com You’ll be hanging out with a host of eccentrics – ready to roll up sleeves, evolving the Flat Lake into something truly special.
or e-mail allybunbury@yahoo.ie
