Sunshine, Guinness and great music! (Fleadh Festival)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	Fleadh Festival
Date:	03/07/01 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cold Guinness, Great music, Easy to get to and from

Disadvantages: The weather would have to be good

I had never been to a music festival before so I was a little unsure what to expect. Little did I know I was in for such a treat.

A friend of ours who lives in Walthamstow had asked us if we would like to go to the Fleadh at Finsbury Park, in London. It is an Irish music festival with two main stages and the Corrs were one of the top acts there that year (1999). Dave and I both like the Corrs and quite fancied the experience so we said yes.

Soon after the tickets had been booked we found out that Capercaillie would also be appearing and we was thrilled about that, as they are one of our favourite bands.

We went to stay with our friend in Walthamstow for the weekend and got up bright and early Saturday morning to head off to Finsbury Park. We were very lucky as regards the weather - it was glorious!

We had packed the cool box with food and drink to keep us going throughout the day as the Fleadh lasted from about 11am to midnight.

We got there and once inside, after queuing for a short while, as the security men checked the bags, we found ourselves a nice spot in front of the stage and settled down on our rug. All mod cons eh?

Guinness sponsored the whole festival and well, it would have been rude to not sample the nice cold brew! So there we were sat in the sunshine drinking cold Guinness when Picture House came on stage.

We had seen this band before supporting the Corrs and we were very impressed with them. They soon had everyone on their feet dancing and singing along. Theirs was just the sort of music to get the Fleadh off to a good start.

We saw the Bootleg Beatles but I have to say none of us were particularly impressed, so it was time for another Guinness.

Capercaillie were up next and Karen Matheson’s voice was superb. I stood spellbound listening to her sing, even though I didn’t actually know all of the songs they performed, as I was a new convert to Capercaillie at
that time. They also played a few traditional Irish numbers.

A bit of a break and time for another Guinness, although we decided that three was quite enough considering that it was a hot sunny day so this one was our last! How well behaved we were!

The Corrs were as good as ever although we were quite far back from the stage at this point and a lot of people were sitting on one another’s shoulders in front of us which made it difficult to see them. The sound was excellent considering it was outdoors and it didn’t really bother me whether I could actually see them or not, well not as much as it bothered the men anyway! I wonder why that was?

Top of the bill on the one stage was James and you can tell how much I knew about them, as I asked ‘who’s he?’ when I was told that they were on! They were OK but nothing special so we wandered over to the other stage and Sinead O’Connor was on there. As none of us like her either we decided to head home a little early and beat the rush.

Here is where staying in Walthamstow is a great advantage for watching the Fleadh. Finsbury Park is on the Victoria line, which leads into London and Victoria Station. Walthamstow however is on the same line but in the other direction, so as most people were waiting for crowded tubes travelling London bound we were travelling in comfort on a half empty train!

I had thoroughly enjoyed my day at the Fleadh, the atmosphere was happy and peaceful, helped of course by the lovely weather.

There were adequate toilet facilities and numerous food and drink outlets. Plenty of souvenirs, mainly in the form of tee shirts, were on sale too.

There was even a crane offering the chance for a go at bungee jumping, but I declined. Well, you don’t want to be seen as a show off do you? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

All in all it was a lovely day – sitting in the sunshine wi
th a pint of ice cold Guinness watching your favourite bands play – what more could you ask for?

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