Féile Festival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Féile (IPA: [feːlʲə]; Irish "Festival") was a music festival held in the Republic of Ireland between 1990 and 1997. Most years it was in Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipperary, and hence nicknamed the Trip to Tipp. In 1995, it was held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city; Féile 96 was indoors at the Point Depot in Dublin. Féile was generally a three-day festival held over the bank 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 the Slane Concerts at Slane Castle, which had been on hiatus since 1987 but would return from 1992. The Oxegen festival, first held as Witnness at Fairyhouse Racecourse in 2001, was seen as filling the gap left by the ending of Féile, and had the same promoters, MCD.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2008)

[edit] 1990

Hothouse Flowers headlined the Saturday night line-up, although there were acts onstage from midday. The Sunday line-up included Van Morrison. Other acts to perform included Deacon Blue, The 4 Of Us, Mary Black,[2] Meat Loaf, Big Country, No Sweat, The Little Angels, The Amazing Colossal Men, Maria McKee, That Petrol Emotion, Energy Orchard, The Saw Doctors,[3] Moving Hearts and Tracy Chapman.[4]

[edit] 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,[5] The La's, PJ Harvey, and Paul Brady. The Saw Doctors played again, with Mike Scott of The Waterboys joining them to sing "The Trip to Tipp", which they had co-written for the occasion.[6]

[edit] 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. [7][8]

[edit] 1993

Acts included INXS, Iggy Pop, The Sultans of Ping FC, and Chris de Burgh. Unruly behaviour by fans attracted criticism, with 141 arrests, mostly for drug possession, and two rapes reported.[9] The concert reportedly generated IR£300,000 for the Gaelic Athletic Association.[10] There were three stages, and the Jim Rose Circus.[11]

[edit] 1994

Acts included Blur, The Cranberries, Björk, Rage Against the Machine, House of Pain, and Cypress 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.[12] Dance music dominated over rock in the lineups.[13]

[edit] 1995

The Féile name was retained but the concert moved to Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city. The campsite was further from the venue, diminishing the festival atmosphere. Acts included The Stone Roses, Elastica, Ash and The Devlins. Kylie Minogue appeared in the sidebar at an early stage in her transition from teenybopper to dance queen.[14] Free condoms were distributed to concertgoers.[15]

A man, Bernard Rice, was drowned trying to swim across the River Lee to the stadium. The city coroner, Cornelius Riordan, condemned Féile at the inquest, 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".[16] Promoter MCD, and its head Denis Desmond, sued Riordan for slander; the case was settled out of court.[17]

[edit] 1996

Pulp had been scheduled to play a concert at the Point Depot, the largest indoor music venue in Dublin, 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.[18] Acts on Friday were Joyrider, The Jesus Lizard, The Afghan Whigs, Beck, Manic Street Preachers, and Foo Fighters. Acts on the Sunday included Alanis Morissette, Frank Black, and Mazzy Star.[19]

[edit] 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, and The Prodigy .[20] No alcohol was on sale in the stadium.[21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Fairyhouse féile", The Irish Times, 2001-08-04, p. 47. 
  2. ^ Ferrie, Liam. "The Irish Emigrant, issue 174", Irish Emigrant, June 4 1990. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  3. ^ Ferrie, Liam. "The Irish Emigrant, issue 178", Irish Emigrant, July 7 1990. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  4. ^ "Féile's strange brew of folk, rock and funk", The Irish Times, 1990-08-07, p. 8. 
  5. ^ Ferrie, Liam. "The Irish Emigrant, issue 235", Irish Emigrant, August 5 1991. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  6. ^ "Once more with Féile", The Irish Times, 1991-08-05, p. 7. 
  7. ^ "Féile fans fashion their own rock'n'roll revolution", The Irish Times, 1992-08-01, p. 1. 
  8. ^ Ferrie, Liam. "The Irish Emigrant, issue 287", Irish Emigrant, August 3 1992. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  9. ^ "Two rapes reported and 141 arrested at the Féile", The Irish Times, 1993-08-03, p. 6. 
  10. ^ "'Trips to Tipp' worth £300,000 to Semple", The Irish Times, 1994-01-27, p. 28. 
  11. ^ "Meanwhile on the other stage...", Hot Press, 11 August 1993. 
  12. ^ "Trip to Tipp terminates in reliable rain", The Irish Times, 1994-08-01, p. 3. 
  13. ^ "Rock plays second fiddle to dance music", The Irish Times, 1994-08-01, p. 3. 
  14. ^ Kylie: Biography. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. “August 1995, Kylie performs live with her nine piece band at the world famous Feile Festival in Ireland”
  15. ^ "Condoms will be given out at Feile", The Irish Times, 1995-08-02, p. 2. 
  16. ^ Desmond and Others v Riordan [1999] IEHC 237 (1999-07-14)
  17. ^ "MCD boss and coroner settle slander case", Irish Examiner, 2000-11-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  18. ^ "King Cocker sets Pulp puppies wild", The Irish Times, 1996-07-13. 
  19. ^ "Alanis Morissette, Frank Black, Mazzy Star", The Irish Times, 1996-07-15. 
  20. ^ "One day at a time proves winning Feile formula for residents and rock 'n' rollers", The Irish Times, 1997-08-25, p. 8. 
  21. ^ The Trip to Tipp. Semple Stadium, Thurles, 24 August 1997.. Sorted. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Irish Music Events & Festivals
Bud Rising · Castlepalooza · Cois Fharraige · Creamfields · Day of Darkness · Download · Electric Picnic · Element · Féile · Garden Party · Heineken Green Energy · HiFi:Ireland · Indie-pendence · Live at the Marquee · Midlands · Oxegen (previously Witnness) · Slane · Solas · Soundtrack · Tennents ViTal