Féile (Irish pronunciation: [feːlʲə], "Festival") was a music festival held in the Republic of Ireland between 1990 and 1997. Most years it was in Semple Stadium in Thurles, North Tipperary, hence the nicknamed of "TheTrip 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]
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Meat Loaf topped the bill on the Friday night. 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] Big Country, No Sweat, Little Angels, The Amazing Colossal Men, Maria McKee, That Petrol Emotion, Something Happens, Energy Orchard, The Saw Doctors,[3] Moving Hearts and Tracy Chapman.[4]
Acts included Van Morrison, Nanci Griffith, Elvis Costello, The Pogues, The Las, Ride, Happy Mondays, Luka Bloom, Transvision Vamp, The Farm, Something Happens, Marc Cohn, The Mock Turtles, Candy Dulfer, Frank Black, The Stunning, The Fat Lady Sings,[5] The La's, 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]
Acts included Bryan Adams, Simply Red, Christy Moore, David Byrne, The Wonder Stuff, the Saw Doctors, The Stunning, The Beautiful South, Inspiral Carpets, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, James, Toasted Heretic, and Extreme.[7][8]
Acts included INXS, Iggy Pop, The Levellers, The Sultans of Ping FC, The Christians, The Shamen, Kerbdog 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]
Acts included The Prodigy, Blur, The Cranberries, Björk, Rage Against the Machine, House of Pain, Kerbdog 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]
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 Prodigy whose performance was disrupted twice by power cuts, The Stone Roses, Orbital, Paul Weller, 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]
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]
The festival returned to Thurles in 1997, reduced to a single day to allay local concerns about unruly campers. It was billed / rebranded as the "Day Trip to Tipp". 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]
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