Music & Culture
The entire West Limerick area has a very strong tradition of music, with many renowned traditional Irish musicians coming from the area. Newcastle West has an active pipe band, and at one time also had a Brass & Reed band. A musical society was formed in 2009 and it has been very successful in producing 'Blood Brothers'. A local band called The Rivermen are very popular, and have been playing modern pop and classics for many years. Traditional music, ballad and folk sessions and various modern electric bands can be heard in many of the local pubs on a regular basis, including The Shamrock on South Quay where a ballad session can frequently be found on Sunday nights. The Goat St. Blues Festival is based in Clery's pub on South Quay.
Last September the town played host to the 'Heineken Westfest', a spiritual successor to the old Knights of Desmond celebration, which was last held in the town in the mid 1990s, the Westfest featured appearances from Mundy, 2FM’s Hector O’hEochagain and a number of other musical acts from September 8-11.
As well as nightly music and entertainment on a specially-erected gig rig in the town square, Westfest also saw daily events from barbecues, fashion shows and a tug of war to a barmans’ race, a street trolley dash and an All Ireland donkey derby with over 3,000 people in attendance.
Read more about this topic: Newcastle West
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