Irish acts Soda Blonde, Daithí, Damien Dempsey, and King Kong Company will be joining international artists James Morrison, Booka Shade and the Kaiser Chiefs at the inaugural Wild Roots Festival on the shores of Lough Gill, Co. Sligo. The family-friendly event is a unique 3-day festival, taking place over the May bank holiday weekend 2021 which will celebrate music, performing arts and outdoor adventure. The festival will be the first of its kind in Ireland to employ advanced Covid-19 health & safety procedures and will represent a significant landmark in the reopening of the Live events sector.
Amongst some of the other entertainment highlights announced there will be performances from singer-songwriters Ryan McMullan, Violet Skies, David Keenan and Paddy Casey. Electronic pop artists ROE and Prymary Colours will be also playing as will four-piece pop-rockers Modernlove and festival favourites Aslan. The comedy stage will include performances from Blindboy, David McSavage and Owen Colgan. Meanwhile, the after-dark entertainment includes DJ sets from Jenny Greene, Mark Blair and the Daft Punk Tribute. Commenting on the new festival, Wild Roots Director, Neil O’Connell remarked:
“We have reimagined the festival experience, lovers of the outdoors can take a swim, have a paddleboard lesson, or hoist a sail on the majestic freshwater lake made famous by W.B Yeats. Spend an afternoon rambling through the rugged wilds of the forest where you’re likely to meet circus folk, discover hidden art installations or catch an aerial acrobat show”.
Covid-19
At the launch event, the festival organisers announced advanced Covid-19 health & safety systems which they believe will set the standard for the Live events industry. As part of the new procedures there will be socially distanced zoned area camping; designated disinfectants points; health checkpoints for body temperature measuring and onsite isolation facilities with qualified medical personnel. Meanwhile, all attendees will be allocated an “RFID wristband” which will eliminate the need for queuing and allow for cashless payments at drink and confectionery stands. If necessary there will be mandatory rapid antigen testing before the event. Commenting on the new procedures the events Safety Officer, Elaine O’Connor, Commented:
“Wild Roots represents a landmark event which will set a new standard for the health and safety requirements for large scale cultural events in temporary environments. This is about mitigating the risk of Covid-19 to a point where the potential hazards are close to negligible. We’re lucky that as we are a new festival we’ve been able to design the entire event with the new health & safety regulations in mind.”
The festival will be a welcome boost to the region's local economy. Commenting on the event Dara Mulvey Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council remarked: “Wild Roots will be an exciting addition to the region's tourism and event portfolio. Attendees will enjoy the best of local food, outdoor adventure and creativity all set in one of Europe's most beautiful locations”.
Wild Roots Festival will take place at Lough Gill, Co. Sligo April 30 - May 2nd 2021. Subject to licence. For tickets and further information, see https://wildroots.ie/
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