If you pick up a copy of today’s Kilkenny People, or you fancy reading online here you’ll see that confusion still continues to mount over the Dysart Festival.

According to the Kilkenny People, the first the alternative venue (Kilford Hotel) heard about was only yesterday morning.

“We heard it on the radio this morning (Tuesday) and it was the first we’d heard of it,” a hotel spokeswoman said.
She said a decision would be made by management this morning (Wednesday).

Having spoken to the venue owner yesterday we had been able to find out they gave the go ahead for the festival to be held on the grounds though only subject to approval from relative authorities and emergency services in Kilkenny. A decision from emergency services has not yet been made public.

The article continues

Festival organiser Enda Leahy confirmed that plans were still up in the air, but said the festival team was hopeful an event would go ahead in the Kilford Arms this weekend. “We’re still in talks with the gardai and authorities to see if it’s a possibility and to try and sort things out, but eveyone involved is hopeful it will go ahead,” Mr Leahy said.

While organiser Ramie Leahy concludes with

“It’s really a great shame that, for various reasons, there wasn’t enough interest to make the festival at Dysart successful this year,” Mr Leahy said. “We’re hoping that the scaled-down event in town will be a success for all concerned.
“We’re really sorry to all the people who showed their support and booked tickets in advance, but barring any other hiccups, we’ll have a small and cosy, but great, day of music in town.”

You can read the full article here on KilkennyPeople.ie.

If Dysart isn’t/wasn’t your thing or you’re looking to break out of Kilkenny during the forthcoming Arts Festival (launches this weekend) then why not set your sights on the Solas Festival taking place up the road in Carlow.

Solas Festival is an Irish music festival set to take place in the grounds of Huntington Castle, Clonegal in County Carlow on Saturday August 16 and Sunday August 17, 2008. Early bird tickets for the two-day camping event can be purchased now from www.tickets.ie, priced €120 with a €7 booking fee. The festival will start at midday on both days. Free parking and camping will be provided.

Promising “a new era in quality boutique festivals,” the festival takes place at Huntingdon Castle, Clonegal, Co. Carlow on August 16-17. Tickets are priced at €120, including camping. Capacity is 4,000.

The lineup runs:

Solas Stage (Main Stage) – Saturday: Autamata, God Is An Astronaut, Hijack Oscar, Back Doors, Dirty Epics, HyBrasil, Kill City Defectors, Rocket Surgery.

Sunday: Kíla, Republic of Loose, Preston Reed, Andy McKee, Don Ross, Ham Sandwich, Travega, Stanley Super 800, Different Drums of Ireland.

Spectrum Stage – Saturday: Alex Under [Net 28 Showcase], Damian Schwartz Live [Net 28 Showcase], Heart Throb [Minus], Dinky, Tractile [Live], Miss Jools A.K.A Sleeper Thief, Eddie Brennan & Dan McElligot [Electric City], String [Live - Multifunktion], Timmy Stewart.

Sunday: Audiojack, Dusty Kid, Switch, Johnny Moy & Arveene [Clampdown], Alloy Mental, Noise Control, Produse Live, Dougmore/Multifunktion, Chymera [Live], Sian.

Kettle/music Light/Night Stage – Saturday: A Guy Called Gerald [3 Hr Set], Tu Ki [4 Time Irish DMC Champ], Matjazz & Handsome Paddy [4 Deck Set], Whitenoise [Human Beatbox], Synergy [Reach], Barry Delta [Reach], Bonz [174], Worries Outernational Soundsystem.

Sunday: DJ Godfather [Databass], Detroit Grand Pubahs Dj Set [DET.ELE.FUNK], Boxcutter [Planet MU], Milanese [Planet MU], Syntheme [Planet MU], T-Woc [Alphabetset], Signor Pepe Hernandez [KETTLE], Big Dish Go Djs - Conor & Gav Feeney, Firehouse Skank [Selector Enda].

Humanmusic.ie Stage – Saturday: Preston Reed, The Last Tycoons, The Hot Sprockets, Erik Noon, Nicola Williams, Lauren Guillery & The Claws, Quintessential, DJ Half Dutch.

Sunday: Sickboy, The Murder of Crows, The Brothers Movement, More Tiny Giants, Hassle Merchants, Skuzzi Port, Brean Wilson, Christina Quill.

Prism Stage – Saturday: The Urges, Intinn, Gavin Glass & The Holy Shakers, The Red Labels, The Straglers, Grand Casino, Niall Toner Band, The Bovine Frenzy, Brian Meakin Experience, Niwel Tsumbu, Zrazy.

Sunday: Grada, Neon Flea Circus, Miracle Bell, The Mighty Stef, Tucan, The Cuban Allstars, The Ceili Allstars, Jester, West African Drum Group.

Fusion Stage – Saturday: Peter Breen [Electric Circus], Sex Shop Dave [Electric Circus], Mike McCoy [Electronic Ireland], Sean Galvin [Schmutzig], Bad Boy Blast [Strutt /Techfest], Joe McGrath [Junction], Jay Galligan [Electric City /Test], Paudi Ahern [Transmission], Stuey Lyon’s [Junction], Jeff Walters - Winter Beats], Fran Hartnet [Junction].

Sunday: Cj Fitzs [Transmission], Barry Donovan [Lunar Disko], Aron Nolan [Acii disco], Al Keegan [Acii disco], Cian Frawley [Strutt / Techfest], Stam [Junction], Niall Power [Electric Circus], Rian Ryan [Electric City].

We’ll be hosting The Lions Mane and Hero In Error on Saturday in Kilkenny but I certainly wouldn’t mind catching some of the action on Sunday following the launch of the Battle Of The Bands.

For more on the festival itself check out www.solas-festival.com.

Driving around Kilkenny as one does on a Tuesday evening when one is going in search of food, I swung by the Kilford Hotel on John Street, the venue currently being promoted as the alternative venue for the Dysart Festival. While I’ve got images somewhere of Club 51, used during the Cat Laughs comedy festival, I said I’d swing a quick photo of the car park space.

Yesterday’s press statement had said the main stage would be in the outdoor grounds of the hotel and I can only imagine they mean the hotel car park. So here’s how it looks on a Tuesday evening in Kilkenny with just a few days to go to the kick off.

The car park space is accessible via two entrances - one right beside the Kilford Hotel on John Street and the rear entrance / exit the opens on to the public car park off John’s Green (behind Greenwood Furniture).

Having spoken with the promoter working with Kenny Larkin & Stacey Pullen who were coming in from Detroit for a mammoth five-hour combined set for the Dysart Festival, and trying to work out the confusion surrounding their involvement in the reshuffled lineup for the festival, we’ve just picked this up from the organisers.

Dysart regrets that due to the alternative venue in Kilkenny not having the time slot for Kenny Larkin and Stacey Pullen`s 5 hour set, they now sadly will not be able to play. Dysart apologises to all people who were anticipating what would have been a magical musical experience

Dance acts running across the much-revamped Saturday and Sunday of Dysart include Kilkenny’s Cleveland Mike (District 18), The Orb, MisWhite, Sen-C and more.

The organisers have also switched around the Dysart Festival website to indicate the change of venue and change of lineup so hopefully this will put some festival goers minds at ease in relation to ticket refunds, credit card refunds and the likes.

It looks like doors open at 2pm on Saturday with activities taking place from 1:30pm on Sunday.

Following a series of phone calls, whispers and emails this morning, we’ve received the latest official press statement from the Dysart Festival organisers with the festival rising out of the mystery of the weekend cancellations and changes of venue.

It is with great disappointment that Dysart Festival will no longer take place as scheduled at Dysart Castle.

The festival will, however, go ahead on August 9th and 10th at a new location in the heart of Kilkenny City - The Kilford Arms Hotel and its grounds on John Street. The event will take place across three areas of the hotel including Club 51, the largest nightclub in Kilkenny, O’ Faolains bar with its 16th Century Church interior, and the main stage outdoors in the grounds of the hotel.

Headline acts no longer performing at the festival are Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and Katherine Jenkins.

Current holders of one-day tickets, either Early Bird or General Admission, can now either bring a friend for either day or attend both days. General admission tickets for the event will now be €40.

All ticketholders who do not attend the event can avail of a full refund from Friday 15th of August at point of purchase. Those who purchased by credit or debit card and do not attend will receive a refund automatically on that date. We extend our apologies to all those who bought tickets and to all the artists, sponsors and partners involved.

The lineup looks as follows.

Saturday from 2pm
Main stage: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gemma Hayes, Clive Barnes, Ham Sandwich, Hoarsebox, Dirty Epics, Luan Parle.
Inside: Laughter Lounge Comedy afternoon
DJs: Sen-C, Cleveland Mike, Ms White, Sean B Doyle

Sunday from 1pm
Main stage: The Republic of Loose, John Martyn, Cathy Davey, Dali, Prison Love, Myp Et Jeep, Tucan
Inside: All Ireland Semi-Final, Laughter Lounge Comedy
DJs: The Orb (DJ Set) , Nuno Dos Santos, Slippery People (Bugged Out! The Warehouse Project)

We’ve checked ahead with the venue owners who had given the go-ahead for the change of venue subject to approval from emergency services in Kilkenny who we believe are meeting today to discuss the latest developments.

More on this through the day as and when we hear it.

Singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan’s concert at the Parade Tower on Saturday 9th August will now begin at 5pm, a change from the original time of 3.30pm.

Lisa will perform songs from her debut album, with support from local band Good Tiger.

Tickets going fast at the festival box office at the St Francis Abbey Brewery, Parliament Street (opposite Rothe House), tel (056) 7752175 or click here for more info.

Just to clear up a few things that have popped up on both voicemail and email over the weekend (I’ve been out of town since Friday but keeping a close eye on proceedings in relation to the Dysart Festival).

The coverage of the changes to the festival on KilkennyMusic.com have set it in some people’s minds that we’re the ones organising the festival - this is not the case. We’re just publishing the news we hear on the festival. We have no direct association or physical involvement with the festival.

As such, there is nothing we at KilkennyMusic.com can do about ticket sales, ticket queries or ticket refunds. As per instruction from the festival organisers on Friday, those who purchased tickets via credit card can be refunded by contacting the Dysart Festival booking office or the outlet where you purchased your tickets. We’ve also been told that physical shop outlets who were selling tickets will also be refunding those who present their tickets for cash refund.

Yes, there is still no mention of the changes to the festival on DysartFestival.com, we’re not sure why. We have also been informed (as of this evening) that an alternative venue is being prepared for a limited number of acts that were to feature on the bill, when this is confirmed and made public knowledge we’ll let you know.

Until then, please direct any ticket queries to your original point of sale or to DysartFestival.com (email info@dysartfestival.com).

This one in the mail yesterday afternoon, sorry about the delay!

It is with great disappointment that the organisers of the Dysart Festival, due to take place in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th August, have announced that the event will no longer take place as scheduled. Sadly, there has been an insufficient level of ticket sales to enable a viable inaugural event at Dysart Castle.

An alternative event will now take place at a location which has yet to be confirmed. Full details of these arrangements will be announced as soon as they become available.

Festival ticket holders will of course receive a complete refund if they wish. By way of thank you for the support those ticket holders showed, a special package to the alternative event is being arranged.

Dysart Festival organisers would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to all the music fans who purchased tickets, the artists involved and to the local community who have endeavoured to make the festival a success.

As briefly mentioned earlier on the site and contrary to announcements by Dysart Festival organisers, the Blind Boys Of Alabama will not be performing at Langtons on John Street. In a lunchtime statement to KCLR96FM, Langtons have stated they have “no association” with the festival and that no festival acts will be appearing at their venue over the Saturday and Sunday.

It had been reported this morning that The Blind Boys Of Alabama would play the Saturday with John Martyn and Republic Of Loose playing on the Sunday at the John Street venue but this is now certainly not the case.

More updates on venue planning and announcements as and when they happen in the afternoon.

Update: The Blind Boys Of Alabama NOT appearing at Langtons, contrary to announcement.

Organisers for the Dysart Festival have announced that headline acts Jools Holland (Saturday) and Katherine Jenkins (Sunday) have been removed from the festival bill for August 9th / 10th weekend.

As news breaks on the demise of the initial festival structure here’s the breakdown from this morning…

• The festival won’t be taking place in Dysart and Thomastown will “be left dry” in relation to music on the 9th / 10th
• The Dysart grounds will be open to the public for viewing to “see where next year’s festival will be held”, no cars allowed on ground.
• Organisers are citing “monsoon” like conditions over recent weeks as a major factor in the effective cancelling of the festival with grounds “destroyed” and one of the stages “sinking”
• The festival is being moved indoors with a limited number of acts on the bill. Jools Holland (Saturday) and Katherine Jenkins (Sunday) won’t be performing as no alternative venue is available.
• The Blind Boys Of Alabama will perform in an alternative venue on Saturday. John Martyn will be the main act on Sunday while organisers still plan to screen the hurling semifinal on the day.
• Sources close to KilkennyMusic.com indicate that The Blind Boys Of Alabama and John Martyn will be joined by Clive Barnes, Luane Parle, Hoarsebox, Republic Of Loose (confirmed) and Prison Love across the Saturday and Sunday though these acts have yet to be confirmed by festival organisers.
• Early bird ticket sales and general ticket sales aren’t massive (opinion) with refunds available after the festival has taken place. Details will be announced shortly in relation to using festival tickets to access venues in Kilkenny.
• Acts booked for The Orb along with the comedy tent acts will be spread around venues in Kilkenny

Of course, it’s also the start of the Kilkenny Arts Festival… more on this as we hear it during the day.