Last weekend marked the fifth staging of the Tramore Promenade Festival and the organisers believe it was the best yet staged with great crowds attending on both days.
A fly-by took place during the Emergency Services event held at the opening of the festival, which has been moved from the traditional Friday evening start to Saturday morning last, commencing at 11.30am.The event took place just two days shy of the 19th anniversary of the Air Corps Dauphin helicopter crash on the sandhills which led to the loss of her four crew, namely Captain Dave O’Flaherty, from Lucan in Dublin, Captain Michael Baker from Wexford, Sergeant Paddy Mooney from Meath; and Corporal Niall Byrne from Dublin.
The event was addressed by new Metropolitan Mayor Joe Kelly (Ind) in what was one of his first official functions as Mayor following his election at City Hall the previous evening.
Also among the speakers was Frank King of the Tramore Amusement Park, who praised the organisers and expressed delight with the weather when he met The Munster Express during the day. Another speaker was Festival Chairperson Helen Young who expressed her thanks to the festival’s sponsors, Waterford City & County Council, Tramore Amusement and Leisure Park, Brooklyn Restaurant and Moe’s Café.
On Monday she told The Munster Express: “The weather was on our side this year and what a great weekend we had. Tramore looked at her very best and the Promenade and the beach were the perfect backdrop to the festival. The entertainment was fantastic and non-stop throughout; we have so much talent here in Tramore and Waterford. The kite show was amazing – the UK Kite Association were only just back from performing at the opening of the 2018 World Cup, so we were privileged to have them in Tramore.”
Helen added: “A huge shout out also to John Hayes and Chris Wood, the world number 5 and the world number 2 who both exhibited their respective genius as chainsaw carvers.”
The metal man with a surf board was a sight to see and both added a new dimension to the festival.The magic show, in addition to the circus skills workshop, a juggler, a stilt walker and a mime artist all proved to very popular and worked very hard all weekend.
We enjoyed chatting to Peig, the stilt walker from Cork, who was great to chat to young and old alike. Said Helen: “The atmosphere was electric, and all the traders and vendors added colour, flavour and aroma to the Promenade. And all expressed satisfaction with the festival and hope to return to us next year. The dog show was a great success, there was water for the dogs everywhere, well done to the organisers, Inistioge Puppy Rescue, Sinead’s Grooming and Doggie Day Care and City Vets, they did a great job and there were lots of happy faces at the end. Well done to all.”Padraig Cunningham noted the great selection of food stands on the Prom, ranging from Paellas to ice cream and encouraged us to try out – there were plenty of nice sweet stands too! “Traders were very happy with trade given the fine weather and there was a great atmosphere.Well done to all the people who volunteered over the weekend, without whom , this would not have happened,” said Helen Young who also thanked this newspaper for promoting the event.

Huge crowds flocked to Tramore for last weekend's Prom Festival.  	| Photo: Jim O'Sullivan

Huge crowds flocked to Tramore for last weekend's Prom Festival. | Photo: Jim O'Sullivan

The Red Cross were on hand to deal with the Health and Safety issues: we saw one ambulance bring away a young person that was dehydrated in the heat, but overall and thankfully there was little to report on that front,. Accommodation providers were full. The Majestic Hotel’s Annette said they had been full all last week, due in no small part to the great weather