Spirit of Folk 2013: FEASTIVAL event

For the past two years Dunderry Park has hosted the Spirit of Folk Festival. With the large crowd last year the festival is taking a year out to let the grounds rest and recover and in its place a small and intimate event has emerged with all you could expect from Spirit of Folk and more, we get the details from festival coordinator Natasha Duffy. 
 
Can you tell us about the new format?
 
The Spirit of Folk event has been a very special festival to us over the past two years, celebrating the Autumn Equinox and bringing people together. The festival is unique in that it not only tries to entertain but also to educate and the past two years have seen us host living history groups, experimental archeology lessons, archery and falconry displays as well as many workshops including shamanic journeying, yoga, dance and singing.
 
The main difference this year is that it will be a all day/all night event instead of three days and as well as all our usual unusual activities we are also hosting a medieval feast and a massive ceremonial burning of the phoenix. Instead of using the main big fields we will be transforming the nooks and crannies of Dunderry into beautiful hamlets of activity.
 
What kind of activities will you have at this event?
 
What we try and do at Spirit of Folk is create a playground for grown-ups and this year will be no different. Music is a very important part of what we do and our beautifully crafted stage in the woods will host a plethora of folk and traditional Irish acts as well as the final of ‘The Spirit of Folk Awards’ an initiative we are running this year to award a bursary and recording time to up and coming folk artists .
 
Along with that we will have The Hall of Heroes, a place where games and performance meet to create a hive of madness. Expect home made fairground games, tug of war and late night karaoke!
 
The festival will open with a shamanic and druidic celebration and close with one the following day. Over the course of the day and the night we will have shamanic journeying and drumming, shamanic yoga dance along with many other workshops and activities.
 
Will you be offering any more living history activities?
 
What we would like to do this year is get people more involved in the living history aspect of things and as a group will be building our very own Fulacht Fiadh – we will have our experimental archeologists on hand to guide the way but we will all get to experience how to create this ancient cooking oven for ourselves! We will also have ancient archery lessons for those that would like to learn more about the art!
 
How much are tickets and how can I find out more?
 
Tickets for the event cost €50 and this includes your 3 course feast. There will be a bus organized down from Dublin and some limited parking. Camping is free and there is also a list of B&B’s nearby. 
 
To find out everything go to spiritoffolk.com or email [email protected] - tickets are on a first come first served basis.
About the author: 

Natasha Duffy is festival coordinator for the Spirit of Folk Festival, a family friendly festival that has run in Dunderry Park, Co Meath for the past 2 years, and was shortlisted in 2011 for ‘Best New Festival’ in the European Festival awards.

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