Festival marks 10th year with 100 bands

Hard Working Class Heroes is a forum for new acts to showcase their music and meet with agents and managers, says Eoghan O’Sullivan

A decade ago seems like another world: Smartphones were yet to be invented, Facebook didn’t exist, and music was sold on physical albums and singles.

In 2003, the inaugural Hard Working Class Heroes festival was held in Dublin. The brainchild of Brian Carroll, it showcased 40 local bands in the Project Arts Centre over one weekend. The first line-up featured the Walls, the Chapters, and Turn.