Live Music Review: Townlands Carnival, Macroom, Co Cork

Ellie O’Byrne

4/5

The Macroom music event built on its growing reputation as one of the friendliest small independent festivals in the country with three days of fun in the sun.

This year, organisers unveiled a more compact layout for the event, with most of the stage areas accessible from one central square.

Six stages and several other dedicated areas served up a smorgasbord of musical genres, from disco at the Pink Flamingo cocktail bar to non-stop reggae and dub at the Riddim Shack and a thoughtfully curated selection of emerging acts with a heavy Cork presence at the Rising Sons stage.

Friday night got off to a slow start, with no acts on the main stage; many arriving festival-goers opted for stalwarts of the underground UK house and garage scene, Stanton Warriors, in the heaving Hive tent.

Sister Sledge delivered an uplifting vibe on Saturday, paving the way in terms of atmosphere for a crowd-pleasing set from King Kong Company, whose epic stage visuals were accentuated by flamboyant in-house pyrotechnics.

Townlands’ main stage comes bedecked with towering twin fire-breathing snakes that shoot flames into the night sky.

On Sunday, the main stage had a mix of hits and misses: Kila went down a treat, but ragga DJ General Levy’s set was disjointed. Neil Barnes’ Leftfield DJ set closed out the night with predictable polish and more pyrotechnics.

There were some grumbles about poorly serviced loos; a 12-can per person limit on alcohol admissions for the whole weekend, presumably to drive revenue towards the on-site bars; and a €10 charge for the car park, which came on top of the weekend camping ticket price of €150.

But the sun was out and the atmosphere was as down-to-earth as ever it is at the Rusheen Farm bash.

Townlands Carnival has to be one of the most relaxed festivals in the country, with the usual assortment of colourful characters on display and a refreshing absence of any kind of affectation.

It’s a really friendly crowd that just wants to have fun.