Indiependence festival to return to Mitchelstown in 2022

After last year's cancellation and the announcement that organisers were seeking a new venue, it looks as if the event will continue at its traditional site

Lewis Capaldi at Indiependence 2019 in Mitchelstown. Picture: Kieran Frost

After initially announcing they were to leave Mitchelstown, the organisers of the Indiependence music and arts festival have confirmed they will be returning to the Co Cork town next year. 

The weekend event returns to its regular site at Deer Farm from July 29 to 31, resuming its place in the bank holiday festival calendar. 

The festival began in 2006 in the town’s venues and market square, before moving to the site in 2010, where the spending power of up to 15,000 attendees provided a huge boost to the local economy.

“We were disappointed 12 months or more ago to announce that we weren't going to be able to go back there,” said managing director Shane Dunne. 

“The site has changed hands. There's a new owner there, and we'd a couple of very good meetings with him and we're looking forward to working with him and going back on the same weekend in 2022.”

The Indiependence site at Deer Farm, Mitchelstown, Co Cork.

 

International festival headliners in the past have included Manic Street Preachers, Public Enemy, and Lewis Capaldi; alongside Irish acts like Kodaline, The Coronas and Therapy?

Of course, it's not just Covid restrictions that have made life difficult for festival organisers and touring acts.

“Brexit is something I’ve been watching very closely over the past 12 months with regard to touring,” said Mr Dunne. 

“And the implementation of new rules in and out of the UK could be a massive issue, because it’s going to land bang in the middle of festival season.

"We would hope to have one or two big international acts, and then a number of newer international acts, but there's no doubt that the bulk of the lineup will be made up of Irish talent."

Over the course of the Covid crisis, Mr Dunne was among those in the live events sector campaigning for funding and support for events staff affected by widespread cancellations and postponements. 

He emphasised the need for continued State help.

Shane Dunne, managing director of Indiependence. Picture: Maura Hickey

“The industry, even now, is teetering in a big way, and what it probably needs is some kind of a scaffolding fund, definitely for 2022, and possibly into ‘23, until things have caught up.

“You have to remember, a huge amount of these businesses, like Indie, they’re carrying massive losses the last couple of years — it's not like we just went on ice, and nothing happened.”

Line-up and ticket information for Indiependence 2022 will be announced in the coming weeks.