Summerfest organisers pray for good weather

ORGANISERS of the 10-day Killarney Summerfest, which gets underway today, are hoping that weather forecasters have it wrong and that the sun will shine for two open-air concerts, during the weekend.

The concerts are scheduled for Fitzgerald Stadium tomorrow and Saturday nights, but the weather will not be as good as last weekend and heavy showers are expected.

Upwards of 100,000 people are expected to attend the festival, which has a strong focus on family entertainment.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on street and children’s entertainment and a varied programmes covers everything from storytelling, to art exhibitions, to classical music,” said festival chairman Patrick O’Donoghue. The end of June to early July has, traditionally, been a slack time for tourism in Killarney and the festival is intended to go some way towards filling the vacuum.

Summerfest kicks off tonight with a black tie ball at the INEC, in the Gleneagle Hotel, with hundreds of revellers being given a taste of the entertainment the festival has to offer. The first of the open air concerts, with Snow Patrol and Paddy Casey, will be held tomorrow night, followed by Meatloaf and Status Quo, on Saturday night.

Extra gardaí will be on duty during the weekend and concert-goers have been asked to travel early to Killarney.