Puck fair ends with a bang

They were singing in the rain last night as revellers brought the curtain down on one of the country’s oldest festivals.

Thousands of people were on the streets at the closing of Puck Fair, singing along and stepping it out to the sound of the Classic Beatles Tribute Band and joining in favourites like ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Help!’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’.

The sometimes raucous fair, in Killorglin, Co Kerry, appropriately ended with a bang — a midnight fireworks display explosively confirming its close.

The party went on for several hours afterwards, with jam-packed, sweltering pubs, some with sawdust on the floors, open until 3am.

According to the organisers, the fair was held for the 401st time.

Yesterday, gardaí said they had no major incidents to report, but there were two car break-ins, some minor assaults, and a few arrests for drugs possession.

“Everything is so far so good,’’ said Sergeant Ger Lee.

Crowds were said to be as big as in other years, with people putting austerity aside and savouring a festive, colourful atmosphere on streets lined with stalls selling a huge variety of goods.

Toys, clothes, tools, mobile phone accessories, CDs, jewellery, and cosmetics were all on offer at “bargain’’ prices.

Earlier last evening, the caged mountain goat, which had been crowned King Puck on Sunday, was formally ‘’dethroned’’ and taken from its 20m-high pedestal in the town square.

Fair organisers rejected suggestions from animal welfare groups that the animal, which is being returned to wild, was ill-treated, saying it had been examined by a vet and had been well-fed and watered during the three-day event.