Latitude Ireland "will not happen this year"

Latitude - not coming to a country near you soon


The proposed Irish staging of UK festival 'Latitude' at Belvedere House Gardens and Park in Mullingar, Co. Westmeth over the weekend of July 18 -20 has been postponed.


Although the venue, which has played host to the Hi:Fi and Midlands Music Festival in recent years, was booked for Latitude and plans were submitted to its owners, Westmeath County Council, by Festival Republic (which Irish giants MCD have a share in) the festival was called off earlier this month.


A Council spokesperson told Hot Lunch that Latitude "will not happen this year" or possibly any other year for that matter. The local authority and the management of Belvedere are said to be devestated that the high-profile maiden voyage for the festival has been nixed. Earlier this year there was THREE music festivals booked for Belvedere, which is undoubtedly the finest festival site in Ireland. Now, it looks like there will be none. As On the Record said last week, the Irish festival market is in a state of flux, with some high profile casualties including both the Midlands Music Festival and Garden Party for POD Concerts, who are rumoured to have lost money on both. MCD, their main rivals, even struggled to shift tickets for the teenage rite-of-passage that is the Oxegen festival. It's line up was pitched at the oldies and, it has to be said, is the one of the weakest Oxegen line-up in years with plenty of old timers on stage to confuse the kids who have made this festival a no-go area for most self respecting music fans in recent years.

But POD have an ace in their sleeve, and that is the peerless Electric Picnic, the line-up of which is being announced tomorrow (Wednesday). Latitude itself was modelled on the Picnic (or Leccy Piccy as Hot Press inanely call it) and with Latitude falling by the wayside, and MCD not able to tie in acts for a twin festival (as they do with T In The Park/Oxegen) that now isn't happening it's technically been 'open season' for a number of acts on the UK Latitude bill, which no doubt means we'll be seeing Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand and the brilliant Elbow play the Electric Picnic this year.

Last gasps for Midlands and Garden Party, MCD ready in the wings?

The candles of hope for both Midlands and Garden Party have yet to be fully extinguished. A last ditch effort to get keep Midlands afloat is currently underway but as Seamus Carroll reported, it’s more than likely a goner. After the fold (the dotted lines) you’ll the latest from the local rag on the matter.

The piece below details an interesting development with regard to Latitude. MCD and Belvedere are awaiting a UK decision on it, so hopefully it’ll go ahead. That decision, as has been mentioned elsewhere, rests on whether they can share acts or not.

Noting that Midlands has gone, a certain promoter with a tendency for dancing on the grav.. dancing at the crossroads has made Belvedere an offer they probably cannot afford to refuse, and in June, you can expect to see the magic of the Hi-Fi Festival recreated on the shores of Lough Ennell, as a big pill fest is on the cards!

Speaking of bangers, Garden Party (also under threat) is allegedly going ahead. Well, according to the owners of Ballinlough Castle it is.

Speaking exclusively to Hot Lunch, a member of the Nugent family (who own the joint) said she is “hopeful” that the event will take place. “The castle is booked for the weekend, and as far as we’re aware it is going ahead.” She said she is meeting someone from POD this week to discuss it, and she did drop the name Underworld into the conversation.

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Here's what the local rag had to say about Midlands:

Midlands festival ‘unlikely’ to go ahead promoter admits

The Midlands Music Festival, which was held at Belvedere last year after transferring from the 2006 venue, Ballinlough, is “unlikely” to go ahead this year.
Promoter, John Reynolds, has admitted to the management of Belvedere House that because he has failed to secure top acts for 2008, it’s “unlikely” that Midlands will be held.
“It is disappointing that Midlands Music Festival looks as if it won't take place this year although I am still waiting on confirmation of that from promoters,” Belvedere general manager, Bartle D’Arcy, told the Westmeath Examiner this week.
He said, however, that he was still hopeful that a large music event may take place at Belvedere this year, as two other weekends have been provisionally booked by other promoters.
“Belvedere is still currently holding two other weekend dates for MCD, for which we are awaiting operational decisions in the U.K. in March and although we can't take anything for granted we will be doing our best to secure a music festival for Belvedere and Mullingar in 2008," Mr. D’Arcy said.
Along with the failure to secure a big name to headline Midlands 2008, the festival suffered another blow when it was announced that the world-famous Cambridge Folk Festival in the UK is now to take place on the August Bank Holiday weekend, instead of in July.
This meant that for Midlands, the possibility of acts “doubling up” by doing one day in Cambridge, and the other in Mullingar was not going to be possible. Called reversing, this is common practice among promoters to dovetail headline acts into large festivals in the UK and Ireland on the same weekend.
Last year a number of the top acts taking to the stage in Belvedere including Steve Earle, Ricky Skaggs and the Waterboys were also appearing in the Cambridge Folk Festival.
Midlands Music Festival in 2007 also suffered from lower than expected ticket sales and heavy rain on the first day of the event, that earned the festival the nickname “Mudlands”.
“This festival was greatly enjoyed by those who attended it. It had built a reputation of being something different and as being uniquely family friendly,” said Mr. D’Arcy.
“It will be especially missed from a local point of view as a large portion of the attendance came from midlands region.”

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