Oakfest is on the way!!

With a list of top acts including The Undertones, NoCrows, Lisa Lambe, and Rory and the Island this year’s Oakfest is back with a bang.

Promising music across two stages, plus acoustic sessions all day and into the night, tickets for this year’s event at the beautiful Oakfield Park in Raphoe are likely to sell out in the coming days

Aside from the live music, local brewers Kinnegar are setting up an outdoor bar, a BBQ will be on the lawns and the trains will be running throughout the day. Children’s entertainment is being planned and there will be bee keeping classes,

The Undertones

Headliners The Undertones need little introduction in this part of the world. The band emerged in Derry in 1976, the result of five friends (John O’Neill, Damian O’Neill, Feargal Sharkey, Billy Doherty and Michael Bradley) learning how to play basic rock and roll. Even by the standards of that decade Derry was not the rock and roll capital of anywhere. With no live bands worth watching, they learned by listening to mail order records, reading one of the few copies of NME that made it to Derry but most of all from listening to John Peel’s show on BBC Radio One.

Practicing in their bedrooms eventually led to the band recording John O’Neill’s Teenage Kicks in 1978 on Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations label in Belfast. The legendary DJ John Peel received a copy and liked it so much he played it twice in a row on his radio show. The Undertones signed with Sire Records and Teenage Kicks was re-released, resulting in the band’s first appearance on Top Of The Pops.

Over the next five years, John O’ Neill, crafted further pop gems such as Here Comes The Summer, Jimmy , You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It) and Wednesday Week whilst Damian O’Neill and Michael Bradley contributed My Perfect Cousin.

NoCrows

Featuring Steve Wickham from The Waterboys, NoCrows is a dynamic folk orchestra from the multicultural melting pot of Sligo’s music scene. Formed in 2005, NoCrows’ growing output of original material reflects its diverse musical roots, from Irish traditional to Latin rumba, classical, jazz, rock and Balkan music.

Audiences have been astonished by the unequalled width of the band’s repertoire, from delicate Irish airs to Russian Gypsy mayhem, from Mallorcan Jota to original songs in many styles with lush string arrangements. The mix reflects the traditions of the various members but also a lifetime of experience of the various players involved across many genres of music.

Rory and the Island

Donegal singer/songwriter Rory Gallagher has used the name Rory and The Island since 2010. Rory was the bass player and lead vocalist with Irish Indie group The Revs from 2000 to 2007, after disbanding Rory moved to Lanzarote where he opened up The Island bar in 2013. It became the number one recommended live music venue in Lanzarote on TripAdvisor.

Rory has worked with artists as varied as Sharon Shannon, Finbar Furey, Steve Brown (The Cult, Manic Street Preachers), Paul Brady, Paul Harrington, Wallis Bird, Shane MacGowan and Nick Seymour to name a few.

Lisa Lambe

One of Ireland’s best-known singers and performers and lead singer of Celtic Woman for three years. Lisa is one of the most enduring and unique singers in Ireland and has just returned from a sold out London solo show in the ICC Hammersmith.

• Oakfest will take place on Sunday, September 11. Get your tickets now by logging on to
www. oakfieldpark.com/oakfest/.