Skyfest was an annual

fireworks display Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...

, accompanied by background music compiled by

Mark McCabe Mark McCabe (born 10 May 1978) is an Irish music producer, remixer, radio DJ and club DJ, from Dublin. In 2000, he released "Maniac 2000" and it went to number one, as the second biggest-selling record ever in Ireland. In 2017, McCabe teamed ...

, which took place in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was part of the annual

St. Patrick's Festival St. Patrick's Festival, Ireland, established by the Government of Ireland in November 1995, is a major tourist attraction, aiming to showcase a modern and creative Ireland, and has since developed into a multi day celebration which takes place a ...

in the country. The fireworks display took place for a number of years in the country's capital,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

; however in 2008 it relocated to the

Rock of Cashel The Rock of Cashel ( ga, Carraig Phádraig ), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, is a historic site located at Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland. History According to local legends, the Rock of Cashel originated in the ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

. In 2009 it was held in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, and in 2010 it was held in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. It was held on 19 March 2011 in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. The display was televised live on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

and was sponsored by the National Lottery. It was cancelled in 2012.Disappointment over Skyfest
(24 March 2015)

Wexford People The ''Wexford People'' is a local or regional newspaper published weekly every Tuesday in County Wexford, Ireland. The newspaper contains stories relating primarily to the town of Wexford and its surrounding area, as well as stories relating to ...

. Retrieved 8 January 2019

History

Skyfest took place in Dublin from its inception until 2006. The 2007 event, which would have been the final one in the capital with an expected attendance of 200,000 people, was eventually cancelled due to

extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

conditions. In 2008, Skyfest relocated to the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. In 2009, the event took place in Waterford for the first time. It commenced at 18:30 on 14 March. The display occurred on the city's quays along the

River Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

. The event was expected to attract 50,000 people but, due to the unanticipated arrival of crowds of people on the day of the event, the actual figure was closer to 100,000. Live music was also provided by the

Irish folk music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irel ...

/ world music band

Kíla Kíla is a 1987 Irish folk music/world music group from the Gaelscoil, Irish language secondary school, Coláiste Eoin, Coláiste Eóin in County Dublin. Band History Kíla began in 1987 in the secondary in Coláiste Eoin, in the first year they ...

and local

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

group Torann, alongside that of the DJ Mark McCabe who compiled a set which featured music from U2,

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

and

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

. The event received its usual televisation on RTÉ One, presented by

Derek Mooney Derek James Mooney (born 4 March 1967) is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. Until January 2015 he presented a weekday afternoon programme called ''Mooney'' on RTÉ Radio 1. He is the current executive producer ...

and Laura Woods, the latter of whom also presented a special televised national lottery draw from the region. Skyfest in

attracted more than 100,000 people making it the biggest crowd outside Dublin. Skyfest in

attracted around 50,000 people. In 2011 it was held in

."St Patrick's Day: Irish leader to meet Barack Obama amid celebrations around world: Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny will celebrate his first St Patrick's Day in office at The White House with US President Barack Obama as thousands throng Dublin for the world-famous parade"
''The Telegraph''. It was cancelled in 2012.

Organisation

Planning for the event tended to take almost one year. For the 2009 fireworks display, a crew of twenty-six people from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

based firm Pains Fireworks placed 2.69

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of fireworks alongside the city centre quays of Waterford. 130 volunteers also assisted with the work. The display involved the setting off of approximately 4,000 multi-coloured "shots" over the area, taking in Rice Bridge, the Odlum silos, the spire of the Sacred Heart Church and the tower of Saint Mary's Abbey. Mark McCabe, an employee of

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

(RTÉ) who televise the event live, has compiled the background music for Skyfest since 2005, although he only witnessed the event live for the first time alongside his fiancée, Joanna Hammond, in 2009.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.stpatricksday.ie 2006 establishments in Ireland 2012 disestablishments in Ireland Festivals in Ireland Saint Patrick's Day Spring (season) events in the Republic of Ireland