Witnness was an Irish

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

, sponsored by

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

, which ran for four consecutive summers from 2000 to 2003. Originally it was held at

Fairyhouse Racecourse Fairyhouse Racecourse is a horse racing venue in the Republic of Ireland. It is situated in the parish of Ratoath in County Meath, on the R155 road, R155 Regional road (Ireland), regional road, off the N3 road (Ireland), N3. It hosted its first ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, but it was moved to

Punchestown Racecourse Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 Regional road (Ireland), regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

for its final year. In 2004, Guinness were replaced by

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

as sponsors, and the festival continued as before at Punchestown, changing its name to

Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...

2000 Festival

The 2000 festival was the first Witnness festival to be held. It took place on 5 and 6 August 2000 in Fairyhouse Racecourse 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 ...

. The main event was supported by several smaller local gigs in and around Dublin featuring artists playing smaller venues than they would normally play. A promotional

Enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ca ...

containing music, videos and interactive toys was distributed free of charge in participating clubs and pubs. The line-up included Travis,

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

, David Gray,

Bell X1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics–U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Bel ...

Marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. These toys can be used for a variety of games called ''marbles'', as well being placed in mar ...

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

Asian Dub Foundation Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English electronic music band that combines musical styles including rap rock, dub, dancehall, ragga, and South Asian music. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bass and gui ...

, Johnny Moy,

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show ''Sam and his Magic Ball'', which he saw ...

The Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradley ...

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 ...

Paddy Casey Paddy Casey is an Irish singer-songwriter from Crumlin, Dublin. Biography He received his first guitar when he was 12 and left home soon after and began busking and gigging for about 12 years. At about the age of 24 he was approached by Sony ...

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder ( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined t ...

Death in Vegas Death in Vegas are an English electronic music group, for which Richard Fearless serves as frontman. The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record ...

Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successf ...

Watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, wi ...

Toploader Toploader are an English rock band from Eastbourne, East Sussex, formed in 1997, with over two million album sales and several top 20 hits both home and abroad. Their debut album, ''Onka's Big Moka'', sold over one million units and peaked in ...

, Wilt, All Saints, and

Therapy? Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band r ...

2001 Festival

The 2001 festival again took place in Fairyhouse on 4 and 5 August 2001. Amongst the bands playing were

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing ...

Faithless Faithless are an English band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, '' Reverence'', was released in 1996 and their most recent, ''All Blessed'', in 2020. They have sold millions ...

and

The Avalanches The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in Melbourne in 1997. They are known for their studio albums ''Since I Left You'' (2000), ''Wildflower'' (2016), and '' We Will Always Love You'' (2020), as well as their live and ...

. Also on the line-up were Ash, Placebo, Shack, The Keds, The Charlatans, Stereophonics,

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards ...

, Texas (band), Texas, Frank Black, Snow Patrol, Alabama 3, Turn (band), Turn, The Frames, Proud Mary, Relish(band), Relish, The White Stripes, James (band), James, Clinic, Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals and David Kitt.

2002 Festival

The 2002 festival was moved from August to 13 and 14 July at Fairyhouse Racecourse. The festival was closed out on Sunday night by headliners Oasis (band), Oasis and Saturday night was headlined by The Prodigy. The line-up included The Chemical Brothers, 2 Many DJ's, Basement Jaxx, The Dandy Warhols,

, Green Day, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Mercury Rev, No Doubt, Damien Rice, Mogwai, The Redneck Manifesto (band), The Redneck Manifesto, The Frames, Lemon Jelly, Massive Attack, The Polyphonic Spree, The Coral, Primal Scream, Nina Hynes, Jimmy Eat World, The Hives, The Devlins, Turn (band), Turn, The Libertines, Hoobastank, Spiritualized, The Jimmy Cake, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Gemma Hayes, Idlewild (band), Idlewild, Ian Brown, Rival Schools (band), Rival Schools, Cooper Temple Clause, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, The Beta Band, Leaves (band), Leaves, Starsailor (band), Starsailor and David Kitt.

2003 Festival

The last Witnness festival took place across five stages in a new venue,

, on 12 and 13 July 2003. Tickets went on-sale Friday 11 April at 8 am and cost €59.50 (for one day), €109.50 (for both days) and €130.50 (for both days plus camping). Saturday was headlined by Coldplay and also featured Sugababes,

, Supergrass, Underworld (band), Underworld, The Streets, The Coral, The Roots,

, The Complete Stone Roses, Röyksopp, Gemma Hayes, Mogwai, The Thrills, Appleton (music duo), Appleton, Colin MacIntyre, Mull Historical Society, Ed Harcourt, The Rapture (band), The Rapture and many more. Sunday was headlined by David Gray and Manic Street Preachers and also featured The Cardigans, The Polyphonic Spree, Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, The Music, The Flaming Lips, Tricky (musician), Tricky, The Datsuns, Keith Flint, Calexico (band), Calexico, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Kings of Leon and Har Mar Superstar. Others to feature included Doves (band), Doves, The Thrills, Turin Brakes, Nightmares on Wax and Damien Rice. The Flaming Lips were stepped up the bill on the Sunday to replace The White Stripes (cancelled due to frontman Jack White (musician), Jack White suffering a broken hand) and by all accounts delivered a well-received set which included a version of The White Stripes's hit "Seven Nation Army".

References

{{Irish Festivals 2000s in Irish music Music festivals in Ireland Music festivals established in 2000