Cost should not block festival for Cavan town

members of Cavan Chamber have made strong calls for an annual festival to be held in the county town to boost trade for businesses - and they believe that cost shouldn"t be an obstacle. Raising the subject at the chamber"s AGM in the Hotel Kilmore, Norbert Neylon of The Oak Rooms Restaurant expressed the view that a yearly festival, such as the Cavan Summer Festival held in July this year, would bring a lot of business into Cavan. President of the Chamber, Eamon McDwyer, expressed his concerns about the costs involved in such an undertaking as an annual event, but other members in attendance at the AGM disagreed. Geraldine McDonnell, Abbeyset Printers, pointed to festivals in Virginia and Kilnaleck and suggested that Cavan town should take heart from their success. 'Virginia is a smaller town than Cavan and their annual Pumpkin Festival is a huge success. If they can do it, why can"t we,' said Ms. McDonnell, who paid tribute to those involved for the success of the Virginia event and proposed a similar community effort in Cavan. Fellow member of the chamber, Dave Mackey, P. Elliott and Company, was in agreement. 'As the county town, we should be able to organise a festival every year,' he said, adding that the expense of the Spiegeltent, which was the venue for this year"s festival might be spared as it wouldn"t be essential on an annual basis. Mr. Mackey also paid tribute to the local authorities and others involved in the success of Cavan Summer Festival, which was organised by Cavan County Council"s Arts Office. Supporting previous speakers were Tony Finlay, House of Fabric, who agreed that festivals and concerts should be encouraged from a trade point of view, and Ross Mealiff, Hotel Kilmore, who was glad to point out that the Kenny Rogers concert in Cavan Equestrian Centre next March should be a welcome event. Concluding, the Chamber"s president invited all members to avail of its office in Church Street to bring forward their views. Cavan County Council indicated following Cavan Summer Festival that because of the cost and level of organisation involved in this large scale event, it would most likely be a bi-annual rather than an annual event. Meanwhile, Virginia Pumpkin Festival"s committee met on Monday evening to confirm that the Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend festival, which had a successful second outing this year, will go ahead next year. According to Donal McEvoy, it will certainly become an annual event, getting bigger and better as we go along. Local businesses benefited hugely from the influx of people and their spending power, he added.