A feast of music, food and crafts

Ballyconnell will host an eagerly anticipated multicultural fair day on Saturday, October 22 in Lizzy Buggies’ courtyard.

The event will kick off at 1pm and will incorporate a range of activities, music and food from across the globe.

“I think it ill be a fantastic day,” says event organiser, Karina Charles. “We’re going to have simple games like Hoopla, where you throw your hoop around a prize.

“We will also have a samba workshop for adults and children together, trad music, a Ukrainian folk band, John O’Grady who played the lead role of Joe Dolan from the night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down, so we’re delighted to have him on board.

“We also have the Jon La Fleur Blues Band headlining as well.”

Local lady Rosie Cole will host an art wall which will allow aspiring artists to paint alongside her. Their art will then be unveiled at the end of the day.

“We’re also going to have crafters, we’re going to have a German lady, a local crafter from Ballyconnell and a Polish lady who is coming with her wonderful crafts. It should be a fantastic family day,” enthuses Karina.

One of the day's most unique ideas will be the food area which will feature dishes from cultures around the world. This idea was the brainchild of fellow organiser, Shane Carroll, who was keen to make the cuisine free of charge to anyone eager to sample it.

“We’ll have some food from around the globe, tasters, so people can go take a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

“Shane really wanted us to provide food free for people because in lots of cultures, people would be invited to the table and whatever you had you shared. The Irish would also be well known for that.

“We wanted to bring that to the table where maybe there would be a Polish dumpling, there might be German sausage, a Polish cold meat, Irish boxty, French cheese, lots of different things.”

Celebrate

Polish man, Rafal Szydlowski was the driving force behind the operation. Rafal has been living in the Ballyconnell area for almost ten years. He noticed the growing number of foreign nationals in the area and wanted to celebrate that.

“Rafal said he would love to have a multicultural music and fair day in Ballyconnell because there are lots of different nationalities living there due to industry and other hospitality facilities in the area. He felt it was important to try and use music to bring people together. Music can be so uplifting for our health and wellbeing and as a tool to bridge any gap,” says fellow event organiser, Karina Charles.

Everyone is welcome to arrive at Lizzy Buddy’s courtyard on the day for what is expected to be a fantastic day out for all the family.