Wild Geese Festival takes flight again in Limerick
THE LIMERICK Bastille Day Wild Geese Festival will return this July to celebrate the friendship of a historic duo.
The city's annual summer festival commemorates the heritage and ties between Ireland and France. This year, it will take place on the weekend of July 15 and 16.
Organised by Alliance Française Limerick, the festival is back for its fifth edition in a row with a rich programme of events which was unveiled this past week.
Founder of the festival and honorary Consul of France, Dr Loïc Guyon, said: “With the other members of the festival’s organising committee (Fionán Coughlan, Michelle Daly-Hayes and Paul O’Brien), we were delighted to unveil today this year’s exciting programme of events, on which we’ve been working together for nearly a year.
"Since 2019, the festival has grown from strength to strength, has generated national media attention and has become the summer festival Limerick needed. I wish to thank wholeheartedly my fellow organisers and, of course, our two institutional sponsors, five corporate sponsors and the 37 local businesses and community groups which are generously supporting us this year and making it all possible.”
According to committee member, Michelle Daly-Hayes, the festival is not only about the past.
“It’s about history, passion and it’s about Limerick, which are three of my favourite things so I love to see them all together.
The Limerick Bastille Day Wild Geese festival is also about bringing history to life and also celebrating, not just what happened in the past, but our current relationship with France,” she said.
On top of the now traditional animations and historical re-enactments, one of the highlights of this year's edition will be a Bastille Day weekend banquet at the Milk Market, on the evening of July 15.
The banquet will comprise an eight-course menu, a Wild Geese Art exhibition and music by award-winning artist Emma Langford.
Another highlight will be a parade and ceremony supported by the Defence Forces, with the Defence Forces Band travelling to Limerick for the first time, which will be held on Sunday, July 16 at 2.30pm at the United Nations Peace Garden at St Mary's Cathedral.
Another anticipated event will be the screening of The Flight of the Wild Geese, a film entirely produced by teachers Fionnula Bromell and Diarmuid Hickey from Corpus Christi Primary School, Moyross.
The festival will end by a farewell to the Wild Geese on the Shannon River, organised in partnership with the Curraghour Boat Club and an evening at Mickey Martin's.
This year's edition will also celebrate Ireland and France's love of rugby, ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with an initiation to touch rugby organised in partnership with Sarsfields Rugby and a talk on inclusion and diversity in sport at the International Rugby Experience by Rugby World Cup official Tady Walsh.