€6K worth of prizes on offer for buskers and food enthusiasts in Newbridge
Calling all foodies and buskers! Do you want to bag yourself a share of the €3,000 prize fund kindly sponsored by Dubai Duty Free at the Newbridge Busk and Food Festival? Buskers from all over are invited to participate in a busking competition which will take place on the streets of Newbridge on the 18th of June. Dubai Duty Free has generously agreed to sponsor the event with a prize fund totalling €3,000.
The winning busker will bag themselves a cool €2,000 while the next runner up will be awarded €1,000 with tickets for the races for third place. Apart from the cash, the winning busking act will also be given the opportunity to play to racegoers over the Derby weekend in the Garden Enclosure at the famous track. Fiona McLoughlin Healy, Chair of the Newbridge Busk and Food Committee said, “Whether you’re a solo singer, a blue-grass band or musical society, all are welcome to enter the competition. Come along and join in the fun, music, song and watch the sing-off for the final.”
The Newbridge Busk and Food Festival 2016, proudly sponsored by Dubai Duty Free will run on the Saturday before the derby, (Sat 18th of June) and will incorporate the musical acts and a mini food village along George’s Street in Newbridge, where there will be opportunities to sample fresh, tasty food from local food producers and suppliers. It will be a great family day out and there will be lots of street entertainment and activities for all the family to enjoy from 12 noon, with busking performances from 1:30pm.
This is the second year for the event to run and follows a very successful inaugural festival last year. Apart from the Newbridge Busk and Food Festival, Dubai Duty Free have also sponsored a Best Dressed Shop Front competition for traders and community groups in both Newbridge and Kildare Town. The airport retailer has added a further €3,000 up for grabs for the best decorated Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby themed shop front or building. Bunting and flags will be available for people to use in their own displays and can be picked up from Cllr. Fiona McLoughlin Healy’s office in Newbridge or from Ollie Kearns in Kildare Tidy Towns.
Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free said, “It’s wonderful to see local people really engaging with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival and developing ancillary events in the run up to the festival. We are very pleased to support the Newbridge Busk and Food Festival and the Best Dressed Window Competition and were really overwhelmed with the messages of goodwill and the spirit of the local businesses in both Kildare Town and Newbridge last year.
Both the busking and best dressed shop front competitions are part of a two town approach to really engage with local residents and business owners in both Newbridge and Kildare. We hope lots of people will enter the busking competition and want to see musicians of all ages and musical styles take to the street of Newbridge on Saturday the 18th of June!
We were also really impressed by the creativity expressed through some fabulous window displays in both towns last year and want to thank everyone who made the effort to dress their shop fronts in the colours and theme of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. Huge congratulations to Fiona McLoughlin Healy, The Curragh Racecourse and their organising committee for making the 2015 initiative so successful and wishing them the best of luck in their endeavours for 2016.”
For more details or to register for the Newbridge Busk and Food Festival or the Best Dressed Window or Building Competition, telephone Fiona McLoughlin Healy’s Office on (045) 430046, call the Curragh Racecourse on (045) 441205 or email Aileen O’Brien, O’Brien PR on [email protected]. Kildare Town Best Dressed Shop or Building entrants should contact Ollie Kearns on 087 2519065 to receive their flags and bunting. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby will take place at The Curragh Racecourse on Sat, 25th of June.