Thank you, thank you and thank you!

A big thank you to everyone that came to Roscommon Lamb Festival 2011.
The festival drew to close on Bank Holiday Monday as a fantastic success once again. Family fun and world records were the highlights of the weekend which saw over 30 events taking place throughout the county and town with nearly 10,000 visitors over the course of the festival.
One of the main highlights was the World Record Attempt in Dr Hyde Park on Saturday.  Whilst the county football team were beating New York in the USA – 1147 knitters took to the stands in Roscommon to blow the current world record out of the water! Knitters from 7 years old – 100 years old participated in an historic occasion for Roscommon and Ireland. Michelle Fallon, organiser from the Roscommon Lamb Festival committee was ecstatic about the acheivement “I am so delighted that all these people came to Roscommon to help the festival break the record. From the bottom of my heart thank you to all who made the effort and put us on the map!” After the joy in the Hyde, visitors were treated to Irish performances in the Festival Marquee from the students of Gaelscoli da hÍde.  That night saw a record 400 people attend the BBQ Brazilian & Irlanda in the festival marquee on the Square, and a fantastic buzz and atmosphere was kept going with music by Def Con 5 during and after.
The Family Fun Sunday in Loughnaneane Park was a fantastic success with sheep racing, Ballet performances, Global Food Village, pony rides, the Army Band No 1, Medieval Re-enactments in Roscommon Castle, Little Bo Peep & Boy Blue & Pet Lamb competitions, facepainting and food stalls around the park.  This was accompanied by the Wool Craft Village in the Festival Marquee where interactive, knitting & weaving, spinning, wool dyeing, felting and shearing demonstrations took place. Between both events and the glorious weather, Roscommon Town was buzzing with excitement on the day! Over the course of the weekend, Roscommon County Enterprise Board sponsored an additional Roscommon Craft Village on the square which showcased the talents of different craftspeople from around the county.
The festival is a celebration family fun, great food, art, music, farming, heritage, crafts and community spirit in County Roscommon. There was something for everyone over the 5 days with heritage tours highlighting the beauty, culture and historic diversity in County Roscommon including; a guided tour of Scregg House, Knockcroghery,  a Sheep Farm Walk with an Ecological talk in Four Roads, guided tours of St. Johns Wood, Lecarrow, Rathcroghan Royal Complex, Tulsk and Castlecoote House, Castlecoote, the Dominican Abbey in Roscommon Town and a walking tour of historic Elphin.
The festival kicked off on Wednesday with a special sheep sale in Roscommon Mart and was opened by Mairead Lavery, editor of Irish Country Living and former chairperson of Agri Aware.Farming was a big aspect over the weekend with many farm related events taking place including sheep farm walks, International Sheepdog Trials and Shearing demonstrations.
The arts were also celebrated over the course of the festival with an art exhibition which was opened on Thursday night by Deputy Luke Flanagan and showcased the works of over 20 artists over the weekend. The Teen Fashion Expo on Friday night highlighted the young talent in the county, this was followed by the Friday Night at the Movies in the Festival Marquee, organised by the Roscommon Cinema Committee.
Food was a major part of the weekend and acitivities also took place to work off the lamb and treats visitors consumed with a family cycle and kayak event in Portrun on Sunday morning. The Roscommon Carer’s mini marathon rounded off the festival on Bank Holiday Monday.

Chairperson of the festival Gerry Browne commented “ This year’s festival is a testament to the hard work put in over the last few months by the committee. I would like to thank everybody involved for their commitment in bringing a world class festival to Roscommon. We have so much to be proud of in our county and the Roscommon Lamb Festival tries to highlight everything that our great county has to offer. I personally want to thank the committee, and everybody involved which is entirely voluntary. Their time is greatly appreciated. Roscommon Lamb Festival is not for profit so we appreciate the fantastic support from our sponsors, funders and media partners. If it wasn’t for their generosity, the festival couldn’t take place.  I am also overwhelmed with the support and turnout of the visitors to Roscommon over the weekend. Tourism is an important element of our county’s future and we need more events like this to bring people to the county”  Roscommon Lamb Festival is funded by Roscommon Integrated Development Company, Roscommon County Council, Failte Ireland and Roscommon County Enterprise Board as well as local businesses and farm organisations.Visit www.facebook.com/roscommonlambfestival to see all the photos from the weekend.